Defining Student Success

Senior Director of Academic Engagement and Student Success Dr. Evelyn Aucutt is honored to have been named the 2025 Champion of Diversity Award recipient. This honor recognizes a faculty, staff member, or administrator who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in intercultural engagement, restorative justice, or racial reconciliation on campus.

Aucutt embodies what it means to champion diversity, but her impact goes even further. She is deeply committed to supporting all North Park students, ensuring every student feels a sense of belonging, thrives academically, and makes the most of their university experience.

We caught up with Aucutt to learn more about the work she’s leading.

What drew you to North Park?

I’ve been at North Park for 12 years. I’m also a product of Christian higher education, and I believe in its mission and its role within the landscape of higher education. Yet, I attended an institution that was less inclusive of all faith backgrounds and experiences, so being an open-religion campus made applying to North Park and being a part of its mission very compelling.

Tell us a little about the role of academic engagement at North Park and the programs supporting student retention and success.

Regarding student success, we’ve started seeing it as not necessarily an endpoint. We believe it is about how our students flourish and grow while at North Park. We believe our students are created in the image of God, and we are committed to helping them discover and develop their gifts and talents as they prepare for their vocation and service in the world.

We’re also having ongoing conversations about student success, aligning with our flourishing student pillar. Flourishing is less of a destination and more of a way of life; we should strive to continue flourishing as individuals, society, and communities.

We want to help cultivate in our students the character traits of valuing curiosity, loving your neighbor and community, engaging in dialogue and discourse, and being with people who maybe don’t look like you or agree with you.

What programs or changes have come from the First-Year Experience at North Park?

First, there’s the Peer Student Success Coaching Program, a peer-to-peer model. All first-year students receive a peer student success coach based on their major. All first-year students embark on a new experience. Whether a student is first-generation or from a multi-generational college background, having an upperclass peer mentor provide guidance and support during the transition to college is invaluable.

The second is the Persistence Through Advising and Student Outreach (PASO) program. PASO is a tribute to our Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) identity and means “step” or “pace.” That’s a beautiful depiction of how we want to support and care for our students. It is about walking alongside students and providing intentional support.

Implementing a first-year advising model allows a team of individuals to receive professional development regarding advising. The literature on academic advising highlights how strength-based approaches positively influence student success, persistence, and retention in college. The FY PASO Advising program has allowed us to elevate advising for first-year students and address some of those challenges.

A third initiative of the First-Year Experience will launch this fall: the first-year seminar course, which faculty and staff will facilitate, and Peer Student Success Coaches (PSSC) will assist. We will facilitate a summer institute for instructors teaching the First-Year Seminar course. Whenever we implement a new initiative, we prioritize professional development to ensure that those leading the effort feel supported and invested in as well.

You recently received the Champion of Diversity Award. What does it mean to you to receive that recognition?

I was surprised because I don’t consider this work an obligation. No one is telling me that students of color matter or that we should be intentional about how we support them. It’s just part of my DNA. It’s the way I think. It’s the way I move through the world. I want to care for, nurture, and support all students, but I also believe that when we intentionally support students of color as an HSI and a Minority Serving Institution, all our students will benefit.

I don’t do this work to be recognized. I truly do this work because of all the gaps and the challenges that I experienced, the way that I was marginalized and experienced microaggressions and otherness during my college experience. It’s a way for me to pay it forward and contribute to making higher education a place where all students belong, flourish, thrive, and persist.

I’m not the only person doing this work. Most of my team members identify as people of color and are very committed to this work. It’s an honor to be recognized as a Champion of Diversity, but it’s also a way to elevate the importance of the work we’re all doing.

What’s one message you’d like to share with North Park families and students?

To parents, I would say we find it a privilege to continue to pour into and nurture and walk life with your child while they’re in college. We’re going to do our very best to cultivate an inclusive community and provide support and resources where students can thrive.

To students, we also count it a privilege that you chose to trust us as you begin this new endeavor. College is not just about pursuing a degree, but about developing as a person. Contemplating questions such as, who am I? Who do I want to become? How do I want to use my gifts, passions, and strengths to make a difference in the world?

We encourage you to embrace the process of exploration and the opportunity to learn more about yourself and others, to be curious, to be courageous, to find your voice, to not be afraid to fail, and to be open to this adventure. Know that you are not alone, and we will support you along the way.

