CHICAGO (June 10, 2016) — Today, North Park University announced that it has joined with the Obama Administration and 24 other colleges and universities around the country as a founding partner for the launch of the Fair Chance Higher Education Pledge. The pledge provides higher education institutions with the opportunity to voice support for improving their communities through expanding college opportunity and eliminating barriers for those with a criminal record.
This morning at the White House, U.S. Secretary of Education John King and Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz hosted North Park, along with 14 other higher education institutions, to announce the pledge. Together, the 25 founding partner institutions represent and serve more than one million students.
“Too often, a criminal record disqualifies Americans from being full participants in our society—even after they’ve already paid their debt to society,” the White House Office of the Press Secretary said in a statement. “This includes admissions processes for educational institutions that can make it difficult if not impossible for those with criminal records to get an education that can lead to a job.”
North Park University President Dr. David L. Parkyn agrees. “North Park prepares students for lives of significance and service,” he said. “We believe that all people desiring a high-quality education deserve the opportunity. This has meant expanding the range of students we are educating, and expanding the support services we provide. We applaud the Fair Chance Higher Education Pledge, and we will work diligently to create pathways for a second chance for people with a criminal record. We are delighted to join fellow universities in working to remove unnecessary barriers for a higher education and becoming places of hope and opportunity.”
President David Parkyn was hosted at the White House to announce North Park’s founding partnership in the Fair Chance Higher Education Pledge.
Read The Atlantic‘s coverage of this initiative.
The Fair Chance Pledge
“North Park University applauds the growing number of public and private colleges and universities nationwide who are taking action to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed, including individuals who have had contact with the criminal justice system,” reads the pledge. “When an estimated 70 million or more Americans—nearly one in three adults—have a criminal record, it is important to remove unnecessary barriers that may prevent these individuals from gaining access to education and training that can be so critical to career success and lead to a fulfilled and productive life.”
“We are committed,” the pledge continues, “to providing individuals with criminal records, including formerly incarcerated individuals, a fair chance to seek a higher education to obtain the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to our nation’s growing economy.”
Provost Michael Emerson believes that as a university that deeply values its Christian identity, urban location, and intercultural campus community, North Park is uniquely positioned to broaden college opportunity. “People with criminal records have often made a series of serious mistakes,” he said. “As our educational system is currently set up, they will pay consequences for their mistakes for the rest of their lives, unable to get a university education.”
“We believe people can and do change, and like anyone else, need an opportunity to learn, grow, earn a living, and serve their community,” Emerson continued. “As a Christian university, we are compelled by our understanding of faith to offer the possibility of a university education to all who are willing to commit to higher learning.”
A Transformative Model
One of the ways North Park University has already worked to increase access to higher education is through Theological Seminarycourses held in Stateville Correctional Center. The semester-long classes, launched last year, have included a field education course called Intercultural Dialogue, in which Seminary students learned alongside Stateville students. “Several of those students have asked if, upon their release, they can continue their education at North Park,” said Emerson. “It is important to us that they can do so.”
Dr. Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, professor of theology and ethics, co-taught the class. “North Park’s education in prison envisions a transformative justice model of education that cultivates leaders in new contexts, forms Christian character through intercultural learning, and rethinks teaching and pedagogy,” she says. “We are committed to providing both theological and liberal arts education to individuals while they are currently incarcerated and after their release.”
Founding Partners
The higher education institutions serving as founding partners in launching the Fair Chance Higher Education Pledge are: Ancilla College, Arizona State University, Auburn University, Boston University, City University of New York, College of Saint Benedict, Columbia University, Eastern University, Howard University, New York University, North Park University, Nyack College, Raritan Valley Community College, Rutgers University (Biomedical and Health Sciences, Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick), Saint John’s University, San Francisco State University, State University of New York, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, University of California System, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, University of Puget Sound, and University of Washington. Find out more about the pledge.
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