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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.
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Future Students, University Supporters Tour Interior of Johnson Center
Dave Olson, co-president of construction firm W.B. Olson, Inc., led prospective students and their families through the interior of the building in progress, what he and the University envision as a "center of student activity" once it opens for the Fall 2014 semester.
Building set to open this summer
CHICAGO (February 13, 2014) — Future North Park students and dedicated University supporters got a sneak peek inside the Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life on Friday, February 7. Twenty-four select students and their families, on campus to attend a Trustee Award Event, toured the building’s interior in the afternoon. More than 60 President’s Club members were given a tour in the evening as part of President’s Club Appreciation Events.
Despite Chicago’s cold winter, the construction schedule has been kept on track. “Our goal was to have the building enclosed by December,” said Dave Olson, co-president of construction firm W.B. Olson, Inc. “We knew if we could get there and get the heat, we’d be just fine.”
Crews working to complete the Johnson Center’s interior structure have progressed from installing and insulating miles of conduit and plumbing piping to placing drywall and painting classroom and office spaces. With lab equipment arriving later this month, mechanical connections beginning, and floor completion scheduled for March, the building is on pace for a July move-in and to open for classes in August.
Incoming students got a feel for how the Johnson Center will be a University hub, with floor-to-ceiling windows in classrooms, labs, and gathering areas offering impressive views of the campus and city. “We envision that this will be a center of student activity,” Olson said as he led the tour through the building’s two-story atrium lobby.
Koslow Martin explained that all students will be able to use the Johnson Center as a resource in many different areas of community life, made easier by its physical location in the center of campus. She encouraged them to visit the Center for Student Engagement when they stop by the Johnson Center’s café. “Grab a bagel, then come see us.”
Professor of Chemistry Dr. Jonathan Rienstra-Kiracofe led students through classrooms and labs, describing the cutting-edge equipment that students will be able to use. “You’ll be able to attend lectures together in the classroom, then do your lab work in smaller groups at laboratories in the same building,” he said. Labs for the biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology programs were designed in consultation with faculty, Rienstra-Kiracofe said. The mathematics department will also move into the Johnson Center.
Students and their families stood in the future lecture hall in the Johnson Center as they learned about the many ways advanced technology will be incorporated into their learning experiences in the building.
In addition to interactive display screens, HDTVs, and smart display podiums, Rienstra-Kiracofe said, the Johnson Center’s labs and classrooms will include lecture capture technology that will allow class lectures to be recorded, then posted online for students’ further review. A new advanced anatomy cadaver lab will include a hospital-grade dissection light and camera.
Touring groups were also given a glimpse of the building’s energy-efficient design and construction process. The Johnson Center has submitted for LEED Gold-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, said Olson, and he expects to exceed those goal standards. The design and construction teams meet monthly on the status of LEED submittals and progress.
The LEED goal is for 10 percent of materials being used in construction of a building to be manufactured from recycled material, with 40 percent of materials mined or manufactured within 500 miles. To date, nearly 23 percent of construction materials for the Johnson Center are made from recycled materials, and nearly 48 percent of materials are mined or manufactured regionally. Eighty-two percent of the construction waste generated by the building has been diverted from landfills; the project goal is 75 percent.
Next, Olson said, he is eager to resume outside activity on the Johnson Center, which should begin again in two months. “The public spaces have to wow users of the building. The lobby area and the café—the places where people are going to hang out are going to be great,” he said. “But one area people are going to be thrilled by is the outside area,” he continued, looking to spring. “It’s pretty elaborate landscaping out there, and it’s hard to envision with all of the snow.”
I Go On Singing: Paul Robeson's Life in His Words & Songs
An Evening with Anthony Brown, Baritone
Thursday, February 13, 7:30 pm
Anderson Chapel, North Park University 5159 North Spaulding Avenue Campus Map
A lost American hero re-discovered through his music and archival video.
