North Park has served five generations of students and continues to grow in diversity, academic relevance, and Christian commitment. Our Chicago location is a great asset that reflects the School’s global reach and outlook.
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North Park offers more than 40 graduate and undergraduate programs in liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies. Classes average 17 students. 84% of our faculty have terminal degrees. Academics here are rigorous and results-oriented.
North Park Theological Seminary prepares you to answer the call to service through theological study, spiritual development, and the formative experiences of living in a community with others on a similar life path.
The Office of Alumni Engagement fosters lifelong connections by engaging alumni with the university and one another in activities, programs, and services that support the university’s mission and alumni needs.
The gifts donated by students, staff, and faculty served 140 children.
Changes to the Great Gift Shoppe aim at empowerment over charity
CHICAGO (December 23, 2015) — It’s a familiar scene this time of year: parents filing into shops to buy Christmas gifts. For the parents gathered on Saturday, December 12, at By the Hand Club for Kids on Chicago’s West Side, things were a little different. They shopped with vouchers earned through family involvement in By the Hand’s community programs, and they purchased gifts donated by North Park University’s students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
At the event, called the Great Gift Shoppe, North Park students served hot chocolate, wrapped presents, and directed traffic. Putting gifts under the trees of Chicago families has been a holiday tradition at North Park for several years. The University partnered with By the Hand Club in Englewood and New Life Centers of Chicago this year, providing 140 children with gifts.
North Park students volunteering at
the Great Gift Shoppe.
The Great Gift Shoppe is a student-driven initiative, planned by theUrban Outreach Programming Team, 10 students who facilitate campus-wide service events. Over the past two years, the team has redesigned the program. “We had some deep dialogue with students about what it means that the only gift that a lot of these children were getting was coming from us—and not their family,” said Richard Kohng, the Urban Outreach coordinator at North Park. Out of this, they designed a shop, where the parents could be invested in the process. Parents request specific gifts for their children and buy them with vouchers.
Robert Cager, a student at North Park Theological Seminary and intern with University Ministries, oversaw this year’s program. “This new setup gives the parents the ability to actually gift their children with something rather than just accepting donations,” he said. “The parents are empowered and encouraged in this process.”
This shift in approach is part of an overall philosophy of student ministry at the University. According to Cager, “Missions and outreach ministry at North Park is not just about helping people, but it’s about humility and learning from those we’re called to help and minister to. The students also learn what it means to be content and grateful for what they have been privileged to receive back at home. This is learned by the students and taught by the families.”
Cager says he’s proud of how North Park students managed the event. “How they unified this past weekend to work for a cause that Christ has called us—loving our neighbors as ourselves—was simply amazing. With their outstretched hands this week, that love was displayed.”
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 Krawiec triplets together completed their bachelors of science in nursing.
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.
Ahnfeldt Medallion awardee Katelyn Burger and President Parkyn.
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."
North Park University’s School of Adult Learning Celebrates Student Excellence
Sixteen students and over 80 guests attended the Honors Celebration, held annually at the University Center of Lake County.
Honors Celebration held Saturday, December 5, in Grayslake
CHICAGO (December 18, 2015) — Faculty, staff, and students from North Park University’s School of Adult Learning gathered on Saturday, December 5, at the University Center of Lake County in Grayslake to celebrate graduating students for their leadership, service, and academic excellence. The School of Adult Learning recognized students who are earning their bachelor’s degree this month with honors, many of whom were also inducted into the North Park chapters of two honor societies: Psi Chi, the International Honor Society for Psychology, and Alpha Sigma Lambda, the oldest national honor society for non-traditional undergraduate students.
Additionally, six students were honored as School of Adult Learning Outstanding Students for Fall 2015: Steve Christian, Charles Culotta, Angela Mazzacano, Connie Serbia, Charles Tayona, and Denise Walsh. These students embody not only academic excellence, but also perseverance, leadership, and commitment to lives of significance and service.
Sixteen students and over 80 guests attended the Honors Celebration, held at the University Center of Lake County. North Park University Provost Michael Emerson and School of Adult Learning Dean Lori Scrementi addressed the students and families. In addition, Dr. Gary Grace and Dr. Hilary Ward Schnadt, dean and associate dean of the University Center, also participated in the ceremony.
