North Park University Confers 215 Degrees at 2015 Winter Commencement
Graduates charged to “change the world—always for God’s glory and neighbor’s good.”
CHICAGO (December 21, 2015) — North Park’s gymnasium was full on Friday night as graduates, families, faculty, and staff gathered to celebrate the students’ achievements.
The procession began with a display symbolic of North Park’s diverse student body, the flags of all the countries represented in this year's graduating class: Colombia, Guatemala, India, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, South Sudan, and Sweden.
The University awarded 152 bachelor’s degrees from a wide range of undergraduate majors, including the School of Adult Learning. Among the graduates was a set of triplets, Brittany, Rachel, and Sarah Krawiec, each of whom received a bachelor of science in nursing. The sisters, whose older sister, Jennifer Krawiec, graduated from North Park’s nursing program in May 2014, will be working together at Skokie Hospital after graduation.
Katelyn Burger was presented the prestigious Ahnfeldt Medallion, which is given to the graduate with the highest grade-point average. Burger earned a bachelor of science in exercise science with a GPA of 3.987. Dr. John Hjelm, professor of exercise and sport called her “an individual who makes everyone around her better.” The medallion is named in honor of Alfred Nelson Ahnfeldt, North Park’s first undergraduate professor.
Graduate degrees and certificates were awarded to 63 students from the School of Business and Nonprofit Management, School of Education, School of Nursing, and North Park Theological Seminary.
In his address, North Park President David L. Parkyn charged the graduates to live out their calls to significance and service. “The most direct journey to both of these—to significance and to service—is through hospitality, through welcome, through embrace.” Addressing the global immigrant crisis, Parkyn said, “Today more than ever before, the world needs graduates who will assure that in every neighborhood, in every city, in every state across our nation, people in need from around the world will find a new home in America.” He quoted North Park’s first president, David Nyvall, as the source of this conviction, “Because in this land, as in our school, ‘hospitality is especially insisted upon.’”
The service included performances by the University Choir, under the direction of Dr. Julia Davids, the traditional commencement litany, a Scripture reading from Proverbs, and the Aaronic Benediction (Numbers 6:24–26) read by students in Bulgarian, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish. “Bring people together, and change the world,” Dr. Parkyn said to the graduates, “Always for God’s glory and neighbor’s good."
See the full photo gallery here.
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