As an All-American athlete, recording artist, and star of the stage and screen, Paul Robeson was once the best-known African-American entertainer in the world. After his emergence in the 1930s, Robeson became an early champion of civil rights. He traveled the world promoting peace, but trouble lay ahead, and ultimately he sacrificed his career and everything he’d accomplished by challenging the dominant culture’s status quo.
The story of this all-but-forgotten American hero will come alive on February 13 at North Park University in a rousing new 90-minute song-filled presentation, I Go On Singing: Paul Robeson’s Life in His Words & Songs, performed by the gifted American baritone and international promoter of peace, Anthony Brown. Accompanied by School of Music faculty member Thomas Jefferson on piano, Mr. Brown will reveal Robeson as an American patriot and towering figure of the 20th century. Told in Robeson’s own words, using many first-hand accounts from his autobiography, Here I Stand, the show traces his humble beginnings as a preacher’s son in Princeton to his international celebrity and as tireless fighter for human rights. The late folk legend Pete Seeger makes three video guest appearances discussing his friendship with Robeson and the music they shared.
I Go On Singing, written by Andrew Flack, delivers equal parts historical documentary with a live concert experience. Musical numbers range from Spirituals to Broadway, and include original arrangements of Robeson favorites like Ol’ Man River, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Shenandoah, Scandalize My Name, It Ain’t Necessarily So, All Through the Night, Joe Hill, Deep River, and many others.
This concert experience is free and open to the public, and is in conjunction with this year's Campus Theme, "What Is Peace?" as well as North Park University’s celebration of Black History Month.
About the Artist
Anthony Brown
Internationally acclaimed baritone Anthony Brown is a promoter of peace and goodwill around the world. Anthony uses music to promote peace and reconciliation in countries where peoples’ lives are torn by war and civil strife.
His peace work has taken him to political hot spots such as Bosnia, Northern Ireland, China, Japan, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Uganda, South Korea, Ethiopia, and Colombia. In each venue, Anthony’s stirring performances connected people across race, language, religion, and culture—and helped them focus on how all one in the family of humanity.
In addition to his international peace work, Anthony is one of today’s most dynamic performers who sings a wide range of crowd-pleasing vocal repertoire, from musical theater and African American spirituals, to opera, oratorio, and art song. He is artist in residence at Hesston College, Hesston, Kan., and represents the college at various events across the United States.
Additional Events
In addition to the Thursday evening presentation, Mr. Brown will participate in several other campus events during his visit:
Chapel Service
Wednesday, February 12, 10:30 am
Anderson Chapel
Honoring the Ancestors: Taking the African American Spirituals Around the World
Wednesday, February 12, 7:00 pm
Anderson Chapel
(Workshop with members of the North Park University Gospel Choir; open to the public)
Performance and Social Change
Thursday, February 13, 1:30–3:00 pm
(Undergraduate class; open to the public)
For more information, please contact Karen Dickelman via email or by calling (773) 244-5265.
A collaboration among North Park Theological Seminary and partner international schools visited ancient Greek sites in January, including the Greek amphitheater in Epidaurus.
North Park Theological Seminary in Greece
CHICAGO (February 4, 2014) — There are three ideal spots onstage at the Greek amphitheater in Epidaurus. It is one of the best-preserved theaters, built in the fourth century B.C., and its pitch-perfect acoustics have not been able to be replicated with modern technology.
A group of North Park Theological Seminary students and faculty traveled to the amphitheater last month and spread out in the audience around circular stone bench seats.
The tour guide asked if anyone wanted to sing, hoping to show off the acoustics of the theater. The class immediately volunteered three people, including Nilwona Nowlin, a North Park Seminary dual-degree student who will earn her master of arts in Christian formation and master of nonprofit administration in May. Nilwona hesitated as she had a cold, but finally gave in, and stepped to one of the three perfect spots and sang a rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
“Normally when you sing on a stage you have to think about projecting and all of the muscles that go into it,” Nilwona said, “but I didn’t have to force anything and people all the way in the back could hear clearly.”
