40多年前, 北园选择留在城里, 这个决定帮助定义了它的身份和使命.
艾伦·阿尔默1994年文学学士
While the decades-old choice to keep North Park’s campus in 芝加哥 rather than move to the far suburbs seems like a no-brainer today, 实际的决策过程, 记得的人说, 充满了紧张和戏剧性.
这个决定是在1980年做出的, 在北公园的体育馆, 在福音圣约教会(ECC)的年会上, where then-President Milton Engebretson MDiv ’54 fretted behind the stage’s closed curtain.
G. 蒂莫西·约翰逊，1956年AA级, MDiv 63, who led the six-person task force charged with recommending whether or not to change the location of the school, 我记得恩杰布雷森当时有多紧张. 他来回踱步.”
他本不必担心. 约翰逊的演讲结束后, the ECC delegates voted overwhelmingly to accept the panel’s recommendation to remain in 芝加哥.
“我不记得有任何辩论或争议,约翰逊说, 他补充说，特别工作组的成员主要是松了一口气，因为这一决定, 至少对他们来说是这样, 从来都不是定局.
考虑改变
就在一年前, Dean Robert Sandin recommended that North Park stop all capital improvements on its 芝加哥 campus and consider moving to the suburbs.
“我们恰好位于芝加哥, 这个地点对我们的选区有一定的影响, 我们的节目和生活方式,他当时写道. “然而，我们的位置并不能定义我们存在的理由. 正相反, 在过去的20年里(如果不是更长的话), we have really done very little to effectively adapt our 项目 to the needs of the urban environment.”
他认为学校的使命与地理位置不符, and the buildings required by the year 2025 would not fit on North Park’s current 20-acre campus.
亚瑟一个.R. 纳尔逊A ' 52, 当时是北公园的临时主席, acknowledged that the school was struggling with lower enrollment and aging facilities.
“We were beginning to do better on admissions, but we were in a bad position,” 纳尔逊 recalled. “一些选民担心投资一所犯罪猖獗的大学,尼尔森补充道, 他认为这种担心被夸大了.
事实上, the areas around North Park were beginning to be shored up by a new wave of Eastern European and Asian immigrant populations who brought economic stability to the area, especially in the Albany Park neigh- borhood that bordered the south end of campus.
但是当A. Harold Anderson (Anderson Chapel’s namesake donor) graciously offered 100 acres in Grayslake for a new campus, 北公园的官员对此很感兴趣.
“We really thought about our place in 芝加哥…we had to ask ourselves if we were doing this for some reason other than [our] mission.——阿瑟·A. R. 纳尔逊
高昂的费用，学生的反对
The new campus would have to be built from scratch, officials deter- mined, with all-new facilities. 价格定在37美元.500万年. 相反, staying in 芝加哥 would require a handful of new facilities and a badly needed renovation of Old Main for $11.500万年. 尽管成本差异明显，但约翰逊领导的工作组坚持了下来.
“许多 芝加哥-area people were enthused about it for obvious reasons,约翰逊说. “在郊区建一个全新校园的想法. 所以，我们觉得有必要认真对待这个想法.”
作为过程的一部分, 专责小组, 其中包括北公园的忠实拥护者泽诺斯·霍金森, 43届，比尔·弗雷德里克森34届, AA ’36, 接受调查的学生, 教师, 工作人员, 和学生. 人们的反应迅速而强烈. 数百名学生签署了反对搬迁的请愿书, saying: “We can think of no academic discipline that would benefit leaving 芝加哥.”
“把这所学院放在别的地方，就不会是北公园了,《澳门网络赌博游戏》的编辑委员会说.
“我们真的考虑过我们在芝加哥的位置，”尼尔森说. “To leave this city is the biggest mistake we could make if we believed in our mission to expand peoples’ intellectual life and make it as expansive as their religious life. We had to ask ourselves if we were doing this for some reason other than that mission.”
唐·恩杰布雷森，1969年毕业, BA ’73, MDiv 78, 弥尔顿的儿子现在住在北公园附近, noted that North Park was one of the few small Christian schools to remain in a major metropolitan city during a period of widespread relocation.
“回到70年代和80年代, the Christian colleges that moved to the suburbs thought they were the prescient ones,恩杰布雷森说. “今天, 利用芝加哥丰富的资源, there’s no question North Park and its parent denomination were truly the ones with vision and an expansive understanding of mission.”
米歇尔·多德森，2002届文学士，学院的米尔顿·B. 恩格布雷森传福音与公义讲席, 同意, 称赞北公园的领导人没有屈服于“白人逃亡”的趋势.
“I don’t care how big your commit- ment is to diversity; an institution is marked by its physical space,多德森说. “如果你要远离大城市, 你知道你会失去一个多元化的学生群体的好处.”
Staying in the city is a physical com- mitment to North Park’s intercultural distinctive, she said.
“世界正变得越来越城市化, 即使你不会住在城市里, having that perspective of being in a neighborhood where people don’t look like you, 上一辆繁忙的城市公共汽车, 它极大地塑造了你.”
纳尔逊同意.
“In the end, 专责小组 realized you can’t just reestablish this school in a cornfield.”
“回到70年代和80年代, the Christian colleges that moved to the suburbs thought they were the prescient ones. 今天, 利用芝加哥丰富的资源, there’s no question North Park and its parent denomination were truly the ones with vision and an expansive understanding of mission.——唐·英格布雷森
确保澳门网络博彩游戏的未来
许多, 包括约翰逊和纳尔逊, 我相信，如果校园搬到郊区，北公园今天就不会存在了.
“我们决定，我们可以留在这里，而不用出卖我们的价值观，”尼尔森说. 如果我们没有留下来? 纳尔逊并不是唯一一个这样认为的人:“我们几年前就关门了.”
The city of 芝加哥, and the North Park neighborhood, were certainly grateful the school remained.
当北公园宣布其决定时, 纳尔逊收到了时任市长简·伯恩的一封支持信, 当地报纸对此大加赞扬.
“North Park College bucks the trend toward suburbia,” said a headline from the 芝加哥 Tribune.
6月19日的社论, 1980, edition of the 芝加哥 Sun-Times said: “The decision of North Park College and 神学院 to remain in 芝加哥 is good news for the city, 不仅因为它的学术卓越和一流的篮球队.”
And then there’s the question of what the North Park neighborhood would look like if the school had left.
约翰逊猜测，校园的土地可能已经卖给了一家房地产开发商, 而另一些人则质疑像Tre Kronor餐厅这样的企业, 瑞典商店, 甚至星巴克也会成为福斯特大道的主角.
“作为该地区的企业主和大学的邻居, I was personally pleased when the university renewed its commitment to the neighborhood and the benefits of an in-city education,北公园商会规划委员会的卡门·罗德里格斯说.
Donn Engebretson将此归功于ECC对使命的广泛理解, 它包含了所有种族和民族的人, 维持芝加哥基地的决定.
“That vision continues to animate North Park and, at its best, the Covenant Church today,” he said.
“把这所学院放在别的地方，就不会是北公园了.“大学-新闻