“It takes tremendous courage and perseverance to return to school and complete a degree,” said Scrementi. "Our students must balance the demands of work, family, and other interests. Doing so with honors, while embodying the values of North Park, can inspire us all. I have no doubt the next phase of their journey into the careers and lives they desire will be equally as inspiring.”
The School of Adult Learning (SAL) at North Park University is dedicated to helping students finish their degree and succeed in a competitive job market. With seven majors, and courses available online and at two campus locations, in addition to a graduate program in counseling psychology, the School of Adult Learning offers a fast, convenient, and affordable path to completing a degree. SAL's welcoming campus community and supportive learning environment is shaped by North Park’s Christian identity, urban location, and intercultural community, and prepares students for lives of significance and service.
Students graduating from the School of Adult this semester, including those recognized at the Honors Celebration, will participate in a University-wide commencement this Friday, December 18, at 7:30 pm. For more information on commencement, please visit www.northpark.edu/commencement.
Literature Students Share the Books that Shaped Them
The Senior Seminar in Literature created the exhibit “Reading for a Lifetime,” currently on display in Brandel Library.
Senior Seminar students create the exhibition “Reading for a Lifetime”
CHICAGO (December 15, 2015) — Why do we read literature? How does literary study serve the common good? What is of value in our reading of literary texts? These are among the questions that North Park University’s Senior Seminar in Literature students grappled with this semester as they created the exhibit “Reading for a Lifetime,” currently on display at Brandel Library.
The exhibit, a collaborative project for Dr. Nancy Arnesen’s senior students, gave literature majors—along with Arnesen, University President David L. Parkyn, and Provost Michael O. Emerson—the opportunity to define themselves using the 10 to 12 books that have mattered the most to them.
Inspired by My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force, the exhibit featured personal “bookshelves” representing the ways in which identities are formed through literature. Along with Bookshelf, seminar students read Audrey Niffenegger’s graphic novel The Night Bookmobile, in which the Chicago author imagines a mysterious Winnebago filled with every book the narrator has ever read.
At the exhibition’s opening, each student told the story of their bookshelf, explaining the enjoyable but challenging task of choosing the books that had most shaped them. “It was great to hear lively conversations at the opening reception as people talked about their own books, as we hoped they would,” said Arnesen.
“Through their work on this project, these students have asked some of life’s big questions, which we actively encourage everyone here at North Park to do,” said Parkyn. “By sharing the books that have had the most impact on their lives, our students have drawn upon their personal histories, reflected on the ways in which their experiences at North Park have changed them, and pointed toward the lives they will lead after graduating.”
The library’s first floor featured physical bookshelves that represented the past, present, and future works of literature that seminar students had read, are reading, and hope to read, while the second floor displays photos of the bookshelves (shown below, with highlights of the curators’ statements).
“My students and I really appreciated working with Annie Wilkinson, Brandel Library’s head of circulation and communication, on this project,” Arnesen said. “Her enthusiasm, as well as the library’s generosity in making the gallery space available, helped us imagine a wider audience for our bookshelves. It was inspiring to have this gorgeous public stage on which to present our very personal ideas about how literature matters.”
Photos by Brittani Worley
Click on any image to get a closer look.
Katie Bast
“Many of the titles on my bookshelf reflect works from various stages and places in my life; these are the books that I think of and have some form of emotional reaction to. Some of these works are fresh in my mind and some I haven’t read in years, but I know that at one point in time, every work was incredibly important to me.
“This is the beauty of literature. It provides a snapshot into who I am thus far; I look forward to the ways it will expand and evolve.”
Jireh Kruse
“I always hear people making comments like, ‘Reading is just so boring.’ Reading is a new part of my life. Truthfully, I do not have a lot of experience with reading—I was one of the people making those comments.
“Today, I believe that if absolutely any person picks up the right book, they too will become a book lover. I encourage you to find yours!”