Creating Welcoming Spaces and Initiatives for All Students

Vice President for Student Engagement Francisco Gaytán came to North Park University from Northeastern Illinois University four years ago. He first learned of North Park when a USA Today reporter interviewed him about Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). At that point, Northeastern Illinois had been an HSI for well over a decade, but Gaytán heard that North Park had just appeared on a list as an emerging HSI.

Gaytán said, “I told the journalist that I thought North Park was the university of the future, that its roots were very deep with an immigrant experience.” Two years later, he saw a North Park job posting focused on student success and improving retention rates, all emphasizing the student body’s diversity. He felt called to the position.

We caught up with Gaytán to learn more about his accomplishments at North Park and how he’s helping put students at the forefront.

What were your initial priorities when you arrived at North Park?

It was still amid COVID-19. All schools, including North Park, were experiencing a breakdown of community and uncertainty. Students were experiencing mental health challenges, and we literally couldn’t fully see each other because we were all wearing masks.

I met with many first-year students who felt insecure and said they’d had enough of COVID at that point. It would’ve been a year and a half into being isolated, socially distanced, and taking remote online education. The students focused on being upset with the school and the administration.

While some things were understandable, I would say that my assessment as a social scientist was that they were upset at the context—that they’d been pulled apart from community. The real opportunity I saw, and the hope I had, was to help build more community among our students.

What has that looked like?

Some of the things that immediately came out were that some of our immigrant background students and students of color didn’t feel seen at the university. Some of our commuters didn’t feel connected. Some of our retention rates for our athletes, especially our athletes of color and specifically our black male athletes, were not that high.

I also noticed that our staff and faculty felt isolated from each other. There was a real irony there because here we were, a small liberal arts school that’s very relational and very historically community oriented. We had not been able to lean into that.

That led to wanting to focus on building a sense of trust and community first among my staff but also with the students. With a lot of work, we slowly built that trust to build a bigger sense of being in this together.

We also revitalized our University Ministries with global partnership trips, including a trip to India. We became more intentional about supporting students by creating peer student success coaches. We saw this culminate recently in the largest undergraduate graduating class we’ve had in more than a decade.

What does it mean to be able to connect with students on a personal level?

I think that’s something uniquely North Park. We’ve created this very tight-knit community within the city. It’s like having your block, neighborhood, and family within the city. From that, students can go out and explore and connect. It’s like the concept of being an immigrant community, who often congregate in enclaves, tight-knit neighborhoods.

Some people perceive that as self-isolation, but I think it’s how you find support. North Park builds that little enclave, a very relational community. That’s unique in higher education.

As a vice president, I easily knew the names of at least 100 of those 300 graduates. I had personal conversations with at least one-third of them. It was exciting to say their names as they walked across the stage and give them a thumbs up because we had that connection.

What are some student-focused initiatives you’re particularly proud of right now?

When I came in, a group was concerned about our commuter students. They felt that our commuter students were disconnected from the campus. I had many conversations with the Student Government Association—which has a commuter committee—and a commuter-focused registered student organization. I noticed many of their concerns were not only their wanting dedicated commuter spaces, but also not having enough to eat. Sometimes, gas money alone costs too much. Sometimes, childcare or medical issues will put them in a situation where they must decide between paying tuition and an important bill. We started to address some of those issues piece by piece.

In addition, our contract with our dining services vendor, Aramark, was up. We went through a process of looking for new vendors and took bids from three different ones, but we also involved commuter students. Because of that and the students’ activism and voice, Aramark had a great idea to renovate the Viking Market & Café so that its hours were open later, and they partnered with us to donate swipes. That way, we could give away more than $1,000 of free meals.

They also renovated the lounge adjacent to the dining hall, which is open for commuters to hang out and eat lunch there even if they don’t have a meal plan.

This summer, we plan to find a place to put a cabinet for a food pantry. If a student is looking for a meal, they can find one without shame. That’s connected to our Christian identity of serving others and caring for our neighbors.

University Ministries has taken charge of making people feel closer together. They’ve been great about doing outreach.

We hope that, in the future, commuter students can attend a fall retreat at one of the Covenant camps so they can experience what it’s like to have an overnight experience, make friends, and develop their faith. They will build community and enjoy being young and in nature.

With student engagement at North Park in general, we want to show Christ’s love, which is loving each other and caring for people. It doesn’t matter what background you come from; it doesn’t matter what identity you have. You can come here and find people who care about you and feel like you belong.

What else do you think our North Park donors would enjoy knowing?

The Student Care Fund has been phenomenal. It’s helped students with medical bills, rent payments, food, and childcare.

