them back in the water. And their goal would be to help 100 percent of the starfish thrive, he indicated, just as NLU and EPIC strive to help all students succeed. Last summer, Jackie Samuel , Ph.D., the Reach Award winner in the College of Professional Studies and Advancement, surveyed 126 people in the South Chicago neighborhood, where she works as senior program director for Claretian Associates, a housing and human services provider. Of those surveyed, 51% indicated they had witnessed a shooting. “If you had to live with that kind of trouble, what would your life look like?” she asked, noting that even everyday activities like going to school or to the park put residents at risk. Then she posed a more philosophical question to her listeners: “How do we heal our communities?”
Watch the highlight video from Reach at nl.edu/Reach
“I accept this award on behalf of present and future P.A.C.E. students who will also rise above their challenges,” she said.
After serving as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2009 until last December, Arne Duncan is back in his hometown and energized to use education as a tool to reduce Chicago’s violence by providing underprivileged young people with opportunities. NLU awarded Duncan its Pioneer Award, which is bestowed on individuals with exceptional character, a sense of higher purpose in life and work, and a record of increasing opportunities for others. After thanking NLU for its focus on access, affordability, innovation and completion, Duncan took a frank look at education in the U.S today. “We can’t talk about education today without talking about race and class and opportunity, or lack thereof, and privilege, or lack thereof,” he said, noting Illinois has a school funding formula riddled with inequity. “What NLU can do to challenge the status quo among schools of education is to talk boldly about how important excellence is in education, how transformative great teachers are,” he said. “So the opportunity for NLU to lead that national conversation is both huge and desperately needed.”
Samuel is determined to be part of the healing process.
“I will not tolerate the injustices of the world, because NLU has strengthened my voice,” she declared. [Read more about Jackie Samuel on page 14] After acknowledging she has struggled with learning challenges all her life, Amanda Leftwich , winner of the P.A.C.E. Reach Award, thanked her parents for doing diligent research and finding NLU’s P.A.C.E. program. “P.A.C.E. has impacted my life in ways I never could have imagined,” she said, explaining she gained many life skills, including those which equip her to live in an apartment with her roommate and best friend, and to have a career. She works as a teacher’s aide at Rush University Medical Center’s daycare center, aiding in the growth and development of babies and toddlers. Recently, she earned her Level 1 ECE (early childhood education) credential.
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(a) Alumna Rose Johnson and her husband Robert enjoyed hors d’oeuvres while they chatted with other guests. (b) Alumnae Kay Nixon, from left, Martha Smith and Nan Cosier mingled before the Gala.
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National Louis University VIEW | Fall 2016
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