Edith Martinez
“For me, it was not until middle school that I really enjoyed reading, and the first types of books I truly liked were Japanese manga. Most of the books on this bookshelf are my absolute favorites.
“The rest are books that have taught me much about literature and teaching literature. All have shaped me in some way and mark different stages in my life; each have wonderful memories attached to them, and each book has been a joy to read.”
Stephanie Wirkus
“The process of curating my ‘Ideal Bookshelf’ was a practice in honesty and self-reflection. As I prepared to share something rather personal with the North Park community, it was important that my choices were an authentic representation of the literature that formed the basis of my understanding of and reverence for the written word. In doing so, I leaned toward texts that were intellectually and creatively impactful.
Underpinning it all is The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, the ideal companion text for readers seeking technical input.”
Brittani Worley
“Between school and my free time, I read a generous number of books, some of which have left a lasting impression. Classics introduced me to a world of complex themes, drama, and characters. Poets captivate me with their ability to use words and form to convey such powerful, and sometimes silly, sentiments.
“The remainder of the books are some of my favorites because they use a form or style that is unique from most popular books. I am enthralled with inventive writing, regardless of time or genre, because it encompasses the freedom and power writers have.”
Professor Nancy Arnesen
“Among others, my bookshelf includes:
-the book my parents gave me when I turned six
-the book I have read every year since 1979
-the book in which the antagonist turns to butter
-the book which includes the line ‘Reader, I married him.’
-the book I named my daughter after
-the book which portrays gender politics better than any I know
-the best book I’ve read this year
-a book that I loved, though I don’t remember why.”
President David L. Parkyn
“You can’t have a bookshelf if you can’t find the books. Amazon is easiest, of course, but not most pleasurable of book-hunting experiences. I prefer holding a book before I buy it, so The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop anchors my bookshelf.
“In addition to poetry, memoirs, books that explore vocation, guides to prayer, and books on past and present in Chicago, I have a couple of aids for cooking my favorite meals.
“On top of it all, in honor of North Park’s approaching 125th birthday, is A History of North Park College.”
Provost Michael O. Emerson
“The Bible is my life’s most influential book, but that seems too obvious. So I selected books that have shaped my research. They range across three main areas: religion, race/ethnicity, and urban issues.
“Within and across these areas, the books I selected fundamentally altered my thinking when I read them. They were all ‘ah-ha,’ light-bulb moments.”
The North Park Combined Women’s Ensemble was one of several to participate in the Festival of Lessons and Carols.
Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols emphasizes hope in a time of global unrest
CHICAGO (December 8, 2015) — Sunday was a night of reflection and joy for those who filled the pews of St. Hilary Catholic Church at North Park University’s eighth annual Festival of Lessons and Carols.
As children’s voices opened the concert softly singing, “Once in royal David’s city / Stood a lowly cattle shed / Where a mother laid her baby / In a manger for his bed,” the audience of approximately 1,000 could begin to see that the event was about more than seasonal cheer. This year’s theme, “Gathering at the Manger,” was intended to recognize and respond to a time of global turmoil with the hope of a humble nativity.
“There is so much homelessness in Chicago and the world—so many people displaced from their countries,” said Dr. Julia Davids, associate professor of music. “We can draw a comparison to Mary and Joseph as they tried in vain to find a place for her to have her child, eventually gathering in the humblest of spots—around a manger.”
The Gospel Choir performs “Have You Heard about the Baby,” featuring soloist Quincy Cochran.
President David L. Parkyn echoed this intention in his opening prayer: “Because this of all things would rejoice his heart, let us at this time remember in Jesus’s name, the poor and the helpless, the cold, the hungry, and the oppressed.”
The service structure of alternating lessons (Scripture readings) and carols originated in the Anglican church and tells the story of Christ, from the creation of the world to the birth of Jesus. “The music performed changes from year to year, while the readings stay the same,” said Davids. “A number of the musical pieces for the service express the humility of Christ’s nativity—especially Morten Lauridsen’s setting of ‘O Magnum Mysterium (O Great Mystery)’, that the first beings on earth to see the son of God were the animals in the stable. Such a humble beginning.”
