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.
After 125 years, we’ve learned how to streamline the process of helping qualified applicants seek admission to North Park and find affordable ways to attend. If you don’t see what you’re looking for on our website, please contact us directly!
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.
Viking Preview Days offer you a firsthand taste of the North Park University experience by allowing you to connect with our community and learn about our vibrant student life. Viking Preview Days are an ideal opportunity for students to take the next step in their college journey and discover what makes North Park special.
Highlights:
-Attend “Coffee with Coaches” and learn more about Viking Athletics (optional)
-Are you a first-generation college student? Attend a session designed just for you! (optional)
-Connect with faculty from your intended major
-Explore our campus oasis on a tour led by North Park students
-Get all your questions answered about your admissions application and financial aid
Viking Preview Days offers you a firsthand taste of the North Park University experience by allowing you to connect with our community and learn about our vibrant student life. Viking Preview Days are an ideal opportunity for students to take the next step in their college journey and discover what makes North Park special.
Highlights:
-Attend “Coffee with Coaches” and learn more about Viking Athletics (optional)
-Are you a first-generation college student? Attend a session designed just for you!
-Connect with faculty from your intended major
-Explore our campus oasis on a tour led by North Park students
-Get all your questions answered about your admissions application and financial aid
Join the School of Nursing and Health Sciences faculty and Graduate Admissions staff for a tour of campus and our nursing facilities. This event is designed for those interested in our Direct Entry Master of Science in Nursing program.
Join the School of Nursing and Health Sciences faculty and Graduate Admissions staff for a tour of campus and our nursing facilities. This event is designed for those interested in our Direct Entry Master of Science in Nursing program.
North Park University will install sensors that detect weather and pollution patterns as part of a $166,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
North Park University will install sensors that detect weather and pollution patterns as part of a $166,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The sensors will be installed atop the Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life on campus.
NASA awarded the five-year grant to North Park in part because of its federal status as a Hispanic Serving Institution, a school that is committed to equitable outcomes for Hispanic students. The two weather sensors will be installed by NASA this spring, and money from the grant will fund travel expenses and salaries for instructors and student workers. The equipment will be owned and maintained by NASA.
The grant was secured through the joint efforts of Assistant Professor of Chemistry John Randazzo and Director of Sponsored Projects Renee Cox. Only about 10 institutions across the country received the grant, and North Park is the lone Chicago site.
The environmental data gathered by the sensors will allow NASA researchers to monitor levels of atmospheric compounds such as carbon monoxide, along with particulate matters expelled by cars and factories. The data will also be compared to that acquired by satellites circling the earth to ensure accuracy. North Park students and professors will have access to that data, which will be transmitted directly into North Park’s classrooms.
“This is a powerful tool because it makes learning real,” Randazzo said. “The students can read the data and know that’s coming from just above their heads.”
Randazzo said the NASA grant was likely to raise North Park’s profile as a research university.
“Building a face-to-face relationship with NASA raises our credibility and increases future prospects,” Randazzo said, adding that a NASA engineer will be speaking on campus in March.
Dr. Randazzo said he and Cox found the grant opportunity on a NASA LISTSERV about a year ago, and although they ignore “99% of them” because they are not applicable, this particular grant struck them both because of North Park’s location and Randazzo’s background in atmospheric science.
The two worked together to apply for the grant, which they learned they’d won late last year. Read more press releases here.
The School of Music, Art, and Theatre presents several upcoming opportunities to break from your routine, including the Chamber Opera, spring play, and Gospel Choir concert.
As spring arrives, you may be eager to escape your dorm, classroom, or office. The School of Music, Art, and Theatre presents several upcoming opportunities to break from your routine, including the Chamber Opera. April 12 and 13 at 7:30 pm, in the beautifully renovated Hanson Hall 202, North Park’s opera program presents a double bill—one seldom-performed modern opera and one old favorite presented in a new way. The two features are Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, the familiar story of a brother and sister lost in the woods who encounter and eventually outwit a witch, and Argento’s The Masque of Angels, a humorous story of an unruly troupe of angels who attempt to influence a young couple to marry.
NPU Opera Production of "Cendrillon"
Nyela Basney, artistic director of opera, says that one of the program’s goals is “to give our students as many opportunities as possible to present a range of stories from the point of view of diverse characters.” With every student in the opera program performing at least one role in the upcoming operas and most playing two characters, the goal will certainly be met this spring. Tyler Thress, a student member of the opera, is confident that the productions will be “touching, challenging, and inspiring,” crediting the collaborative spirit of the program’s directors. “I think that’s one of the great strengths of the opera program here,” Tyler adds. “We work with professional directors and conductors from a wide variety of artistic traditions, which prepares us for a highly competitive field in the real world.”
