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Board continues to support leadership at the ECC school after concerns come up around recent firings and retention for students of color.
Faculty at North Park University voted no confidence in the school’s president, saying she created a hostile environment for students and faculty of color.
The 55–26 vote last week took aim at President Mary Surridge, who has led the Chicago evangelical school since 2018. In an accompanying document, the university’s faculty senate detailed “a toxic climate for students, faculty, and staff,” especially those of color. Specifically, the document took issue with a failure to hire and retain racially diverse people in leadership positions as well as athletes.
“The big picture is that we have a school that attracts a lot of students of color,” said Rachelle Ankney, senate faculty president and a professor of math. “But we are not providing an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for those students. That’s not setting the school up for success in the long run.”
North Park enrolls some 2,800 students and more than half are people of color or mixed race, according to Ankney. But, she said, it has struggled to retain those students beyond the first and second year of their studies. A 2020 retention report from SPARK associates noted particularly high rates of departure among male student athletes of color at North Park, especially football players: In 2019–2020, 45 percent of first-year football players did not return the following year, compared with 25 percent of first-year students overall.
Recently, the school has also seen an exodus of staff and faculty of color; the faculty says those departing were pressured to sign nondisclosure agreements.
The 130-year-old private university is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church and is a member of the Council for Christian ...
from Christianity Today Magazine
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