The service included more than 20 compositions in English, Latin, Polish, Spanish, and Russian. North Park University’s six student ensembles, composed of about 150 students, performed throughout the service. Music education student JiaYi Liang stepped up to the podium to conduct the choir and congregation in “Silent Night,” and the audience couldn’t hold their applause after the University Gospel Choir, featuring music in worship student soloist Quincy Cochran, finished “Have You Heard about the Baby.”
Thomas Tropp conducts the Combined Women’s Ensemble.
The Chicago Children’s Choir’s Albany Park Neighborhood Choir joined North Park’s ensembles, offering a pre-service recital as well as selections throughout the program. This year marked the beginning of a new collaboration for North Park with St. Hilary Catholic Church. “We especially rejoice tonight in the hospitality of the Church of St. Hilary,” Dr. Parkyn said in his opening remarks.
In addition to North Park community members, the service’s readers included a St. Hilary parishioner and the music directors from the children’s choir and the church.
“We hope the effect will be one of great comfort and joy in a time of global unrest and darkness,” said Davids before the concert. “This is a special event for all of us—a bringing together of the North Park community.”
Faith and Justice Group to Hold Community Organizing Training
North Park students at the 2014 "People are Not Illegal" march, organized by the Faith and Justice group. Their community organizing training will be held on Wednesday, December 2, at 5:00 pm in Johnson Center 13.
“Our hope in this event is that North Park students learn that they can make a difference in society no matter their age, race, gender, political, or social standing.”
CHICAGO (December 2, 2015) — This evening, North Park University students will gather in the Johnson Center to learn concrete ways they can make a difference in their city and the world. Faith and Justice, a student organization on campus, along with Communities United, a grassroots community organization, will be leading a basic community organizing training that provides students tools to build campaigns and develop plans of action in their communities.
“This organizing training is important at this pivotal point in society because many people feel disenfranchised,” said Nyisha Haney, a current North Park Theological Seminary student and Faith and Justice Intern with North Park’s University Ministries. “Our hope in this event is that North Park students learn that they can make a difference in society no matter their age, race, gender, political, or social standing.
The event will consist of activities and dialogue led by professionally trained community organizers from Communities United. Formed in 2000, Communities United seeks to address the root causes of social, racial, and economic injustice at neighborhood, citywide, statewide, and national levels. They unite diverse youth and adults from the areas of Albany Park, Belmont Cragin, Irving Park, North Park, and West Ridge—all within close proximity to North Park’s campus—and through the development of coalitions, build powerful and broad-based alliances across the city and state.
The campus Faith and Justice group has a history of uniting students around local and national causes. They participate in citywide protests, organize town hall discussions, and hold trainings for students, among other activities that promote growth and action.
“I am a devout advocate for fairness and equality for all, and that is certainly not what I see today,” Haney said. “My hope is that our students see the value in the Faith and Justice organization and join us in this collective fight against injustice and pain in Chicago and nationwide.”
The Faith and Justice community organizing training will be held on Wednesday, December 2, at 5:00 pm in Johnson Center 13. For more information, please contact nvhaney@northpark.edu.
Dr. Jon Peterson, assistant professor of politics and government
Faculty aim to engage civically active student body in political science studies
CHICAGO (November 25, 2015) — “North Park students are politically engaged in all kinds of fields,” says Jon Peterson, assistant professor of politics and government at North Park University. Surveys conducted by students in Peterson’s research methods class find that North Park students of various majors are “far more involved in political activities than their peers,” he says, attributing the University’s location for cultivating their political engagement. Students regularly head downtown and across Chicago to demonstrate, march, sign petitions, and volunteer with organizations.
One of two faculty members teaching the University’s politics and government majors, Peterson is proud to watch many of his current students working in political offices across Chicago. “In the last six years, we’ve had 17 students in political internships, working for both of our U.S. senators, four congressional offices, and two Chicago aldermen,” Peterson says. “North Park students are doing political work.”
Peterson has watched his students go on to careers with nonprofits, ministries, and businesses. He’s seen some go on to law school. Over the last few years, in line with a campus-wide push to emphasize academic and research writing in all North Park curriculum, the department has been intentionally nurturing scholarly engagement among its students through a writing intensive and writing research courses.
