North Park University
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| Motto | Preparing Students for Lives of Significance and Service |
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| Established | 1891 |
| Type | Private |
| Endowment | $36 million (June 30, 2005) |
| President | Dr. David L. Parkyn |
| Faculty | 125+ Full-time |
| Students | 2,972 |
| Undergraduates | 1,414 |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Campus | Urban, 30+ acres |
| Sports teams | NCAA Division III |
| Mascot | Viking |
| Affiliations | Evangelical Covenant Church |
| Website | http://www.northpark.edu |
North Park University is a four-year university located at 3225 W. Foster Avenue on the north side of Chicago, Illinois in the North Park neighborhood. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church and shares its campus with the denomination's only seminary. The university enrolls close to 3,000 students from around the country and the world, and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.
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[edit] History of North Park University
[edit] The beginnings of a Covenant school
In the later part of the 19th century, thousands of Swedish immigrants left Sweden and began to settle in America. As the communities, which were concentrated in the Midwest, with hubs in Chicago and Minneapolis, began to settle and develop, many things began to happen that would pave the way for North Park University. The denomination that is now known as the Covenant began to organize in the 1880s and soon the education of Swedish immigrants, specifically theological education, became an important issue. E. August Skogsbergh, sometimes called the Swedish Moody for his association with the famous Chicago Evangelist D.L. Moody, started a school in Minneapolis in 1884 that would serve as a forerunner to North Park in many ways.
By 1891, the Covenant was in agreement that they should formally establish a school of their own. Skogsbergh offered his school and his school served as the official Covenant school for three years, from 1891 until 1893. In 1894, the school was moved to Chicago, a move that upset some, including Skogsbergh. It moved to its present location at the corner of Foster and Kedzie, though at this time this was quite remote from the Loop. Old Main, the oldest building on campus, was erected and dedicated on June 16, 1894. It is at this time that the name North Park was first used to describe the school.
[edit] The early years of North Park
The early years of North Park were marked with both struggles and successes. Both enrollment and funding fluctuated greatly in the early years. An interesting source of both money and headache came from P.H. Anderson, who at the time was serving as a Covenant missionary in Alaska. Taking part in the gold rush of the time, Anderson made a massive find on claim No. 9 above. And though he donated a portion of the findings, questionable circumstances surrounded the claim that created tension among the leadership of North Park.
An early leader at that time was David Nyvall. He served as president and teacher in the Seminary for many years. The current seminary building, Nyvall Hall, is named after him. By the turn of the century, North Park could boast of a theological seminary, a prominent and large commercial department, a growing music department, and an academy which was created in 1894 to better prepare students for the seminary.
[edit] North Park today
Since the early days, the school has developed and changed in many ways. In 1958, North Park Junior College expanded from a two-year college into a four-year program, becoming North Park College. In 1997, the controversial decision was made to again change the name of the school, and North Park University was born. Though North Park still holds on to its Swedish American past and close ties with the Covenant Church, it is now a multi-cultural institution that is focused on diversity. North Park now proudly describes itself as a Liberal Arts University that is intentionally urban, intentionally diverse, and intentionally Christian.
The Board of Trustees has recently decided to recommend Dr. David L. Parkyn for election as the ninth president of North Park University. This action marks the culmination of a long and intensive search process that has lasted for over a year. Dr. Parkyn previously served as provost and senior vice president at Elizabethtown College and taught at Messiah College before that.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Dr. Paul Carlson, Covenant missionary martyred in the Belgian Congo (1964), after whom the classroom building is named.
- James R. Thompson, former Illinois Governor (1977-1991), graduated from North Park Academy, the institution's now-defunct high school
- Carl Hawkinson, former Illinois state Senator (R-Galesburg), and Illinois Homeland Security chief.
- Dr. G. Timothy Johnson, ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent. [1]
- Dr. Kathryn Edin, 1984 B.A., Sociology, North Park College, Chicago, IL. She has published three books and a number of chapters and articles on families, neighborhoods and social welfare in the United States. [2]
[edit] Academic programs
- Undergraduate College
- North Park Theological Seminary
- Adult Bachelor's Degree Completion: GOAL
- School of Business & Nonprofit Management
- School of Education
- School of Nursing
- Community Development
[edit] Athletics
The North Park University athletics department fields 17 NCAA Division III teams: 8 men's teams and 9 women's teams. The teams compete in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Men compete in football, basketball, baseball, cross country, golf, soccer, and track and field. Women compete in volleyball, basketball, softball, golf, soccer, track and field, cross country, and rowing. The athletic director is Dr. Jack Surridge. There is also a healthy Intramural sports program on campus.
Although the football team has failed to win a conference game in the last 4 years, the women's crew team has done slightly better, repeatedly placing in national regattas. The men's soccer team has also fared better; in 2005, it successfully defended its CCIW conference title against rival Wheaton, earning their second title in as many years and North Park's first trip to the national tournament. North Park is also known as having one of the most successful men's basketball programs in all of college athletics. They have won five men's NCAA Division III championships since 1978.
[edit] Student Association
The North Park Student Association sponsors many student organizations on campus. These include the weekly student newspaper the North Park Press, the Cupola yearbook, the North Branch literary magazine, and Java Haus, the student-run coffeeshop in the basement of Burgh Hall.
[edit] A&E
The division of the Student Association that is responsible for the Academic life of students is known as Academics and Education. Academics and Education represents the student's voice at faculty meetings, plans fun and educational events, and hosts the now infamous Geek Week. It also oversees North Park's academic clubs, which include:
- Society of Physics Students
- Philosophy Club
- Student Arts Organisation
- Psychology Club
- Student Nursing Association
- Music Club
- Tri-Beta
- History Club
- Non-profit Student Association
- Gender Studies Organisation
- Model UN Club
- Business Club
[edit] ARC
The Student Association also sponsors the Associations Represetative Council, which is the umbrella organization for each of North Park University's cultural associations. These include:
- Black Student Association (BSA)
- Commuter Student Association (CSA)
- Korean Student Association (KSA)
- Latin American Student Organization (LASO)
- Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA)
- Scandinavian Student Association (SSA)
[edit] The North Park Press
The primary function of the North Park Press is to serve as a medium in which general campus news, and other relevant information to the university community, is communicated to the study body, staff and alumni. An online version of the NP Press is available online, at http://www.northpark.edu/sa/press.
The Press has six sections: Campus (general campus related news), Viewpoints (a section for opinionated articles by students and staff), Outside the Bubble (relevant news of the world at large), Pulse (entertainment and media resources) and Sports (updates on sports news for NP and national teams.) While the newspaper is published under the guidance of a Faculty Advisor and the Dean of students, it is designed and edited by a small team of student journalists. The Press is owned and operated by the Student Association of North Park University.
All students are welcome to submit timely articles pertinent to the issues and discourse revolving around the North Park community. The North Park Press does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or creed.
[edit] Other traditions
North Park's Swedish-American identity is evident in many different ways. One annual tradition is the Santa Lucia Festival, held each December in Anderson Chapel. The service follows many Swedish traditions and is one of the few Santa Lucia Festivals held in the Chicago area. There is also an exchange program with Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola in Jönköping, Sweden.
A small group of North Park basketball fans known as the "Carlson Crazies" dress up in unusual clothing at each home game to cheer, often in a bizarre manner, for the men's basketball team.
[edit] References
- A History of North Park College by Leland Carlson. A good overview of the first 50 years (1891-1941).
[edit] External links
| College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin |
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| Augustana • Carthage • Elmhurst • Illinois Wesleyan • Millikin • North Central • North Park • Wheaton |
