Founded by Swedes, North Park’s educational mission has grown to serve Hispanic students.
艾伦·阿尔默1994年文学学士
In 1891, a group of Swedes founded North Park to help immigrants like themselves adapt to their new home. The goal was to teach them English and other skills to help them thrive in the United States while not forfeiting their beloved ethnic customs.
130多年后, North Park University (NPU) continues to honor its Swedish roots while fulfilling its original mission for a new ethnic group: Hispanic students. In 2020, North Park gained recognition as one of about 500 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), a federal designation given to colleges and universities with a 25% population of Hispanic/Latinx students, 其中很大一部分来自资源不足的背景.
理查德Kohng, 北公园负责公民参与的助理副总裁, 经常提到大卫·尼瓦尔, 北公园的第一任总统, 在讨论恒生指数指定时. He noted that when North Park welcomed its first Swedish American students, they attended college so their children would not face the same financial hardship and social barriers they endured.
Welcomed by what President Nyvall called “harmony in the midst of diversity,这些学生受到了“特别要求的款待”.”
至于瑞典人和拉丁美洲人, 弗兰克Gaytan, 负责学生参与的副主席, 他说:“这是一个大帐篷, 所有人都有空间.”
The HSI designation was created in the 1990s to give more support to the urban, 西班牙学生经常申请的资源不足的学校. Those schools could, in turn, apply for grants to help support their students.
“自从被指定为高级卫生医生以来, I truly believe North Park has been trying to hold true to being a serving institution by creating a board to hear the voices of students.”
-Loribeth Godinez
“大学最初是为白人创建的, 上流社会的男性, 甚至女性也不例外,伊芙琳·阿庞特-奥卡特说, 学术参与和学生成功高级主管. “The HSI designation is the government’s way of recognizing the need to address achievement gaps, 股本缺口, 以及不平等制度.”
“工作的一部分是发展一种新的文化，改变我们对待病人的方式. 有色人种学生，”阿蓬特-奥卡特说. “The HSI designation incentivizes us to access the funds to think more creatively and see where our gaps are.”
而不是保证联邦资金, 然而, the HSI designation increases North Park’s eligibility for specific grants that benefit Hispanic students. And despite COVID-19 snarling the application process, North Park has secured several vital grants.
第一个, 2022年从美国国家科学基金会获得了41.3万美元的资助, 支持少数族裔学生在STEM专业取得成功.
另一个格兰特, 为166美元, was awarded by NASA in 2023 to install atmospheric weather sensors on the roof of the Johnson Center for Science and 社区生活. 北公园是仅有的10所获得资助的学校之一, which provides students with access to the NASA-collected data to perform their own experiments.
NPU also secured an additional $155K grant from the state of Illinois for COVID-19 relief. North Park’s next goal is to apply for and receive a $3 million grant under Title V, the U.S. Department of Education’s Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions Program, to expand educational opportunities for Hispanic and low-income students pursuing post-secondary degrees.
除了赠款所创造的机会, Aponte-Aucutt formed an HSI Student Advisory Board to capture student input about issues paramount to them. 她还发起了“第一代庆祝日”来表彰学生, 校友, 工作人员, 还有家里第一个上大学的教师.
Loribeth Godinez, 她是一名护理专业的学生，芝加哥本地人, chose North Park so she could have a true college experience while staying close to her Mexican and Puerto Rican family in the Belmont-Cragin area. She also received generous financial aid in the form of the Lighthouse Scholarship given to qualifying first-generation college students.
HSI学生顾问委员会(从左至右):Loribeth Godinez, 亚伦冈萨雷斯, 和Andrew Hernandez“成为一个真正的‘服务’机构, 北园必须了解学生的需求和愿望,戈迪内斯说, HSI学生顾问委员会成员. “自从被指定为高级卫生医生以来, I truly believe North Park has been trying to hold true to being a serving institution by creating a board to hear the voices of students.”
“When you support many underrepresented students, all students at the institution will benefit.”
伊芙琳Aponte-Aucutt
还有更多的工作要做, 她说, 比如帮助学生获得奖学金, 奖学金, 和实习. But she feels North Park will “continue to not only hold safe spaces for students to participate in conversations and decisions that affect them but continue to celebrate their accomplishments.”
神学院 Teaching Fellow Armida Belmonte Stephens was invited to participate in an HSI community panel last year on North Park’s campus, 学生们, 教师, 与教职员讨论影响学生及院校的问题.
“I was encouraged to meet these students and am glad we’re seeing so many more Latino students going to college—and we’re seeing more retention,贝尔蒙特·斯蒂芬斯说, 父母从墨西哥移民过来的第一代大学毕业生. “与此同时，他们告诉我的很多东西都很熟悉. 他们所面临的挑战与我所面临的非常相似.”
It spurred in her a desire to continue building community among North Park’s growing Hispanic student population.
By strengthening one community, we strengthen the entire school, Gaytán and Aponte-Aucutt agreed.
Supporting our Hispanic students is directly supporting North Park’s heritage—being an institution for immigrants and children of immigrants that encourages all to uphold and celebrate their culture, 无论是瑞典人还是西班牙人.
“这项工作需要目的性, 机构的支持, 以及对学习和理解的承诺,阿蓬-奥卡特说. “When you support many underrepresented students, all students at the institution will benefit.”