On Saturday, November 7, 2015, the school had a unique opportunity to host the annual Illinois Political Science Association conference, “Promoting Scholarship in the Social Sciences and Humanities.” This event regularly draws political science professors from across Illinois schools, as well as graduate and undergraduate students, and North Park was honored to be chosen among three Chicago campuses as an ideal location. Lectures and panels at this year’s event covered topics from Middle East dynamics to corruption in Chicago politics.
But what excites Peterson about the University hosting a conference like this is developing student interest in scholarship. The department hopes to host again next year, as the size of the conference makes it an ideal place for undergraduate students to step out and practice writing and presenting research to professionals in the field. Peterson says, “This is the kind of opportunity that would allow us to show students what research science in this field looks like, to get them thinking about teaching and graduate school.”
Five Viking Student-Athletes Earn CCIW All-Conference Honors
Junior midfielder Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh of Stockholm, Sweden
CHICAGO (November 23, 2015) — Five North Park University student-athletes were named to the 2015–2016 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) All-Conference team this fall, across three different sports. The honors cap off a strong season for Viking athletics.
‘The most prolific goal-scorer in North Park history'
As the Vikings’ strongest midfielder in 2015, junior Pedram Tahmi-Masoleh of Stockholm, Sweden, not only led the men’s soccer team in every offensive category, but also broke the team record for goals scored in a season.
“Pedram has proven to be the most prolific goal-scorer in North Park history,” said Head Coach John Born. “He was continually targeted by the opposing defense, yet still managed to find the back of the net. His stellar play this season certainly deserves to be honored and celebrated.”
Tahmi-Masoleh was a unanimous All-CCIW First Team honoree, his second straight selection. He finished 2015 ranked in the top 10 nationally in four categories, including goals per game (1.8, second), shots per game (5.29, fourth), goals scored (20, fifth), and points per game (2.47, ninth) in all of NCAA Division III.
“I love to score goals, and I think when you have that mindset that you want to score and you know you can, the goals come,” Tahmi-Masoleh said. “I just tried to be a good teammate to everyone else because they set me up.”
One season, nine shutouts
Freshman defender Ricky Pimentel of Franklin Park, Ill.
Tahmi-Masoleh’s teammates Ricky Pimentel and Diego Lashlee also received recognition for their work on the field. Pimentel, of Franklin Park, Ill., became the first Viking freshman to earn All-CCIW First Team honors since 2011, while senior Lashlee, of Denver, earned Second Team honors in his third consecutive selection.
As one of the Vikings’ premier defenders this year, Pimentel was a key player in the team’s nine recorded shutouts. On October 6, he was named CCIW Defensive Player of the Week after helping lead the Vikings to a 1-0 win over nationally ranked University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and a 2-0 triumph over Millikin University in the conference season opener. Pimentel put away his first collegiate goal in a 6-2 victory over Illinois Wesleyan University October 14.
Senior midfielder Diego Lashlee of Denver
Despite an injury that sidelined him for six matches, Lashlee recorded eight shots, one goal, and an assist in the last five games of the campaign. He assisted on the second goal in the Vikings’ 3-0 Homecoming win over the University of California, Santa Cruz, on October 16, then earned his first goal of the season against Carthage College five days later. Lashlee finished 2015 with seven shots on goal and three points.
The team ended the year with an overall record of 12-4-2 and 3-2-2 within the CCIW.
A premier hitter
Although only in her freshman year, Lauren Wiltsie has become one of the premier women’s volleyball hitters in the CCIW. Wiltsie was named an All-CCIW Third Team selection after helping lead the Vikings to one of their most successful seasons in recent memory.
Freshman outside hitter Lauren Wiltsie of Elgin, Ill.
As the team’s top outside hitter, Wiltsie led the team with 363 kills, averaging just under four per set at 3.36. She finished the season with a team-best 26 serving aces and was second on the team in digs with 376, averaging 3.48 per set. She also totaled a team-best 16 double-doubles in kills and digs. Wiltsie, of Elgin, Ill., ranked among the conference elite, ranking in the top three for total kills and kills per set, and in the top 10 for total digs and digs per set.
