Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)

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Lincoln University
Motto: "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
Established: April 29, 1854 (1854-04-29)
Type: Public, HBCU
President: Dr. Ivory V. Nelson
Undergraduates: 1,827
Postgraduates: 596
Location: Chester County, Pennsylvania,
United States
Campus: Rural 422 acres (1.7 km²)
Former names: Ashmun Institute
Colors: Orange and Blue
         
Nickname: Lions
Website: www.lincoln.edu
For the like-named university in Jefferson City, Missouri, see Lincoln University of Missouri.

Lincoln University (LU) is an American historically black university located in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies, located in the City of Philadelphia. Currently, Lincoln University provides undergraduate and graduate coursework to approximately 2,500 students. As Horace Mann Bond noted in his book Education for Freedom: A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, with the college's founding in 1854, "This was the first institution founded anywhere in the world to provide a higher education in the arts and sciences for youth of African descent."

Today, Lincoln University is an institution of higher learning that provides a liberal arts and science-based undergraduate core curriculum and select graduate programs to prepare students of every race and nationality. Lincoln is a "state-related" university, meaning it receives public funds and offers reduced tuition for Pennsylvania residents but is under independent control.

The Lincoln University Urban Center (LUUC) is an extension campus in the University City section of Philadelphia, where Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania are also located. This campus offers Graduate level programs and continuing education.[1] After the renovation that was started in Fall of 2007 is completed, the Urban Center will be known as Lincoln University Plaza.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

Lincoln University was founded as Ashmun Institute in 1854 by the Rev. John Miller Dickey, a Presbyterian minister, and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson (a Quaker). It was named after Jehudi Ashmun, a religious leader and social reformer. Lincoln University's (Ashmun Institute's) ties to Africa and youth of African descent was a significant component of the framework for the institution's creation. Specifically, John Miller Dickey's first students - the Reverend James Ralston Amos, his brother the Reverend Thomas H. Amos, and the Reverend Armistead Miller - were trained to support the establishment of Liberia upon their graduation.

In 1866, Ashmun Institute was renamed Lincoln University after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

In 1972 Lincoln University formally associated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a state-related institution.

Presidents
John Miller Dickey [A] 1854–1856
John Pym Carter 1856-1861
John Wynne Martin 1861-1865
Isaac Norton Rendall 1865-1906
John Ballard Rendall 1906-1924
Walter Livingston Wright* 1924-1926
William Hallock Johnson 1926-1936
Walter Livingston Wright 1936-1945
Horace Mann Bond [B] 1945-1957
Armstead Otey Grubb* 1957-1960
Donald Charles Yelton* 1960-1961
Marvin Wachman 1961-1969
Bernard Warren Harleston* 1970-1970
Herman Russell Branson 1970-1985
Donald Leopold Mullett* 1985-1987
Niara Sudarkasa 1987-1998
James Donaldson 1998-1999
Ivory V. Nelson 1999-Present
*Acting president

As president of Lincoln University, Horace Mann Bond formed a friendship with Albert Barnes, who took a special interest in the institution. In his will Barnes gave Lincoln University the privilege of naming four of the five directors originally defined as the number for the governing board of the Barnes Foundation. The number of directors has since increased in efforts to correct the collection's protracted financial difficulties. This has diluted Lincoln's influence over the valuable collection, now valued at over two billion dollars.

Philanthropist and art collector Albert C. Barnes had an interest in helping underserved youth and populations. Barnes demanded that the collection be used primarily as a teaching resource, and limited the numbers of people who could view it, and for years even the kinds of people, with a preference for students and working class.

More recently, the local government restricted traffic to the current location as it is in a residential neighborhood. Both of these factors had the effect of limiting public access and pushed the Foundation near bankruptcy by the 1990s. Supporters began to explore plans to move the collection to a more public location and maintain it with museum standards. In an effort to raise money for needed renovations to the main building, the Foundation sent some of the collection's most famous paintings on tour.

In 2002, the Barnes Foundation contested Albert C. Barnes' will, arguing that the Merion location of the collection and small number of Board members limited the Foundation's ability to sustain itself financially. Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell brokered a settlement in 2005 between The Barnes Foundation and Lincoln University.

[edit] Academics

Lincoln University consists of four schools:

School of Humanities
  • English and Mass Communications
  • Foreign Languages & Literatures
  • Philosophy and Religion
  • Visual and Performing Arts
  • Horace Mann Bond Honors Program
School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Environmental Science
  • Lincoln's Excellent Academic Program in Science (LEAPS) through the National Science Foundation
  • Mathematics & Computer Science
  • Physics
School of Social Sciences & Behavioral Studies
  • Business & Information Technology
  • Criminal Justice
  • Education
  • HPER (Health, Physical Education, Recreation)
  • History & Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology & Anthropology
School of Graduate Studies
  • Master of Human Services (MHS)
  • Master of Education (M.Ed)
  • Master of Reading (MSR)
  • Master of Science in Administration (MSA)

[edit] Campus

Lincoln University main campus is 422 acres with 56 buildings totaling over one million gross square feet. Lincoln University Plaza, a six story building in the University City section of Philadelphia houses the Graduate Center.