One of the people in the back was Nilwona’s teacher, Dr. Max Lee, associate professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary. “We were stunned about how advanced they were back then in terms of technology and it made the ancient world that much more real. It made the world of Acts come alive.”
From January 3 through 11, Nilwona and Dr. Lee journeyed to Greece along with 15 students and two additional faculty members from the Seminary for a Greece and Early Christianity course. It was collaboration with IFFEC, the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches. Joining North Park were 16 international participants from IFFEEC schools in Sweden, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, China, and Brazil.
“We got to converse with our sister churches, and hear what’s happening in their ministry,” Dr. Lee said. The group gathered at night for worship and prayer led by North Park’s Dr. Carol Noren, Wesley Nelson Professor of Homiletics. “We heard the challenges the churches are having, and had a renewed sense of communion among the diverse group.”
Students prepared for the trip with a series of readings on Greco-Roman history, religion, and culture, as well as study of Acts and Paul's letters to the Corinthians. The Greek Bible Institute in Athens hosted the group, who stayed in dorms and spent the first day in seminars preparing for the week.
But most of the trip was reserved for traveling around to significant sites in early Christianity, including the Roman Forum in Athens, the Parthenon and Acropolis, Epidaurus, Naflplion, Delphi, and Corinth.
One of the first sites the group visited was Areopagus, known to many as Mars Hill, the site where Paul delivered a sermon to the Stoics and Epicureans recorded in Acts 17. Dr. Klyne Snodgrass, North Park’s Paul W. Brandel Professor of New Testament Studies, had a student read the sermon aloud. They heard the words of Paul, “The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands.” In the background stood the Parthenon, the impressive Greek temple and center of Athenian worship.
“It was a really great moment for all of us when we could see the Parthenon,” Dr. Lee said. “We could see the temple of Nike, and here we could see with our mind's eye Paul pointing directly to the temple and saying: 'God does not live in shrines made by human hands.'”
“Now when I approach the Bible, I have this culture and these sites in mind,” said Nilwona Nowlin, who with the class visited sites including the Roman Forum in Athens, the Parthenon and Acropolis, Corinth, and Erechtheion, a Greek temple (above).
Nilwona added, “Now when I approach the Bible, I have this culture and these sites in mind.” She talked about visiting locations of athletic competitions, and being reminded of Paul’s words of “running the race” and “finishing the course.” Paul used that language to speak directly to the people and their culture. “Seeing this helps not just as I’m studying the Bible, but also how I’m communicating it to other people,” Nilwona said. “I came home asking what are cultural examples I can use as I’m communicating.”
“I didn’t get these kinds of opportunities growing up,” Nilwona said. “Experiencing these kinds of things allows me to take these stories back to my community and encourage young people to want to do these kind of things and want to travel and experience other parts of the world.”
North Park Theological Seminary’s commitment to developing women and men as faithful ministers of the Gospel is enhanced through travel learning. Yearly trips around the world to places like South America, Europe, and the Middle East allow students to experience a variety of cultures and engage scripture and theology from new perspectives.
“A lot of what people experience most of the time in Seminary is very cognitive,” said Dr. Lee, who has been blogging about the recent trip to Greece. “They read, they go to class, and that is a tremendous way to learn. But sometimes there are insights born from being there that cannot be born from just being in the classroom.”
University Commemorates Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Rev. Dr. Willie Jennings, associate professor at Duke University, spoke during Monday's worship service.
Rev. Dr. Willie Jennings asserted that living in King's legacy means to unmask and speak truth to power
CHICAGO (January 21, 2014) — Rev. Dr. Willie Jennings, associate professor of theology and black church studies at Duke Divinity School, told an audience in Anderson Chapel on Monday that the world is in desperate need of religious and Christian intellectuals.
“By definition a Christian intellectual is an activist intellectual,” Dr. Jennings said. “It is a person who has the courage to unmask and speak truth to power. Our goal is to change the world because we serve a God who has changed it.”
