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Honors Convocation Recognizes Outstanding Senior Achievement

Carmen Velazquez-Alvarez and Blake Thomas honored for embodying University mission of significance and service

Carmen Velazquez-Alvarez CHICAGO (April 28, 2016) — On Monday, the ϳԹ community gathered in Anderson Chapel for the annual Honors Convocation, a celebration recognizing students who demonstrated excellence in the classroom and community.

Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Mary Surridge presented the 2016 Distinguished Senior Awards to Carmen Velazquez-Alvarez, Kerman, Calif., and Blake Thomas, Olathe, Kan. This honor is bestowed each year to one woman and one man from the graduating class, recognizing extraordinary leadership, dedicated service, superior academic performance, and embodiment of the University’s mission of preparing students for lives of significance and service.

Velazquez-Alvarez, a major and certificate recipient, fled the violence of her native Veracruz, Mexico, at age 11. She and her family were homeless for several months, managing with little food and without access to medical care. She worked in the fields of California’s Central Valley with her mother from a very young age, and dreamed of one day attending North Park, which she had heard about through her church.

“Carmen’s story is the story of the impossible becoming possible,” says , professor of . “She is leading the way for other undocumented students to dream big and work towards fulfilling their goals. Carmen has made her North Park experience one to remember.”

Velazquez-Alvarez served as the president of North Park’s Latin American Student Organization and cofounder of the Latinas Unidas Mentorship Program, established to prepare her fellow Latina students for success. She was also active as a Faith and Justice Team student leader, and completed an internship this semester with the YMCA’s diversity and inclusion department.

“Carmen is a dynamo, an organizer, and at the forefront of Latino and immigrant justice issues,” says , professor of . In addition to her service work, Velazquez-Alvarez was honored this year as one of the top academic students in the state, receiving the and an educational grant from the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. She earned a 3.98 grade point average at ϳԹ.

“There are kids who came from Central America or Mexico, and they don’t get to go to school,” Velazquez-Alvarez says. “So I’m not going to school just for me. This isn’t even for me. It’s, one, for God, and two, for my family and the people that I work with and are around me. I know there are serious circumstances that keep them from going to school, but how can my education help them in the future? How can I go back to the Valley and help my people?”

‘An outstanding student and a stellar human being’

Blake Thomas

During his time at ϳԹ, Thomas majored in both and , completed an internship that led to a job offer, and participated in multiple , all while maintaining a 3.69 grade point average.

“Being a part of the Chamber Singers and the University Choir has been the most rewarding experience for me at ϳԹ,” says Thomas. “From singing Handel’s Messiah with 400 people to going on choir tours around the country, I’ve loved my time being under the direction of and singing with my peers.”

Thomas came to North Park out of a desire to merge his gifts in ministry and music, and a commitment to serving the city of Chicago. Music Recruiter has seen Thomas’s success firsthand. “I know Blake well—he served as my admissions assistant for three years and has been active in the School of Music,” she says. “He is an outstanding student and a stellar human being.”

, director of the Center for Youth Ministry Studies, agrees. “I’m not surprised that he won the award,” he says. “Blake has been an outstanding student with exemplary leadership skills. I’m very proud of him and his accomplishments, including serving as youth intern at ϳԹ Covenant Church, where he was able to do some really good work.”

Following his internship, Thomas has been hired as a youth pastor at ϳԹ Covenant Church, and will begin his position this summer. “ϳԹ provides a very well-rounded perspective on theology and provides the space for students to discern what is biblical and gospel-centered,” he says. “North Park shaped the way I view God and approach theology.”

In addition to the Distinguished Senior Awards, the Honors Convocation ceremony also noted the top graduating students from each department and school, and service and leadership awards were given to seniors embodying excellence in co- and extracurricular activities. View a complete list of students recognized in this year’s .

The University’s graduation ceremonies, including the presentation of the Ahnfeldt Medallion given to the senior with the highest grade point average, will officially close the year on .


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ϳԹ Now Accepting Global Common Application

New partnership makes it easier for more students to connect with North Park

The Common Application CHICAGO (April 18, 2016) — Students applying to ϳԹ for Spring 2017 or later will now have the ability to do so through the , an online system used by nearly 700 colleges and universities in the United States and around the world to manage the college admission process.

According to Genaro Balcazar, vice president of enrollment management and marketing, “For ϳԹ, becoming a member of the Common Application is about making the college application process a little more manageable for students. North Park and the Common Application share a joint goal of promoting college access by reducing barriers in the college application process.”

The Common Application is a nonprofit member organization that seeks to advance “access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process.” Over 900,000 students use the Common Application online system annually to submit more than four million applications.

“Our partnership will help alleviate some of the complexity of having to complete multiple admission applications, and puts us alongside many of our peers in the industry,” added Balcazar.

“Each of our new members comes to the Common Application with a unique mission and distinctive qualities that attract a broad range of bright and talented students,” said Common Application senior director Scott Anderson. “We are excited to welcome innovative institutions that all share our commitment to advancing college access.”

Interested students can . Common Applications for the 2017–2018 academic year will to 2018–2019 and beyond. The answers for any of the questions that appear in the six sections of the “Common App” tab (Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities, and Writing) will be preserved. High school counselors can use , a flexible advising tool, to introduce students and families to the college preparation and application processes whenever is best for individual needs.

Students can still choose to submit their application . For more information about how to apply to ϳԹ, please contact admissions@northpark.edu.

 


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