JCPenney Opens Doors After-Hours for Illinois Tech Students at “Suit-Up” Event

CHICAGO—About 300 Illinois Institute of Technology students will participate in an exclusive shopping trip to JCPenney’s North Riverside, Illinois, department store. The store will be open after hours and provide up to 60 percent off business attire and accessories.

The event will be held 10 days before the university’s career fair, where more than 120 top employers, including Exelon and Fermilab, come to Illinois Tech to find students for highly selective internships and full-time jobs in fields such as engineering, architecture, human science, and computational science. 

WHAT: JCPenney Suit-Up event

WHEN: 6 p.m.–9 p.m. Sunday, February 16, 2020

WHERE: JCPenney at North Riverside Park Mall

7507 W. Cermak Road, North Riverside, Illinois

“We want students to feel confident when they interview. A new suit or shoes can give them a boost as they search for an internship or job,” said Thy Nguyen, Illinois Tech’s associate vice provost of career services.

This is only the second time that JCPenney has partnered with a Chicago university to offer student discounts. The department stores host about 500 shopping trips nationally for students each year.

“We are thrilled to welcome Illinois Institute of Technology students to our store for a Suit-Up event,” said Martin Napoleon, general manager of JCPenney at North Riverside Park Mall. “We have an excellent assortment of professional clothing that is sure to help the students look and feel their best as they prepare for their careers.”

Illinois Tech FAQs

· Illinois Tech students have worked for organizations such as Google, Amazon, Exelon, Boeing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

· The university ranks No. 1 in the Chicago region for occupational earnings. Illinois Tech’s alumni out-earn graduates in the same fields from other Chicago-area universities, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Notre Dame (The Brookings Institute) 

· Illinois Tech is the No. 1 private university in Illinois for 20-year mid-career earnings after financial aid, according to Payscale

· A 2018 Top 25 STEM college, according to Forbes

· Illinois Tech is ranked No. 1 in Illinois for lifting students from families in the bottom 20 percent income bracket to the top 20 percent, according to data from the Equality of Opportunity Project and the New York Times

Famous graduates of Illinois Tech include:

• Rohit Prasad, head scientist, Amazon Alexa
• Virgil Abloh, artistic director of Louis Vuitton's men's wear collection
• Robert Pritzker, co-founder of Marmon Group
• Martin Cooper, inventor of the cellphone
• Gloria Ray Karlmark, one of the Little Rock Nine
• Victor Tsao, Linksys co-founder brought affordable home internet to the masses
• Valdas Adamkus, two-term Lithuanian president