Dr. Jennings’ message was part of North Park University’s annual worship and service day celebrating the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Jennings admonished the smoothed and polished symbol of Dr. King etched into stone monuments, and told the audience to reclaim the legacy of a man rooted as a “black Baptist preacher of the Church and of the South” who “carved his voice out of suffering and out of pain.”
“If the civil rights movement taught us anything,” Dr. Jennings added, “it is that fear normalizes oppression. It normalizes the absurd. And right now in this country we are normalizing the absurd.” Citing issues of racial injustice, economic disparity, and health deprivation, Dr. Jennings said he can no longer ignore that this country from its founding has been addicted to greed and violence. The only question that remains is whether we are going to challenge that addiction.
A number of voices reflected on Dr. King’s message of justice during Monday’s service, from the North Park Seminary Gospel Choir to a group of young people from Second Baptist Church and Beth Emet The Free Synagogue in Evanston. That group recently journeyed on Sankofa together, a six-day trip to major Civil Rights sites in the south, reflecting on issues of race and privilege. During Monday’s service the group related their journey to the call of Isaiah 58 to “loose the bonds of injustice.”
Other faculty, students, and area community members shared reflections on what Dr. King means for their vision of justice, including Randa Kuzies, a Muslim leader from Interfaith Youth Core. She shared excerpts from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” emphasizing that time is neutral, and can be used either constructively or destructively.
Later Monday afternoon, Dr. Daniel White Hodge, director of the Center for Youth Ministry Studies and assistant professor of youth ministry at North Park, continued the discussion of what Dr. King’s legacy means today with an interfaith and intercultural discussion panel. Members of Interfaith Youth Core, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders, along with area youth discussed issues of race, religion, and gender.
Workshops and webinars for nonprofit professionals now open for registration
CHICAGO (January 16, 2014) — Career paths for nonprofit professionals, fundraising to fuel social change, recharging volunteer programs, project management, program evaluation, and budgeting are just a few of the exciting topics to be covered in the upcoming spring workshops and webinars presented by the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University.
Workshops and webinars take place between January 29 and April 23, and are a valuable resource for nonprofit professionals in the greater Chicago area. Industry experts, including representatives from Heartland Alliance, LinkedIn, and Silk Road Rising, will present on a variety of timely topics relevant to management and leadership of nonprofit organizations. Past participants have praised Axelson Center workshops for their outstanding, informative and relevant content, as well as their incredible value, calling them “a cost-effective method of staff training” and “a great reminder of what it takes to be successful in this [nonprofit] business.”
Half-day workshop registration fees are $80; full-day fees are $160. Members of YNPN Chicago, Donors Forum, United Way and several other affiliate groups are eligible for registration discounts. North Park University students, alumni, and participants affiliated with organizations with budgets under $1 million are also eligible for discounts. Registration closes at noon Central Time the day prior to the event.
The Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University is the source for informative and engaging nonprofit professional development in the Chicago region. Through regular workshops, webinars, and an annual two-day conference, the Axelson Center delivers a superior educational experience for nonprofit managers, leaders, and frontline staff, covering a vast array of topics from program evaluation to strategic planning, and communications to financial management. The valuable information presented through these programs enhances the impact of both the nonprofit sector and its professional staff. Visit www.northpark.edu/axelson for more information, including a full schedule of upcoming events.
Chemistry Department Receives $17,000 Grant for Two Instruments with Biomedical and Food Applications
“We wanted to give our students the most modern experience possible in the lab and give them the hands-on experience they’ll need for graduate school and jobs in the industry,” said Dr. Anne Vázquez, assistant professor of chemistry, of the new equpiment that will soon arrive for students.
New equipment funded by the Max Goldenberg Foundation will allow students to use advanced analytical techniques in classes and research
CHICAGO (January 3, 2014) — The Max Goldenberg Foundation has awarded a $17,000 grant to the North Park University Chemistry Department for two state-of-the-art instruments that will allow students to use advanced analytical techniques in laboratory work and research, which will better prepare them for future careers in the field.