[edit] Student activities

Alma Mater
Dear Lincoln, Dear Lincoln

To Thee We'll e're be true! The golden hours we've spent beneath The dear old Orange and Blue

Will live fore'er in memory, As guiding stars through life; For thee our Alma Mater dear, We'll rise in our might.

For we love every inch of thy sacred soil Every tree on thy campus green; And for thee with our might We will ever toil That thou mightest be supreme.

We'll raise thy standard to the sky, Midst glory and honor fly; And constant and true, We will live for thee anew, Our Dear Old Orange and Blue Hail! Hail! Lincoln!
A. Dennee Bibb, '13
Honor Societies
  • Alpha Chi - National Honor Scholarship Society
  • Alpha Kappa Delta National Sociology Honor Society
  • Alpha Mu Gamma National Foreign Language Honor Society
  • Beta Kappa Chi Honorary Scientific Society
  • Chi Alpha Epsilon National Honor Society (Act/T.I.M.E)
  • Dobro Slovo - The National Slavic Honor Society
  • Iota Eta Tau Honor Society
  • Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honorary Society in Economics
  • Phi Iota Sigma Foreign Language Honor Society
  • Phi Kappa Epsilon Honor Society
  • Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society
  • Psi Chi National Psychology Honor Society
  • Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society
  • Kappa Delta Pi - Tau Zeta Chapter International Honor Society in Education
Academic Organizations
  • Accounting Club
  • Arabic Club
  • Biology Club
  • Business and Economics Club
  • Chemistry Club
  • Chinese Club
  • Education Club
  • French Club
  • Japanese Club
  • Music Majors Club
  • Melvin B. Tolson Society (English)
  • Thurgood Marshall Law Society
  • National Society of Black Engineers
  • Organization for Political Awareness
  • Psychology Club
  • Society of Physics Students
  • Russian Club
  • Society for Math and Computer Science
  • Sociology Club
  • Spanish Club
Student Organization and Clubs
  • Class Clubs (4)
  • Duece Deuce Drill Team
  • Forensic Society
  • Fun 4 Life
  • International Club
  • Lincoln University Concert Choir
  • The Lincoln University Dance Troupe
  • Lincoln University Gospel Choir
  • Lincoln University Jazz Ensemble
  • Lincoln University Volunteer Center
  • NAACP
  • National Coalition of 100 Black Women
  • National Council for Negro Women
  • Students Against A.I.D.S.
  • Student Leader Network
  • We Are One
  • Ziana Fashion Club
Student Publications, Radio, and Television
  • Newspaper - The Lincolnian
  • Yearbook - The Lion
  • Campus Radio Station - WLIU
  • Campus Television Station - LUC-TV
NPHC Organizations
Social Fellowships and Service Organizations

[edit] Athletics

Lincoln University participates in the NCAA Division II level as a transitional institution. Lincoln has won 17 NCAA Division III Track & Field championships since 1985. Lincoln currently competes as a Division II a a provisional member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and, the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

The success of the Track and Field program led to the creation of the co-ed athletic fellowship of Track Phi Track at Lincoln in 1983. Some of the requirements include being an All-American and/or striving to become an All-American, meeting and exceeding academic requirements in your major, and participation in Lincoln's Track & Field program for four years.

The men's basketball team achieved a 46-12 record from 2004- 2006 seasons. The 2005-2006 season witnessed Lincoln's first national basketball ranking, led by All American, D3Hoops & Basketball News National Player of the Year Kyle Myricks who was dubbed by ESPN as D3's "Most Exciting Player". The Lions made the sweet sixteen for the first time in school history.

On April 11, 2006 (2006-04-11), Lincoln's Board of Trustees voted to revive the Football program, and establish Marching & Pep Bands. The University has petitioned membership in the CIAA, of which Lincoln was a founding member of the league. Lincoln will be moving from the NCAA's Division III to Division II. A club football team is scheduled for the 2008 followed with a full Division II schedule in 2009.

On December 02, 2006 (2006-12-02), Lincoln's basketball team set 5 Division III records in a 201-78 victory over Ohio State Marion. They included points in a half and a game, as well as the NCAA record for margin of victory. The record-setting game has received significant publicity, both positive and negative. The coach and team have been criticized for "humiliat[ing] a helpless opponent", as Ohio State Marion is a non-NCAA school that only was able to suit six players.[3] Lincoln played "full-court press in the second half" and one player "attempted 41 three-pointers, continuing to launch treys when the school was ahead by more than 100 points."[3] Lincoln coach Garfield Yuille defended the actions of himself and his team, saying that "he could not tell his team to stop playing hard" and "late in the game... [he] told his team to walk the ball up the floor, even at the risk of a shot-clock violation."[4]

[edit] Notable Alumni

Lincoln University has many notable alumni, including Thurgood Marshall, Langston Hughes, Hildrus Poindexter, Horace Mann Bond, Roscoe Lee Browne, Robert L. Carter, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, and Melvin B. Tolson. Many of Langston Hughes' papers reside in the Langston Hughes Memorial Library on campus.

Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah were the first President/Prime Minister of Nigeria and Ghana respectively, fulfilling John Miller Dickey's vision of Lincoln University as a training institution for African leadership. At least 10 of its alumni have served as United States ambassadors or mission chiefs. Many are federal, state and municipal judges, and many others have served as mayors or city managers.

Lincoln University alumni have held key leadership positions at more than 35 colleges and universities and scores of prominent churches.[citation needed] South Carolina State University, Livingstone College, Albany State University, Texas Southern University, Ibeme Memorial College (Nigeria), Ibibio State College (Nigeria), and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) were all founded by Lincoln alumni.

Name Class year Notability Reference
Ebenezer Ako-Adjei Ghanaian politician, member of the United Gold Coast Convention and The Big Six (Ghana)
Nnamdi Azikiwe 1930 First President of Nigeria
Harry W. Bass 1888 First African American elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1910
Horace Mann Bond 1923 Educator, scholar, first African-American and Alumnus to become President of Lincoln University
Oscar Brown, Jr. 1940 Singer, actor, playwright, director
Roscoe Lee Browne 1946 Actor, former 800-meters record holder
Maria Louisa Bustill Teacher and mother of Paul Robeson.
Cab Calloway 1930 entertainer, bandleader
Robert L. Carter 1937 General counsel of the NAACP, United States District Judge
Frank "Tick" Coleman 1935 Educator
Lillian E. Fishburne 1971 First African American woman promoted to the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy.
Christian Fleetwood 1860 Served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, earned the Medal of Honor
Archibald H. Grimke 1870 Lawyer, journalist, public speaker, member of the Niagara Movement
Francis J. Grimké 1870 Pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C., member of the Niagara Movement
Gil Scott-Heron Attended in the early 1970s, activist, singer-songwriter
Joseph Winthrop Holley 1900 Founder of Albany State University
Langston Hughes 1926 Poet
Robert L. Ireland 1966 First African American associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Montford "Monte" Irvin New York Baseball Giants player.
Brian Jackson Keyboardist, writer
Robert Walter "Whirlwind" Johnson 1924 Educator, tennis instructor (including tennis greats Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe)
Thurgood Marshall 1930 First African-American Supreme Court Justice
Thomas E. Miller 1872 South Carolina Congressman, and First President of South Carolina State University (1896-1911).
Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. 1932 NAACP lobbyist ("101st U.S. Senator"), civil rights leader
Aaron Albert Mossell 1885 Attorney, first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Nathan Francis Mossell 1879 Physician, first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. 1921 First African American elected to Congress from Pennsylvania
Sibusio Nkomo 1981 Chairperson, National Policy Institute of the Republic of South Africa
Kwame Nkrumah 1939 First President of the modern Ghana
Hildrus Poindexter 1924 Expert on tropical diseases
Charles L. Preston, Jr. 1950 First African American U.S. Postal Inspector
Dr. Joseph Charles Price 1879 Founder of Livingstone College
William Drew Robeson I 1876 Minister, father of Paul Robeson
James H. Robinson 1935 Founder of Crossroads Africa (a model for the Peace Corps)
Wilbert "Bill" Tatum 1958 Publisher Emeritus of The New York Amsterdam News
Clive Terrelonge 1994 Olympic track and field athlete from Jamaica
Melvin B. Tolson 1924 Poet, Educator, Columnist, and Politician
James L. Usry 1946 First African American Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey
Herb J. Wesson Jr. 1999 Speaker of the California State Assembly
Albert H. Wheeler 1936 First African American Mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Bruce M. Wright 1942 Judge in New York and Connecticut, author of "Black Robes, White Justice"

[edit] Additional reading

  • Education For Freedom -A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania by Horace Mann Bond. Copyright 1976 by Lincoln University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education of Pennsylvania. Printed by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

[edit] Notes

A.^ Founder and President of the Board of Trustees Ashmun Institute and Lincoln University
B.^ First Alumni President

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Lincoln University Urban Center
  2. ^ Press release about funding of Lincoln University Plaza renovations
  3. ^ a b Easterbrook, Gregg (2006-12-12). Tuesday Morning Quarterback - Ravens good, Manning bad. ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  4. ^ Caldwell, Dave (2006-12-09). University on the Defensive for Scoring 201 Points. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.

[edit] Additional references


[edit] External links

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