The Working Class

Intentionally Urban

In 2008 Foreign Policy magazine rated Chicago as the second best global city for getting an education—second only to London.

The same year was also the first time in history that more than half of the world’s 6.6 billion people lived in cities rather than in rural areas. Currently, the cities of the world are growing by a net of one million people each week.

What does this mean for North Park University? It means that because of our location in Chicago we now stand with the global majority, whereas many colleges and universities (including most faith-affirming schools) that 
were established in small towns and distant suburbs, are now located within the shrinking minority.

In 1979, North Park had the opportunity to move out of the city. But on that occasion this community said, “No, we will stay in the city.” And with this simple sentence our place in the city was confirmed. The responsibility of this decision now rests on our shoulders. We stand at the intersection of what our University is and what we hope it will be.

This city is numbered among the greatest resources North Park possesses for shaping the education of our students; Chicago is our gift from God.

Join me in the weeks to come in reflecting on how we can embrace Chicago, and in doing so learn how to ever more fully prepare students for lives of significance and service in the city.

–Dr. David Parkyn, North Park University President

Notes from a newbie

I'm new here. Working in admissions, whenever I wonder what North Park University looks like to outsiders, I remember that I've recently been there myself.

Note #5: Fun for the whole family (Source: Boyds' Nest News)

As a North Park newbie, here are a few of my first impressions from the 90 days I've been here:

1. It's a beautiful campus
   My wife and I have lived right around the corner in the neighborhood since 2002, so I would have thought I knew about this — but being on campus every day has been a delight. (Or maybe it's just that I started at North Park just as spring got under way?)
2. People are friendly
   Friendly but not false, which is so much the better. (Who needs smiley but shallow social façades?) North Park people have made it easy for me to feel quickly at home here, and that reassures me that we're pretty good at welcoming visitors and new students.
3. We have very capable colleagues
   I've been impressed with the capacity and professionalism my colleagues — all around the University — bring to work. The friendliness part is nice, but not so much if we can't get the job done, too.
4. People out there respect NPU
   Given my job change, I have had lots of occasions to be explaining my new situation to friends and family all over the country, and uniformly the reaction is something like, "Oh, cool!" North Park has great street cred among higher-ed people, church folks, Chicagoans — everyone, really.
5. There are fun things to jump off of
   My three-year-old, Lucy, particularly favors the brick walls in front of Student Services. I can't speak from personal experience on this one, though.

I have no illusions that familiarity won't bring awareness of the "growing edges" at North Park. Every institution has them. But walking across campus every day, I'm freshly thankful for the way God is clearly providing in and through North Park.

Welcome

  Greetings from North Park University, and welcome to our newly redesigned website. 

Whether you are a prospective or current student, a graduate, parent, or friend, we hope this site will give you a new way to see the face and hear the voice of our university. You can explore academic programs, apply for admission, keep up with news and events from our campus and community, and cheer on the Viking athletic teams. You can even read about the experiences of people on campus through our new North Park Voices section, which features blogs from students and employees, podcasts, musical productions, and more.

North Park University is a Christian academic community open to all who seek to learn. We are urban in our context and outlook, and we are multicultural in our embrace of people from throughout the city, across the country, and around the world. Our task is to continually renew our commitment to this mission and identity as we seek to more effectively engage audiences in the years to come.

We view our new website as a significant step in that direction, and we hope you will enjoy taking a closer look. 

–Dr. David Parkyn, President