“We wanted to give our students the most modern experience possible in the lab and give them the hands-on experience they’ll need for graduate school and jobs in the industry,” said Dr. Anne Vázquez, assistant professor of chemistry. “Students will use the equipment multiple times throughout their college career and will integrate the instruments into their undergraduate research experience because we want to give our students the best opportunities available.”
With biomedical applications that include the ability to detect cancer, the Agiltron PeakSeeker Raman Spectrometer is an important instrument in the health sciences. It is used to identify substances, and will enable students to monitor the progress of chemical reactions and observe how these reactions become products. Starting sophomore year, chemistry majors will gain experience with the equipment in a variety of courses, including analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry, as well as through faculty and student-led research.
The Parr Instruments Combination Calorimeter—which is used to measure changes in energy, including calories in foods—will be incorporated into research and several courses as well, including general chemistry, physical chemistry, and others. This equipment is notable for its ability combine both bomb and solution calorimetry and will help faculty to better connect what students are learning in lectures to what they are doing in the lab, Professor Vázquez said.
The Max Goldenberg Foundation has funded other chemistry equipment, including Lab Quest hand-held data acquisition PDAs, reflectance spectrometer, flash chromatography system, and a compact NMR spectrometer. “They’ve always been generous and made a difference in our students’ education,” Professor Vázquez said of the foundation, which supports educational, religious, and medical groups.
The department expects to receive and include the $9,000 raman spectrometer and the $8,000 combination calorimeter into classes and research during the spring semester. The equipment will then move to the new Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life, which is scheduled to open in Fall 2014. Ultimately the addition of the instruments will help the chemistry department improve the student lab experience and prepare them for work after graduation.
“A benefit of being at a liberal arts college is that our students get hands-on experience and use the instrumentation themselves, so when they get to graduate school and start a job, they won’t be intimidated by the equipment,” Professor Vázquez said. “That’s something we really value.”
University Launches Certificate in Music for Social Change
The School of Music expands its undergraduate program offerings with a certificate and four degree concentrations
CHICAGO (September 27, 2013) — Students in North Park University’s School of Music are the first in the nation to have an undergraduate academic certificate option to prepare them to teach classical music using El Sistema-inspired methods, the new certificate in music for social change. Growing out of a social movement in Venezuela, El Sistema is a philosophy of providing free music education to school-aged children as one way of bringing communities together and inspiring young students to achieve great things.
“El Sistema isn’t really a technique, it’s a philosophy. You give young students these intensive experiences—usually every weekday after school—so that in the critical late-afternoon part of the day when they could be doing any number of things, they are occupied becoming young musicians,” said Dr. Craig Johnson, dean of the School of Music. “Programs are offered free, which is a part of the philosophy, but there are many different iterations that grow out of what is most appropriate for each individual setting.”
The School of Music’s involvement in the El Sistema movement has grown from the idea of one student into an ongoing collaboration with The People’s Music School, a Chicago organization dedicated to providing free music lessons to young people. In 2008, North Park student Deborah Wanderley dos Santos C’10 helped found the youth orchestra program at nearby Hibbard Elementary School, which operates under the El Sistema philosophy. dos Santos and other students volunteered and formed a partnership with The People’s Music School that has persisted and grown; the orchestra at Hibbard is now the Albany Park Nucleo of The People’s Music School Youth Orchestras: El Sistema Chicago, and University students continue to serve as mentors and teachers for aspiring string players. Dr. Tom Zelle, the University’s director of orchestral activities, has also become their artistic director.
The philosophy of El Sistema music programs fits closely with the mission and core values of North Park, offering University students a hands-on way to join their love of music with their desire for a life of significance and service. According to Zelle, it’s a musical experience for youth that is not dependent upon socioeconomic factors for access, in a time where private lessons and instruments are costly.
“El Sistema inspires a dynamic of community and social change that is rare,” Zelle said. “We are moving away from what separates toward what unites, with an emphasis on a shared experience of the orchestra practicing and performing together.”