I’d also like to encourage them to come to campus. Any chance they have to be here and see what we’ve done and participate in what we’re doing, whether that’s offering internships, serving with us during service days, coming to worship with us at Chapel, checking out new spaces that we’ve built, they’re always welcome back to participate.

What’s one message you’d share with North Park students?

They will likely find a beloved community where they will fit in. I’ll say that I am a little timid by nature. It’s funny that I’m in this relational student engagement space, but it makes me sensitive to those students who sit on the margins, who maybe feel a little afraid or like they’re just going to hang out in their car between classes. What we want to make happen here is to find your community and people who care about you.

Student Spotlight: Abigail Sensmeier

Expected graduation year: 2026

Major: Business and Nonprofit Management

Hometown: San Diego

During my time at North Park, I have made life-long friends and grown so much personally and professionally. I am so grateful that I chose to go here, and I look forward to my last year on our beautiful campus.

I just finished my junior year as a business and nonprofit double-major. I am a student executive for Freedom Forum NPU, a captain of the Allihopa Ultimate Frisbee Team, and a member of the Gospel Choir. I will also be the desk manager at Ohlson House this upcoming school year.

So far this summer, I’ve spent time with my family and friends in San Diego. I recently accepted an internship with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society as their Event Volunteer Engagement Intern! I’ll also be traveling a bit this summer, with trips planned to Northern California and Arizona.

During my senior year, I intend to stay involved and make the most of my time with my friends while we are all still at North Park. Post-graduation, I would like to go into the nonprofit sector and the event planning industry. I hope to tie the two together as a career, whether in Chicago or San Diego.

Hear From Our Students

Listen as North Park students share what it means to be called, formed, and sent into lives of significance and service.

David Nyvall Medallion for Outstanding Service and Partnership

For more than a decade, North Park University has recognized individuals and institutions who have served the campus community with exceptional distinction through The Nyvall Medallion for Outstanding Service. The medallion is named after North Park’s founding president, the visionary David Nyvall, and it acknowledges the recipients’ extraordinary service and the enduring impact of their contributions.

In honor of its significant partnership, service, and support for North Park’s mission, the Board of Trustees affirmed Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola (SVF) as a recipient of the Nyvall Medallion. The award was presented as part of the May 10 Commencement ceremony. Saga Olsson, a graduating North Park senior who began her journey as an SVF exchange student, accepted the medal on behalf of SVF. Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for the School of Music, Art, and Theatre and Director of the Center for Scandinavian Studies Dr. Chad Eric Bergman presented the medallion. He has been central to reinvigorating North Park’s vital relationship with SVF.

The North Park-SVF College Line Exchange Program is the longest continuous international exchange program between the United States and Sweden. The program began in 1975 and celebrated its 50th anniversary this May. At the center of this exchange has always been the goal to build relationships and transform lives.

For five decades, NPU and SVF would welcome a cohort of American and Swedish students to live and learn together in some configuration for the academic year, often spending the fall semester in Jönköping, Sweden, at the SVF campus and the spring semester at North Park. In addition, North Park and SVF faculty and staff have played instrumental roles in this exchange, helping forge these enduring friendships. This careful attention to living and learning together are hallmarks of our common purpose, and NPU is grateful for this partnership through the years.

Through cross-cultural exchange, SVF has been North Park’s sister school, affording transformative life experiences to students and resulting in a deeper understanding of North Park’s mission of preparing students for lives of significance and service.

In May, a group of 23 North Parkers embarked on a special tour of Denmark and Sweden. The group included alumni from the 60s through the 2000s, and they enjoyed traveling together. For those in the group with Scandinavian heritage, it was an opportunity to visit some important historical sites, including the customs house building in Gothenburg, through which many Swedish immigrants passed as they began their journey to America. The tour also included three days in Jonkoping and participation in the anniversary celebration of the 50-year exchange relationship between North Park and SVF. We hope this will be the inaugural trip of an ongoing alumni travel program, with opportunities to travel and learn together domestically and internationally. Stay tuned for information on future tour opportunities.

Golden Circle

More than 40 members of the Class of 1975 returned to campus to celebrate their Golden Circle Reunion and proudly marched in Commencement on May 10, marking 50 years since their graduation. Class of 1976, your milestone reunion is happening next year; we’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in helping us plan the celebration and reconnect with your classmates. Reach out to us at alumni@northpark.edu to get involved.

A Message from Mike Nevergall