Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)

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Lincoln University

Image:LincSeal.gif
Motto	"If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
Established	April 29, 1854
Type	Public, state-related
President	Dr. Ivory V. Nelson
Undergraduates	1,520
Postgraduates	489
Location	Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA
Campus	Rural 350 acres
Colors	Orange and Blue
Mascot	Lions
Website	www.lincoln.edu

Lincoln University in Pennsylvania is a four-year University located on 350 acres in southern Chester County. The University also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies which is located within the City of Philadelphia. Currently, Lincoln University provides undergraduate and graduate coursework to approximately 2,000 students. As Horace Mann Bond noted in his book Education for Freedom (A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania), "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.

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. 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.

Lincoln University alumni have held key leadership positions at more than 35 colleges and universities and scores of prominent churches.^{[citation needed]} Seven Lincoln alumni founded the following U.S. or foreign universities: 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. 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.

The University also hosts a number of successful student activities, including a chorale that performed for Rosa Parks, and a number of other luminaries, at her 77th birthday celebration at the Kennedy Center, and a Track and Field program that has won 17 NCAA Division III Championships.

In addition to being geographically close, Lincoln shares historical ties to Princeton University. Issac Norton Rendall, an early president of Lincoln and alum of Princeton University and its seminary, developed Lincoln's early curriculum based upon his experience at Princeton. The similarities also extend to the official colors of the two universities and their mascots (Lincoln’s Orange and Blue Lions compared with Princeton's Orange & Black Tigers).

1 History
2 Presidents
3 Notable Alumni
4 Athletics
5 Alma Mater
6 Further reading
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

1854: Lincoln University was founded as Ashmun Institute by the Rev. John Miller Dickey, a Presbyterian minister, and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson (a Quaker) and 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 student - John R. Amos, his brother Thomas H. Amos, and Armistead Miller were trained to support the establishment of Liberia upon their graduation.

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

1873: Lincoln University's Schools of Law and Medicine were closed.

1884: Lincoln University was one of the earliest schools to produce a publication for alumni. Early noted writers for Lincoln's "Alumni Magazine" included slavery abolitionist, orator, and educator Frederick Douglass.

1910: President William Howard Taft conferred degrees to the Lincoln University's Class of 1910 on June 18.

1921: President Warren G. Harding addressed the Class of 1921 at the Alumni Arch on June 6.

1946: Albert Einstein relented on his long-standing policy of not speaking or accepting honorary degrees, when he spoke during and received an honorary degree from Lincoln University in May 1946. As noted in the "Einstein File" by Fred Jerome, "Einstein clearly intended to send a message to a wider audience [on his stance on racism in the United States]." However, while almost all of Einstein's public speeches and interviews were widely covered by the major media, most of the press treated this particular address by the world-famous scientist as a "non-event".

1950: Lincoln University was the first historically Black college or university to become affiliated with the College Entrance Examination Board.

1950: Albert C. Barnes, a local scientist and entrepreneur, amended the by-laws of his art collective, the Barnes Foundation, to enable the Board of Trustees of Lincoln University to nominate four of the five Trustees upon the demise of all the original Trustees - giving Lincoln primary responsibility for one of the largest private art collections in the world.

1951: On June 5, Lincoln University bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Science to Dr. Albert C. Barnes.

1952: Lincoln University first admitted women students.

1959: Lincoln University's School of Theology (Seminary) closed.

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

2002: The Barnes Foundation contested Albert C. Barnes' will, arguing that the Merion location of the collective and the small number of Board members limited the Foundation's ability to sustain itself financially.

2005: A settlement was brokered between The Barnes Foundation and Lincoln by Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell. Since this time, the collective has evolved into a three-campus model, with a new facility in Center City, Philadelphia.

[edit] Presidents

1854–1856 John Miller Dickey, Founder and President of the Board of Trustees Ashmun Institute and Lincoln University
1856-1861 John Pym Carter
1861-1865 John Wynne Martin
1865-1906 Issac Norton Rendall
1906-1924 John Ballard Rendall
1924-1926 Walter Livingston Wright (Acting President)
1926-1936 William Hallock Johnson, Ph. D.
1936-1945 Walter Livingston Wright
1945-1957 Horace Mann Bond '23, Ph. D. (First Alumni President)
1957-1960 Armstead Otey Grubb, Ph. D. (Acting President)
July 1960-June 1961 Donald Charles Yelton (Acting President)
1961-1969 Marvin Wachman, Ph. D.
January 1970-July 1970 Bernard Warren Harleston (Acting President)
October 1970-1985 Herman Russell Branson, Ph. D.
1985-1987 Donald Leopold Mullett '51, Ph. D. (Acting President)
1987-1998 Niara Sudarkasa, Ph. D.
October 1998-August 1999 James Donaldson '61, Ph. D (Acting President)
1999-Present Ivory V. Nelson, Ph. D.