The certificate in music for social change will introduce North Park music majors to this El Sistema philosophy through teaching stringed instruments to elementary-aged students. Through theory and methods courses, as well as three semesters of internship, graduates of the program will gain the tools and experience to use El Sistema-inspired techniques throughout their career, developing young musicians who might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn classical music. The partnership with The People’s Music School will help provide internship opportunities at the Hibbard School orchestra as well as at orchestras in Logan Square and Evanston. Any student majoring in music can pursue this 8-credit-hour certificate alongside their degree.
New concentrations in bachelor of arts degree
The School of Music is also now offering an enhanced bachelor of arts (BA) degree, providing concentration options for students to focus their studies. According to Johnson, 35 percent of music majors are in the BA program. Now, along with a broad general studies option, students can select concentrations in arts administration, composition, or instrumental jazz studies.
The composition track replaces a bachelor of music in composition degree that was focused heavily in classical music. The new program allows space for majors to experiment with a range of pieces, from writing and performing singer/songwriter material all the way to large orchestral or choral arrangements.
Along with music curriculum, students choosing arts administration will take focused courses in topics like nonprofit leadership, volunteer management, and complete an arts administration internship in a music-focused venue. This program draws on the strength of the University’s resources in nonprofit coursework and connections that have grown through the School of Business and Nonprofit Management.
The instrumental jazz studies concentration is a performance-focused track, but distinct from the classically oriented bachelor of music in performance. According to Johnson, this is an important way to respond to the varied interests of students.
“Right now, students can come and get a really top-notch performance degree, go audition for grad schools, and pursue that dream of being a classical musician or opera singer. But they can also come pursue this enriched BA with a much broader approach and free themselves up to experiment with many more options,” Johnson said.
Substantial Progress Reported to North Park University Trustees
The North Park University board of trustees met here February 8-9.
University building project moving ahead, milestones in giving achieved
CHICAGO (February 14, 2013) — With the sounds of new building construction outside, North Park University administrative leaders told the board of trustees about significant financial milestones, plans aimed at increasing enrollment for the next academic year, and positive results from a national student learning survey. The trustees met here at the University's campus February 8-9.
"Certainly there’s great excitement on campus with the beginning of construction for the Johnson Center," said Dr. David Parkyn, president of North Park University. The $44 million Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life, now under construction in the center of the campus, is expected to be completed for the 2014 academic year. Funds to support construction of the Johnson Center have been provided through Campaign North Park, the University's comprehensive fundraising effort.
After the City of Chicago issued the foundation permit late last year, the Johnson Center construction team began excavation and concrete foundation work and installed 78 concrete caissons for the building's foundation, said Carl Balsam, executive vice president and chief financial officer. Next, the construction team expects to complete foundation walls on the east-west wing, and to excavate the lower level of the north-south wing. In March and April, the team plans to pour the slab-on-grade for the lower level. In May, steel erection should begin, and in July, the team expects to start work to enclose the structure, he said.
Two milestones announced, Annual Fund donors grow
To date, commitments to Campaign North Park are now more than $60 million, said Mary Surridge, vice president for development and alumni relations. Thus far, $39.8 million has been committed for the Johnson Center, she said, adding that additional giving was inspired by the groundbreaking in October 2012. The campaign has also secured $12.6 million for endowed scholarships, $2.6 million for academic support, and $5.7 million for the Annual Fund. The number of donors participating in the Annual Fund to date is about 1,600, twice as many as the previous year, Surridge said. She noted that Campaign North Park has helped broaden the University's donor base.
In addition, North Park University's endowment has passed the $70 million mark, Balsam reported. The endowment was $6 million when Balsam joined the University staff nearly 25 years ago, he noted.
