PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

Greetings National Louis Alumni,

Welcome to the 2022 issue of The View, National Louis University’s official alumni magazine. Inside, you will find a rich tapestry of stories highlighting the amazing work of our students, faculty, and staff, whose commitment to NLU’s mission to drive educational equity and empower all learners to achieve their goals has made us a recognized leader in the field. You will also have the chance to catch up with many of our notable alumni, who continue to carry forward our commitment to service to their communities – a tradition more important than ever in times like these.

The theme of this issue is resiliency in the face of hardship. Over the last two years, the only certainty has been a constant sense of uncertainty. First, the events of 2020 came out of nowhere to strike us all like a bolt of lightning. In March, the COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down. Business, education, even our leisure activities – everything had to be reimagined for a new, remote, and socially distant world. In late May of that year, the nationwide, mass demonstrations protesting the death of George Floyd shook the country. The unrest was, and continues to be, a wake-up call about the systemic, racial inequities that afflict this nation.

The impact of that tumultuous year still reverberates today. So many things have changed including how people work and go to school. It has created new expectations on workplaces to reflect the full diversity of our workforce. It has changed the career landscape, placing a premium on innovators who recognize the critical link between education and the job market. And it has placed new demands on institutions of higher education, which, as crucial vehicles of economic mobility and civic education in our country, must also adapt to changing times. I am pleased to share that NLU has continued to demonstrate its resilience and adaptability to respond to a changing world. Because of our continued growth we divided our College of Professional Studies and Advancement into two separate colleges: The Graduate School of Business and Leadership and the College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. To address the need for economic stability, we launched a new initiative that gave learners a route to sustainable employment within six months: Accelerate U, a first-of-its-kind program blending flexible, online education with on-the-job training that results in a recognized credential, a job, and that builds toward a college degree. We are a Minority- and Hispanic-Serving Institution, nationally recognized as among the most diverse universities in the country. Our remarkable institutional growth reflects our commitment to understand what the needs of tomorrow’s students and employers will be, and to adapt accordingly.

Over the last two years our alumni have played an invaluable role in supporting their communities as they navigated the pandemic environment. You will have the chance to read about many of them in these pages. Whether it is teachers helping students overcome adversity in the classroom, counselors guiding individuals experiencing mental health challenges, or culinary and hospitality professionals developing creative solutions for an industry hit particularly hard by the pandemic, NLU alumni are living out our mission to serve and support our neighborhoods, our communities, and our country.

I hope you will enjoy this update on NLU and all of the amazing people in our extended community. A university leaves its most lasting impact through its alumni, and as one yourself, you can take pride in the mark your alma mater and your fellow alumni are leaving on our society.

Sincerely,

Nivine Megahed, Ph.D. President