Events begin at 9 a.m. Friday (tomorrow) in Anderson Chapel with an all-day academic symposium focused on the university’s Christian, urban and multi-cultural distinctives. North Park faculty members John Weborg, Ginny Olson, and Boaz Johnson will present papers at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.
Friday’s festivities continue at 7:30 p.m. with the Inaugural Concert in Anderson Chapel. The University Orchestra will perform Perkofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, with narration provided by Parkyn. Another key component will be the University Choir’s performance of a composition set to the hymn text “All My Hope on God is Founded,” a text selected by Parkyn, with music and orchestration composed by Rollo Dilworth, an award-winning composer and the choir’s conductor.
Current students will celebrate the school’s diversity with a celebration and free lunch that will provide a “taste of North Park,” including international fare like churros, Swedish meatballs, baklava, and Korean barbeque. In keeping with the international theme, student associations, including the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) and the Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA), will give special performances designed to welcome the new president and his wife, Linda Parkyn, who also has joined the faculty.
At 1 p.m. Saturday, the North Park Vikings will take on Elmhurst College in their final home football game of the season.
The Inaugural Gala will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday at the University Club of Chicago, located at 76 East Monroe Street. The black-tie optional event will feature reflections from several of Parkyn’s longtime friends. School of Music faculty members and students will perform.
Sunday’s activities begin with the Inaugural Chapel at 11 a.m. in Nyvall Hall’s Isaacson Chapel. Glenn Palmberg, president of the Evangelical Covenant Church, will bring the homily, and music will be provided by the School of Music.
The weekend concludes with the inauguration ceremony at 2 p.m. in the gymnasium. Nearly 40 delegates from other institutions will join a procession that also will include 35 international students bearing the flags of their native countries. The University Choir will reprise Dilworth’s original composition from Friday’s concert and will perform other selections. Immediately following the ceremony, all guests are invited to greet the Parkyns at a reception in Anderson Chapel.