Enrollment news shows promise
The University welcomed 93 new undergraduate students for the spring semester, the second largest mid-year new student enrollment in eight years, said Nate Mouttet, vice president for enrollment and marketing. In addition, 1,653 undergraduate students returned for the spring, he said, a 95 percent persistence rate of students eligible to return from the fall semester for the spring semester. Early trends for fall 2013 undergraduate enrollment are positive, similar to the record traditional undergraduate enrollment in 2011, he said. Mouttet emphasized that more work is needed to secure student commitments for fall. The University is also working on a multi-year strategic enrollment planning process with Noel-Levitz, a higher education consulting group, he added. That process is being carried out in concert with a multi-year University strategic planning effort.
Student survey results positive for North Park
The University presidentreported results of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which asks first-year and senior students about their participation in certain student activities, and the activities' relationship to the students' learning and personal development. The 2012 results showed North Park students reported high levels of satisfaction in active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences, as well as a supportive campus environment, compared to results from three years earlier, Parkyn told the trustees. "We have long held, and now have research to show, that how students interact with faculty makes a difference. We need to walk alongside our students," Parkyn said, adding the 2012 results provide "lots of encouragement."
Institutional planning, leadership transition
Parkyn said he is in dialogue with University faculty and staff on an initial draft of an overall University strategic planning document, a five-year plan that includes the University's 125th anniversary year in 2016. He also reported that Andrea Nevels will leave the University this month after 10 years as vice president of student development and dean of students, to begin a new role at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Elizabeth Snezek, assistant dean of student development, is interim dean through the remainder of the academic year.
Astrophysicist Reflects on Science, God, and Jesus in North Park Lecture Series
Dr. Jennifer Wiseman discussed her own views regarding science and faith from the perspective of a Christian astrophysicist.
Campus Theme speaker Dr. Jennifer Wiseman comments on 'What is Nature?'
CHICAGO (March 4, 2013) — New telescopes have enabled humans to see billions of miles into the universe and billions of years back in time, said Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, director of the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Being able to witness God's creation in this way has led to her conclude that "God is a grand and creative God," she said.
Wiseman made the comments in a March 1 presentation to North Park University students, faculty, and staff. She was invited to speak as part of the 2012–2013 Campus Theme Lecture Series on the topic, "What is Nature?" Wiseman is also senior project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. She was the 2001–2002 Congressional Science Fellow, American Physical Society, and served with staff of the Committee on Science of the U.S. House of Representatives. Wiseman spoke her own views from the perspective of a Christian astrophysicist.
"It's an exciting time for science in general," Wiseman observed. Astronomers generally agree that the universe began with "a spectacular energetic burst" about 13.7 billion years ago, she said, and much has been learned about its origins through the Hubble Space Telescope. Wiseman highlighted her comments by showing the audience several images from the Hubble Telescope, as well as her own cell phone video of the launch of a Space Shuttle mission to maintain the telescope.
Images from telescopes such as the Hubble remind people of the sense of wonder, she told the audience. "We're getting some kind of message from the heavens declaring the glory of God. That is the first and foremost response we ought to have as we look at the heavens above and nature around us," Wiseman said. Newer, infrared telescopes enable scientists to see distant galaxies, and to see farther back in time and space. A new infrared space telescope with expanded capacity is expected to be launched into Earth orbit in 2018, she said.
Though Wiseman cautioned against using science to try to "prove God," she said that based on her own faith perspective and inferences, science can contribute ideas about the nature of God. "I do think we can at least understand from a faith perspective that our God is a grand and creative God," she said. She urged that people of faith talk about issues involving science. Wiseman also noted that when nature is mentioned in Scripture, such as in Psalm 19:1-4, it is often brought up in the context of praise.
Jesus fits well in God's creation story, Wiseman observed. "There's a strong connection. Jesus was not just an afterthought of God's, but actually, he was the focus of creation for all time in terms of the Scripture, and that it is in Christ that the whole universe is sustained," she said, quoting Hebrews 1:1-3.
Wiseman was the fourth and final speaker in an impressive lineup of Campus Theme lecturers who addressed the nature topic this academic year, said Dr. Karl Clifton-Soderstrom, director of the Campus Theme Lecture series, assistant professor of philosophy, and director of general education. Previous speakers were Sir Peter Crane, dean of Yale University's School of Environmental Studies, author, and former director of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Great Britain, Chicago's Field Museum, and of the University of Chicago's geophysical science program; Dr. Vandana Sheeva, an internationally known environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee; and Barry Lopez, a best-selling nature writer and National Book Award winner.