Gospel Choir Performance
Other upcoming events from the School of Music, Art, and Theatre include the spring play, Tender Rough Rough Tender by Sarah Saltwick, described as a “. . . play built for theatrical gestures and two performers with nerves,” showing April 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12 at 7:30 pm, and April 13 at 2:30 pm in Lecture Hall Auditorium. The Gospel Choir concert, April 6 at 7:30 pm in Anderson Chapel is always a very meaningful event for both the choir, and for the audience. And previously featured in Stories, but still well worth mentioning, are the Senior Thesis Art Exhibitions in the Carlson Tower Gallery, which feature the artworks of 11 senior art students and will run through May 11. Craig Johnson, dean of the School of Music, Art, and Theatre, emphasizes the importance of these upcoming productions saying, “I believe that all of these events allow our students to express their creativity, and to advance their development as performing and visual artists.
North Park Seminary has honored the Rev. Dr. Richard W. Carlson by dedicating a room in Nyvall Hall to the late professor, a lifelong learner who spent his life fighting racial injustices.
North Park Seminary has honored the Rev. Dr. Richard W. Carlson by dedicating a room in Nyvall Hall to the late professor, a lifelong learner who spent his life fighting racial injustices.
The space is called Richard’s Renaissance Room, a nod to Carlson’s devotion to a variety of pursuits, from history to baseball, Civil Rights, poetry, and biblical scholarship. Carlson’s wife, Jolene Bergstrom Carlson, said her husband also loved spending time with his children and spent his life fighting against societal hatred and violence.
“Richard especially had a head and heart for racial justice, lamenting over racial injustices until his final moments,” Jolene said. “To Richard, all people belonged and had worth.”
The Richard Renaissance Room, designed as a place to read, pray, and connect with others, is being furnished by $30,000 in private donations to the Seminary. The money also provides tuition assistance via the Richard and Jolene Carlson Scholarship Fund to a seminarian whose studies focus on justice issues.
“Richard was brilliant, but he never used his mind as anything but a tool to encourage his students to engage with the complexities of faith and life through thoughtful questions and readings,” Jolene Carlson said.
The dedication took place Jan. 24, during the ECC’s Midwinter Conference.
To donate to the fund, visit https://connect.northpark.edu/give, select “other” and include “Richard Carlson Memorial Fund” in the comment box to designate your giving. You may also mail checks to North Park University’s Development Office:
North Park University
Development Box 6
3225 W. Foster Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625.
Students, faculty, and special guest honor the service and memory of our veterans.
“My friend has been gone for 47 years. Those are 47 years that I have been given and he has not. That is a sobering thought,” began Interim President Carl Balsam during his opening remarks at yesterday’s Annual Veterans Day Commemoration Service, which took place in Anderson Chapel. “One comment left on my friend’s site caught my eye; it said: ‘Save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they no longer can go.’ In other words, remember them.”
This year’s Veterans Day Service was organized by student-veterans Nico Canete and Roberto Martinez in conjunction with Dr. John Laukaitis and Renee Martinez. The guest speaker for the service was a friend of Nico’s, Weston Polaski, who served in the United States Marine Corps from 2005-2009.
Polaski shared his story on his road to enlistment and proceeded to give an account of what life was like throughout boot camp and into his first deployment. Polaski described some of the desperate living conditions he encountered during his initial time of deployment. He also described an encounter on the phone with his father where Polaski asked him “what am I doing here?” to which Polaski’s father replied, “you probably should have gone to class, huh?” Polaski described how this one call spurred him on to the next adventure back home in America where he returned to school to finish his degree.
Since his arrival back home, Polaski has made efforts to connect with Veterans and create connections for returning Veterans. Polaski began as the President of the Student Veteran Club at his alma mater and has since moved on to aiding the transition of returning veterans by connecting them with local businesses and veterans. “Every year over the next 5 years, 250,000 service members will exit the military,” Polaski said—all of whom will need jobs, education, and communities.
After the service, Nico Canete commented on why events like these at North Park are important to him and other veterans on campus: “It demonstrates the University’s commitment to those who have served. It reaffirms that the University supports veterans, supports them in their transition from military to academic life, and that it is proud to have them on campus.” Roberto Martinez also added that “It shows me that I’m welcome here as a US Army veteran; it shows me that we honor the sacrifice of those who went before us, and shows me that veterans are welcome here. It also gives us a sense of brotherhood and a place to share our experiences whether in combat or not.”