The team ended with a 13-17 record, its best overall since 2011. The Vikings earned their best CCIW finish in the last nine years under first-year Head Coach Natalie Dietz.
Momentum continues
Sophomore Lisa Daniels earned CCIW All-Conference Second Team honors for the women’s tennis team, her second straight All-CCIW honor after being recognized as the CCIW Newcomer of the Year last season. Daniels, of Cape Town, South Africa, finished the year with a 5-4 overall record at No. 1 singles.
Sophomore Lisa Daniels of Cape Town, South Africa
“We are very proud of Lisa’s inclusion in the all-conference team,” said Head Coach Karl Clifton-Soderstrom. “From her start here last year, she has had an impressive career as our number one singles player. It’s a tough position to be in, because in every match, you are playing one-on-one against the best singles player at each school. This year, the CCIW was much tougher at their top positions. Lisa had a solid year against the new level of competition, and will only become a better player because of it.”
As part of the No. 1 doubles duo with Juviel Vinluan, Daniels earned three victories, including two straight wins over Olivet Nazarene University and conference foe Illinois Wesleyan. “The team momentum continues, and we look for more great things to come from Lisa and her teammates,” said Clifton-Soderstrom.
The team finished with a 5-5 overall record, a three-match improvement from its inaugural season last year. They earned a fifth-place finish in the CCIW postseason tournament, which the team entered with a number six seed.
North Park University Unveils Kathy J. Holmgren Nursing Simulation Lab
Simulation Lab named in honor of Class of ’69 graduate and longtime supporter of University
CHICAGO (November 20, 2015) —In a special ceremony held the morning of Friday, November 20, North Park University unveiled a new name for its state-of-the-art nursing facilities, the Kathy J. Holmgren Nursing Simulation Lab. Holmgren, who graduated from North Park with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1969, has been a longtime supporter of the University, including the recently opened Johnson Center for Science and Community Life.
Before a small group of friends and faculty of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Holmgren expressed her gratitude for the Evangelical Covenant Church and its long history of benevolent care, as well as what she called the “forward-thinking faculty” at North Park.
After Holmgren earned her degree from North Park, she went on to receive a master’s degree in oncology nursing from Brigham Young University, and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Dr. Linda Duncan, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and a classmate of Holmgren’s, reminisced in remarks to the audience about how far North Park had come in terms of nursing education. Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Mary Surridge, in welcoming the crowd, praised Holmgren for a life of service and devotion to faith, family, nursing education, and healthcare.
Holmgren’s interest in medical mission work in Africa twice led her to work and serve in Congo, first in 1969 and again in 2006, alongside her daughter, Dr. Calla Holmgren. Additionally, Kathy has provided volunteer medical care in Rwanda, Romania, Mexico, Uganda, and every U.S. city in which she has lived, while supporting her husband, Mike, and his work in the National Football League.
The 3,000-square-foot nursing lab at North Park University opened in 2011 along Foster Avenue.
“We proclaim here at North Park that how we live as individuals arises from the commitment to serve for God’s glory and neighbor’s good,” said University President David Parkyn. “We are delighted to name this sacred space of learning after Kathy, a woman who has dedicated her entire life to God’s glory and neighbor’s good. Nursing students today as well as generations to come will know the name Kathy Holmgren. Through knowing her name, they will know her life story. And through knowing her life story, they will be inspired to identify their own journey into a life of significance and service.”
Holmgren also served as a member of the North Park Board of Trustees for two terms between 1992 and 2004, and in 2006 received the North Park University Distinguished Alumni Award. She and Mike are the parents of four daughters, Calla, Jenny, Emily, and Gretchen, all of whom attended North Park.
The high-tech Simulation Lab opened during the summer of 2011 in a 3,000-square-foot, ground-level space on Foster Avenue. It includes four simulation rooms, two control rooms, and a conference room where students debrief their class experiences.