Speakers for next year's Campus Theme Lecture series will address the topic, "What is Peace?"
University Hosts Forum to Seek Solutions to Chicago Street Violence
Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton was among parents of slain Chicago teens who addressed the North Park audience. The shooting death of her daughter, Hadiya Pendleton, became a national story earlier this year.
Families affected by violence represented, students hold neighborhood prayer vigil
CHICAGO (March 22, 2013) – Parents of Chicago teenagers killed in acts of violence spoke about their sons and daughters to a large audience at North Park University March 20, as did activists and elected officials working to stop community violence. They were part of a daylong series of educational activities, "Creating Peace on Chicago Streets," aimed at promoting a culture of peace and nonviolence.
Richard Kohng, urban outreach coordinator, North Park University Ministries, said "Creating Peace" initiated dialogue on ways to prevent community violence. "Throughout our nation's history, students have been involved in large movements when there has been change, and I think a lot of the students really wanted to be part of this movement," he said in an interview.
A central piece of the event was a public forum in Hamming Hall which included testimony by parents and family members of murdered teenagers. Ashley Douglas, a North Park student majoring in communications, recited a poem recalling her twin brother, whom she was with when he was shot and killed at a high school basketball game in Chicago. She was 16 years old at the time. "The violence has to cease before it spreads any more like an incurable disease. Please use your resources to help our community be free and build unity," she said.
A case that attracted national attention was the shooting death in a Chicago park of Hadiya Pendleton, 15, just days after her school band performed at President Obama's inauguration. "I have not yet accepted the fact that my daughter has been murdered," said her mother, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, to the North Park forum. "Violence is very real. It tears families apart."
Pendleton said she was proud of her daughter, whom she said loved variety, reflected in her choices of music and interest in different cultures. In her memory, the family is creating Hadiya's Foundation, focusing on social, educational, and economic services, Pendleton said.
Klyn Jones, Hadiya's classmate and friend, was with her in the park when the shooting occurred. "It's been very hurtful for me. I can't hear her laugh. I can't see her smile. It hurts. It's probably never going to stop hurting," she told the North Park audience. Students and others performed "Never Again!" (Hadiya's Song), an original musical piece written by Asim Allakim, a student in the University's Music in Worship program, and others.
Other parents who spoke were Ron Holt, a veteran police officer, whose son, Blair, 16, was shot and killed in 2007 when a gunman fired at a city bus, and Pamela Hester Jones, mother of Lazarus, 13, who was beaten to death by strangers in 2007.
Speakers included 47th Ward Alderman Ameya Pawar; Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr., representing the city's 27th Ward; plus representatives of the Stop Concealed Carry Coalition, and Faith Rooted Chicago. Susanna Song, reporter for CBS 2, WBBM-TV was the forum's moderator.
Several students joined Dr. Mary Trujillo, professor of communication arts, in an evening prayer vigil and walk through the Albany Park community. They prayed for peace at spots in the neighborhood where people have been killed by violence, and they prayed at places of hope in the neighborhood, such as schools.
The day's activities concluded with a reception in Hamming Hall highlighting individuals and organizations using the arts to address violence. Trujillo's conflict transformation class hosted the event as a service-learning initiative.
Earlier, Rev. Corey Brooks, Sr., pastor of New Beginnings Church, Chicago, was guest speaker at the University's regular chapel service. The day before, Brooks said, he had officiated at the funeral of Jonylah Watkins, a 6-month-old girl killed while his father was changing the baby's diaper. The infant was fatally wounded by a gunman who opened fire on the minivan they were in. The father, Jonathon Watkins, was seriously wounded.
"Creating Peace" was sponsored by University Ministries, the conflict transformation class, and Faith Rooted Chicago.
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