|
|
| '' Motto : Preparing Students for Lives of Significance and Service |
| President |
Interim |
| School type |
Private |
| Religious affiliation |
Evangelical Covenant Church |
| Founded |
1891 |
| Location |
Chicago , Illinois |
| Faculty |
125+ Full-time |
| Enrollment |
1,414 Undergraduate
1,558 Adult and Graduate
2,972 total |
| Endowment |
$36 million(June 30, 2005) |
| Campus surroundings |
Urban |
| Campus size |
30+ acres |
| Sports teams |
Competes in NCAA Division III |
| Mascot |
Viking |
is a four-year
University located at 3225 W. Foster Avenue on the north side of
Chicago ,
Illinois in the
North Park neighborhood. It was founded in 1891 by the
Evangelical Covenant Church and shares its campus with the denomination's only
Seminary . The university enrolls close to 3,000 students from around the country and the world, and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.
In the later part of the 19th century, thousands of Swedish immigrants left
Sweden and began to settle in
America . As the communities, which were concentrated in the
Midwest , with hubs in
Chicago and
Minneapolis , began to settle and develop, many things began to happen that would pave the way for North Park University. The denomination that is now known as the
Covenant began to organize in the 1880's and soon the education of Swedish immigrants, specifically theological education, became an important issue.
E. August Skogsbergh , sometimes called the Swedish Moody for his association with the famous Chicago
Evangelist D.L. Moody , started a school in Minneapolis in 1884 that would serve as a forerunner to North Park in many ways.
By
1891 , the Covenant was in agreement that they should formally establish a school of their own. Skogsbergh offered his school and his school served as the official Covenant school for three years, from 1891 until
1893 . In
1894 , the school was moved to
Chicago , a move that upset some, including Skogsbergh. It moved to its present location at the corner of Foster and Kedzie, though at this time this was quite remote from the
Loop . Old Main, the oldest building on campus, was erected and dedicated on
June 16 ,
1894 . It is at this time that the name
North Park was first used to describe the school.
The early years of North Park were marked with both struggles and successes. Both enrollment and funding fluctuated greatly in the early years. An interesting source of both money and headache came from P.H. Anderson, who at the time was serving as a Covenant
Missionary in
Alaska . Taking part in the
Gold Rush of the time, Anderson made a massive find on claim No. 9 above. And though he donated a portion of the findings, questionable circumstances surrounded the claim that created tension among the leadership of North Park.
An early leader at that time was
David Nyvall . He served as president and teacher in the
Seminary for many years. The current seminary building, Nyvall Hall, is named after him. By the turn of the century, North Park could boast of a theological seminary, a prominent and large commercial department, a growing music department, and an academy which was created in 1894 to better prepare students for the seminary.
Since the early days, the school has developed and changed in many ways. In
1958 ,
North Park Junior College expanded from a two-year college into a four-year program, becoming
North Park College . In
1997 , the controversial decision was made to again change the name of the school, and North Park University was born. Though North Park still holds on to its
Swedish American past and close ties with the
Covenant Church , it is now a multi-cultural institution that is focused on diversity. North Park now proudly describes itself as a
Liberal Arts University that is intentionally
Urban , intentionally
Diverse , and intentionally
Christian .
The Board of Trustees has recently decided to recommend Dr. David L. Parkyn for election as the ninth president of North Park University. This action marks the culmination of a long and intensive search process that has lasted for over a year. Dr. Parkyn currently serves as provost and senior vice president at
Elizabethtown College and taught at
Messiah College before that.
- Dr. Paul Carlson , Covenant missionary martyred in the Belgian Congo (1964), after whom the classroom building is named.
- James Thompson , former Illinois Governor (1977-1991), graduated from North Park Academy, the institution's now-defunct high school
- Carl Hawkinson , former Illinois state Senator (R-Galesburg), and Illinois Homeland Security chief.
- Kenneth Olson , Founder of the Center for Jewish Evangalism, Quisling University, Oslo, Norway.
- Dr. G. Timothy Johnson , ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent
- Dr. Kathryn Edin , 1984 B.A., Sociology, North Park College, Chicago, IL. She has published three books and a number of chapters and articles on families, neighborhoods and social welfare in the United States. {Link without Title}
- Undergraduate College
- North Park Theological Seminary
- Adult Bachelor's Degree Completion: GOAL
- School of Business & Nonprofit Management
- School of Education
- School of Nursing
- Community Development
The North Park University athletics department fields 17 NCAA Division III teams: 8 men's teams and 9 women's teams. The teams compete in the
College Conference Of Illinois And Wisconsin . Men compete in football, basketball, baseball, cross country, golf, soccer, and track and field. Women compete in volleyball, basketball, softball, golf, soccer, track and field, cross country, and rowing. The athletic director is Dr. Jack Surridge. There is also a healthy
Intramural sports program on campus.
Although the football team has failed to win a conference game in the last 4 years, the women's crew team has done slightly better, repeatedly placing in national
Regattas . The men's soccer team has also fared better; in 2005, it successfully defended its
CCIW conference title against rival
Wheaton , earning their second title in as many years and North Park's first trip to the national tournament. North Park is also known as having one of the most successful men's basketball programs in all of college athletics. They have won five men's NCAA Division III championships since 1978.
The North Park Student Association sponsors many student
Organizations on campus. These include the weekly student
Newspaper the North Park ''Press'', the Cupola
Yearbook , the North Branch
Literary Magazine , and
Java Haus, the student-run
Coffeeshop in the basement of Burgh Hall.
The division of the Student Association that is responsible for the Academic life of students is known as Academics and Education. Academics and Education represents the student's voice at faculty meetings, plans fun and educational events, and hosts the now infamous Geek Week. It also oversees North Park's academic clubs, which include:
- Society of Physics Students
- Philosophy Club
- Student Arts Organisation
- Psychology Club
- Student Nursing Association
- Music Club
- Tri-Beta
- History Club
- Non-profit Student Association
- Gender Studies Organisation
- Model UN Club
- Business Club
The Student Association also sponsors the Associations Represetative Council, which is the
Umbrella Organization for each of North Park University's cultural associations. These include:
- Black Student Association (BSA)
- Commuter Student Association (CSA)
- Korean Student Association (KSA)
- Latin American Student Organization (LASO)
- Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA)
- Scandinavian Student Association (SSA)
The primary function of the North Park ''Press'' is to serve as a medium in which general campus news, and other relevant information to the university community, is communicated to the study body, staff and alumni. An online version of the NP Press is available online, at http://www.northpark.edu/sa/press.
The ''Press'' has six sections: Campus (general campus related news), Viewpoints (a section for opinionated articles by students and staff), Outside the Bubble (relevant news of the world at large), Pulse (entertainment and media resources) and Sports (updates on sports news for NP and national teams.) While the newspaper is published under the guidance of a Faculty Advisor and the Dean of students, it is designed and edited by a small team of student journalists. The ''Press'' is owned and operated by the Student Association of North Park University.
All students are welcome to submit timely articles pertinent to the issues and discourse revolving around the North Park community. The North Park Press does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or creed.
North Park's
Swedish-American identity is evident in many different ways. One annual tradition is the
Santa Lucia Festival, held each December in Anderson Chapel. The service follows many
Swedish traditions and is one of the only Santa Lucia Festivals held in the Chicago area. There is also an exchange program with
Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola in
Jönköping , Sweden.
A small group of North Park
Basketball fans known as the "Carlson Crazies" dress up in unusual clothing at each home game to cheer, often in a bizarre manner, for the men's basketball team.
- ''A History of North Park College'' by Leland Carlson. A good overview of the first 50 years (1891-1941).
