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Parkyn Elected President of North Park University
GRAND RAPIDS, MI (June 15, 2006) - David Parkyn officially became the ninth president
of North Park University with a unanimous vote from delegates to the 121st
Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church this afternoon.
Parkyn told the delegates his strong Christian faith was formed largely as a
child growing up in Guatemala among the poor. A teacher and administrator at
several higher education institutions, Parkyn added that "Learning is most noble
when used to benefit others."
 The new president succeeds David Horner, who
resigned in September 2004. Parkyn was the unanimous selection of the North Park
Board of Trustees. Parkyn most recently served as provost and senior vice
president at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Parkyn previously spent 23 years at Messiah College in Grantham,
Pennsylvania, where he served several roles over the years - as senior vice
president, vice president for planning, director of general education and
assessment, and professor of religious studies. He also worked a number of years
with the Messiah College urban campus affiliated with Temple University in
Philadelphia.
The Parkyns have worshiped in a variety of faith traditions, and he said
today that he is looking forward to worshiping as a Covenanter. In describing
his personal journey of faith, Parkyn has written, "The Christian faith should
be articulated in formal statements and the spoken word, but it must also be
expressed in a lived reality."
Raised in Guatemala, Parkyn holds both a personal and scholarly interest in
Latin America that he shares with his wife, Linda, who is a tenured faculty
member at Messiah College. Fluent in Spanish, they developed their interest in
issues related to student diversity as a result of their unique involvement with
others cultures throughout their 31 years of marriage. Children, Betsy, 28, and
Nathaniel, 25, reside in Boston. The Parkyns will move into North Park's
presidential residence this summer.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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