Future teachers and educators heard words that inspired both laughter and tears at Commencement 2018 for National Louis University’s National College of Education (NCE).

After the grads processed into Chicago’s Arie Crown Theater June 16 with smiles and cleverly decorated graduation caps, NLU President Nivine Megahed, Ph.D. and Robert Muller, Ed.D., dean of NLU’s National College of Education, welcomed them. “You join thousands of alumni who everyday impact the lives of children throughout the nation,” Muller said. Continue reading »

A common theme emerged as the Commencement ceremony for graduates of National Louis University’s College of Professional Studies and Advancement unfolded June 16.

After graduates receiving their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees marched in to excited waves from friends and family, NLU President Nivine Megahed, Ph.D., introduced the Commencement speaker, Michael Sorrell, Ed.D. Continue reading »

Donna Woods, center, receives her degree at NLU’s 2018 commencement ceremony.

Just before starting her doctoral program at National Louis University, Donna Woods got an alarming diagnosis: ALS disease, a degenerative illness that progressively robs the muscles of their ability to function. Doctors gave her three years to live, and that was in August 2015.

Woods, who had previously suffered four heart attacks and blood clots in her leg and lungs, could have bowed to their sober pronouncement and withdrawn from the Community Psychology Ph.D. program. Even in the face of a death sentence, though, she refused to let her dream die. Continue reading »

Lisa Virgilio, left, and Lynda Gilgenbach used the buddy system to keep each other on track and motivated as they studied for their M.Ed. degrees at National Louis University.

The swimming pool at Lisa Virgilio’s vacation hotel beckoned invitingly. But back in the Chicago area, her friend and study partner Lynda Gilgenbach was Skyping Virgilio in the hotel, ready to talk about a group project for a graduate education class. And thus, she kept Virgilio on track with schoolwork even during vacation.

“We motivated each other to complete our master’s degrees so we could graduate together, as we are from the same district (Community Unit School District 200 in Wheaton, Illinois),” Virgilio said. Continue reading »

From the moment graduates of National Louis University’s College of Professional Studies and Advancement streamed into the Arie Crown Theater at Chicago’s McCormick Place on June 24, 2017, they created an air of exuberance for the 131st Commencement. Students smiled broadly as they took their seats, and the cheering only got louder as the ceremony went on.

Guest speaker Richard “Rick” Davidson, an NLU alum, president of the Everest Group, LLC and former  president and CEO of Century 21 Real Estate, focused the graduates’ attention on decisions they make each day that show their true characters. Continue reading »

Nancy Zhu, National Louis University’s Lincoln Laureate, left, and Jasmine Adams, student speaker at NLU’s National College of Education Commencement, both graduated June 24, 2017.

Wearing black gowns and decorated mortar boards, graduates of National Louis University’s National College of Education processed into the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago June 24 for the 131st Commencement.

Guest speaker Dominic Belmonte, CEO of the Golden Apple Foundation, got the ceremony off to a thoughtful and moving start. Quoting artists from Shakespeare to Rickie Lee Jones, he urged teachers to think of themselves as first responders to their students, and to know that for a child, three years of receiving ineffective teaching creates a deficit from which many never recover. Continue reading »

As a child, Arnita Mock-Harris resented her mother for being a single parent. She wanted a dad and a family life like the ones she read about in storybooks, and blamed her mother for failing to make that happen.

“I was a child– what did I know?” asked Mock-Harris, 56, now a mother of two and grandmother of four, who is graduating from National Louis University with a B.S. in Health Care Leadership.

“I did not understand the challenges my mom and dad faced, and why should I? In the era I grew up in, children knew nothing of their father’s and mother’s personal business. Continue reading »

Raven Hoffman, left, and her mother Demetria Randle will graduate from National Louis University on the same day, June 24, 2017. They’ll also be receiving the same degree–B.A. in Psychology.

It’s not often that a mother and daughter duo graduate from college on the same day, and rarer still that they graduate with the same degree.

Demetria Randle, 47, and her elder daughter Raven Hoffman, 24,  will be doing exactly that, however, at National Louis University’s Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, June 24 at Chicago’s Arie Crown Theater. Each will receive a B.A. in Psychology degree. Continue reading »

When NLU’s College of Professional Studies and Advancement graduates filed into the Arie Crown Theater June 12, they celebrated a joyous and distinguished commencement ceremony punctuated by inspiring moments.

The 510 graduates who participated in the ceremony received bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in fields such as business, psychology, human services, public policy, health administration, communications, counseling, criminal justice, social science and others. A total of 1,671 students in both of NLU’s colleges graduated this year. Continue reading »