[edit] Notable Alumni

Nnamdi Azikiwe, class of 1930, first President of Nigeria
Harry W. Bass, class of 1866, first African American elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1910.
Horace Mann Bond, educator, scholar, and first African-American and Alumnus to become President of Lincoln University
Oscar Brown, Jr., class of 1940, renowned singer, actor, playwright, and director in the 1960s
Roscoe Lee Browne, actor and former 800-meters record holder
Robert L. Carter, class of 1937, general counsel of the NAACP and a United States District Judge
Cab Calloway, left Lincoln in 1930, world-renowned entertainer and bandleader
Lillian E. Fishburne, class of 1971, first African American woman promoted to the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, in 1998
Archibald H. Grimke, class of 1870, lawyer, journalist, public speaker and a member of the Niagra Movement, a precursor to the NAACP
Francis J. Grimké, class of 1870, pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C., member of the Niagra Movement, a precursor to the NAACP
Gil Scott-Heron, attended in the early 1970s, activist, singer-songwriter
Langston Hughes, class of 1926, world-renowned poet
Robert L. Ireland, class of 1966, first African American associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in 1997
Montford "Monte" Irvin, former New York Baseball Giants attended Lincoln University
Brian Jackson, keyboardist and writer
Robert Walter "Whirlwind" Johnson, class of 1924, noted educator and tennis instructor (including tennis greats Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe)
Thurgood Marshall, class of 1930, first Afrcan-American Supreme Court Justice
Thomas E. Miller, former South Carolina Congressman, and former President of South Carolina State University
Aaron Albert Mossell, attorney, and first African American to graduate fron the University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Nathan Francis Mossell, physician, first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Robert N.C. Nix, Sr., class of 1921, first African American elected to Congress from Pennsylvania
Sibusio Nkomo, class of 1981, Chairperson, National Policy Institute of the Republic of South Africa
Kwame Nkrumah, class of 1939, first President of the modern Ghana
Hildrus Poindexter, world-renowned expert on tropical diseases
Charles L. Preston, Jr., class of 1950, first African American U.S. Postal Inspector (1962)
William Drew Robeson I, class of 1876, minister, father of Paul Robeson
Rev. James Robinson, class of 1935, founder of Crossroads Africa (used as a model by President John F. Kennedy for the Peace Corps)
Wilbert "Bill" Tatum, class of 1958, Publisher Emeritus of The New York Amsterdam News
Clive Terrelonge, class of 1994, Olympic track and field athlete from Jamaica
Melvin Tolson, world renowned poet
James L. Usry, class of 1946, first African American Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey
Hon. Herb J. Wesson Jr., class of 1999, elected Speaker of the California State Assembly in 2002
Albert H. Wheeler, first African American Mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Hon. Bruce M. Wright, class of 1942, Retired Judge in New York and Connecticut, author of "Black Robes, White Justice"

[edit] Athletics

Lincoln University participates in the NCAA Division III level. Lincoln has won 17 NCAA Division III Track & Field championships since 1985. Lincoln currently competes as a Division III independent, with no conference affiliation other than the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and the Association of D3 Independents.

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 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 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",^[1] as Ohio State Marion is a non-NCAA school that only was able to suit six players. 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."^[1] 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."^[2]

[edit] 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. Dennie Bibb, '13

[edit] Further 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 ^b Easterbrook, Gregg (2006-12-12). Tuesday Morning Quarterback - Ravens good, Manning bad. ESPN.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
^ Caldwell, Dave (2006-12-09). University on the Defensive for Scoring 201 Points. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.

[edit] References

The Einstein File - Fred Jerome; ISBN 0-312-28856-5
Philadelphia Inquirer;TheDeal of the Art

[edit] External links

Lincoln University

v • d • e Public universities in Pennsylvania
State-related	Lincoln • Penn State • Pitt • Temple
State-funded	Bloomsburg • Cal U • Cheyney • Clarion • East Stroudsburg • Edinboro • IUP • Kutztown • Lock Haven • Mansfield • Millersville • Shippensburg • Slippery Rock • West Chester