Holmgren’s ties to North Park go back generations. Her grandmother earned a nursing degree at nearby Swedish Covenant Hospital in 1903, which for many years collaborated on the education of nursing students. Her grandfather, Arthur Bowman, was pastor of nearby North Park Covenant Church, a congregation that many generations of North Parkers have called home.
“I am the most fortunate of people,” Holmgren said. “I feel so honored today.” In closing her remarks, she laughed, “All four of my children have gone to North Park. And it is Mike’s and my hope to have all nine grandchildren attend North Park as well.”
The University will host Juan Felipe Herrera November 12–13 for a lecture, a reading, and a class.
Juan Felipe Herrera on campus November 12–13 for event series
CHICAGO (November 9, 2015) — Juan Felipe Herrera spent his early childhood living in the tents and trailers that dotted the fields of Southern California’s farmland. The son of Mexican migrant farmworkers, Herrera would move with his family as the seasons and crops changed. Those years instilled in him a passion for fairness and justice, and a desire to tell the story of the migrant and indigenous experiences. Herrera was honored for how he has told that story when he was inaugurated as the first Mexican-American U.S. poet laureate on September 15.
North Park University will host Herrera on November 12 and 13 for a series of on-campus events, connected to this year’s Campus Theme program, What Is Truth? “It is an honor to have the poet laureate here,” said Dr. Karl Clifton-Soderstrom, associate professor of philosophy and the director of the Campus Theme program. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for our students to encounter a preeminent artist of our time. Mr. Herrera also shares with our campus a commitment to social justice, which shows up both through his artistic voice and in his own advocacy work.”
Prior to his inauguration, Herrera served as California State poet laureate, from 2012 to 2014. He is the author of many collections of poetry, novels, and children’s books, and the recipient of several prestigious literary awards and fellowships. Although Herrera recently retired as a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, his work as an artist and activist continues.
“Poetry is a call to action and it also is action,” Herrera told NPR in an interview just before his inauguration. “Sometimes we say, ‘This tragedy, it happened far away. I don't know what to do. I'm concerned but I'm just dangling in space.’ A poem can lead you through that, and it is made of action because you're giving your whole life to it in that moment. And then the poem—you give it to everyone. Not that we're going to change somebody's mind—no, we're going to change that small, three-minute moment. And someone will listen. That's the best we can do.”
On Thursday evening, Herrera will give a reading, followed by a discussion and book signing, in Isaacson Chapel at 7:00 pm. On Friday morning, he will deliver a lecture, “Truth-Telling and the Role of the Artist in Society,” in Anderson Chapel at 10:30 am. Herrera will also lead a private writing workshop for creative writing students on Friday afternoon.
“We have designed two events that each serves a different purpose,” said Clifton-Soderstrom. “Together, they allow us to interact with both aspects of his work. Both should be wonderful.”
The University’s Campus Theme program offers a yearlong series of events, lectures, and discussions across campus around a central question of the human experience. When the program committee decided on the theme of What Is Truth?, members felt that Herrera was an obvious fit. “There are a host of truths that Mr. Herrera’s work confronts us with,” Clifton-Soderstrom said.
The Campus Theme program, which hosted events throughout fall, will continue to explore the question "What Is Truth?" in the spring semester.
Throughout human history, he offered, debates have raged about whether art reveals or distorts the truth. But alongside the skepticism and scorn that artists have often historically faced, “there is also a tradition that claims the artists in society are the prophets, the seers, the diviners of the truths that reason, logic, and science cannot see,” Clifton-Soderstrom said. “Most notably, we might say that Mr. Herrera’s work confronts us with the truth, lies, revelations, and deceptions around the topics of cultural identity, geographical migration, and our own relationship to the land.”
Herrera plans to use his role as poet laureate as a platform for examining truth through storytelling. “I’m here to encourage others to speak,” he told the Washington Post earlier this year. “To speak out and speak up and write with their voices and their family stories and their sense of humor and their deep concerns and their way of speaking their own languages. I want to encourage people to do that with this amazing medium called poetry.”
Herrera’s two campus events are free and open to the public. Location details are available online.
Author tomgabrysiakPosted on Categories Stories
Dr. Jon Peterson, assistant professor of politics and government