Dr. John Laukaitis had this to say in his closing remarks to conclude the Annual Veterans Day Service, “Our country has depended on veterans to stand strong against the threats to our liberty and way of life. They serve without expectation of recognition; they are humble servants. We thank you, the men and women, who have courageously put their lives in harm’s way for the sake of our country; today we thank the veterans of our country.”
Life Groups at North Park are sponsored by University Ministries and are a great way to learn about what it means to walk with Christ.
LifeGroups at North Park are sponsored and resourced by University Ministries. What are LifeGroups? They are groups of four to ten students who gather weekly to intentionally walk with or toward Christ together. LifeGroups are for anyone who has an interest in the Christian faith. This can include a spectrum of people from those who want to know more about faith and the Christian life, to those who are actively following Christ. LifeGroups are also a great way to explore what it means to follow Christ individually and in a group setting.
When Amber Jipp, CollegeLife and Spiritual Formation Coordinator for University Ministries, started at North Park in the fall of 2016, there were no current University Ministries (UMin) sponsored Small Groups. “I am very passionate about small groups and really empowering the visions that students have,” says Amber. Currently, there are around 14 LifeGroups resourced by University Ministries which are open to all students. Sponsored LifeGroups have access to resources such as printing flyers, creating events, spiritual guidance and coaching from UMin leaders, and use of UMin facilities.
LifeGroups take all different shapes and sizes as their student leader enters into the discernment process. Some are focused on discipleship, some are centered in one book of the bible, while others are for creative worship practices. LifeGroups are for those who know and desire to grow in Christ in an intentional community.
Jomarie Perlas, a previous student leader, found extreme joy in leading and walking alongside other women in her group while they “learn how to be young adults, daughters in Christ, and college students, while also navigating a broken world.” Her group times are spaces where she and others have been able to share personal stories, ask difficult questions about their frustrations and causes of anger, but also receive encouragement and hope. “We’re not meant to do this messy thing called life alone. This is the significance of being with our brothers and sister in a committed way,” said Jomarie.
LifeGroups are started by students who see a need for prayer groups, Bible studies, book studies, or other shared practices. LifeGroups are expressions and visions of communities working together, moving towards Christ or learning more about Christ at North Park. Starting a LifeGroup sponsored or resourced by North Park University Ministries is as easy as sending Amber an email and meeting with her about the LifeGroup’s vision. LifeGroup leaders can also choose how involved UMin is in their groups.
Joining an existing LifeGroup is also easy. Sign-ups are available during the first few Chapel and CollegeLife services, as well as campus events such as the Ice-cream Social and Viking fair. Getting plugged in to a LifeGroup at any time in the semester can be easily done by emailing Amber Jipp.
Learn about North Park’s new Snap Spectacles and where you might see them next!
Snapchat: North Park’s New Spectacle
North Park University is expanding its social media presence and capabilities with the use of Snapchat Spectacles. Since the launch of North Park’s Snapchat a little over a year ago, the platform has consistently gathered the University’s fastest-growing social media following. Excited to connect with current students and the students of tomorrow, North Park has recently added Snapchat Spectacles to its arsenal. These “snap specs” are sunglasses with cameras and sensors built directly into the frame.
How it works
An LED light indicator prominently displays when the wearer is taking the 10-second videos which are recorded at the touch of a button. The Spectacles are connected via a smartphone, and the videos recorded are then uploaded to North Park’s Snapchat Story. Snapchat has over 173 million active global daily users, and the Spectacles will help North Park utilize Snapchat on the go. This wearable technology gives us an innovative way to reach hundreds of prospective and current students already using Snapchat on a daily basis.
What to Expect
The Spectacles have already been in use over Homecoming weekend where we captured footage of alumni and current students participating in the day’s events and on the field at North Park’s Holmgren Athletic Complex. Student ambassadors will also wear the Spectacles during select campus tours, an excellent way for prospective students to engage in tours that they might not be able to attend. The opportunities are endless, and soon you may see “spec snaps” showcasing students, University events, or new programs like Catalyst 606__.
Coming Soon . . .
Make sure to look for the first Snapchat tour, this Friday, September 22nd!
Plus . . . new filters will soon be available on campus featuring more graphics and Ragnar, our Mascot.
