Thursday, January 16, 2025 | 11:00 a.m.
Robert and Charlene Mitchell Auditorium
Richardson Fine Arts Center
Keynote Address: Jerome Offord Jr. ‘93, Ph.D.
Our Founding
As the American Civil War drew to a close in 1865, two regiments of emancipated Black soldiers took action on a decision that would reverberate from their Army station at Fort McIntosh, Texas, all the way to the Missouri state capital. The men, who learned to read and write as part of their training in boot camp, were determined to start a school for other freed Black people when they returned to their homes in Missouri after the war. The soldiers of the 62nd United States Colored Infantry, whose pay averaged $13 a month, came up with $5,000 to establish an educational institution in Jefferson City, which they named Lincoln Institute. The 65th Colored Infantry contributed another $1,400 to the school’s endowment.
Preparations moved swiftly to open Lincoln Institute the following year. The charter specified three requirements:
1. The institution shall be designed for the special benefit of emancipated African Americans.
2. It shall be located in the state of Missouri.
3. Its fundamental idea shall be to combine study and labor.
On January 14, 1866, an organization committee formally established Lincoln Institute. By June of the same year, it incorporated and the committee became the Lincoln Institute Board of Trustees. Richard Baxter Foster, a former first lieutenant in the 62nd Infantry, was named first principal of Lincoln Institute. On September 17, 1866, the school opened its doors to the first class of two students in an old frame building in Jefferson City.
In 1870, the school began to receive aid from the state of Missouri for teacher training. In 1871, Lincoln Institute moved to its present campus. The curriculum added college-level coursework in 1877, and in 1879 Lincoln formally became a Missouri public institution with the deeding of the property to the state. Inman E. Page, Lincoln’s first president, took office in 1880 and served until 1898, overseeing enrollment growth, the construction of new buildings, hiring of new faculty and an expanding college curriculum. Under the second Morrill Act of 1890, Missouri designated Lincoln a land-grant university, emphasizing studies in agriculture, mechanics and teaching.
In 1921, the Missouri Legislature passed a bill to expand the school to a four-year college and change the name from Lincoln Institute to Lincoln University, governed by a Board of Curators. Inman Page returned to Lincoln in 1922 to serve one more year as president of the newly designated university.
Lincoln’s high school division earned accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1925; the teacher-training program followed in 1926 and the four-year College of Arts and Sciences in 1934.
Longtime university President Sherman D. Scruggs witnessed tremendous growth during his time at the helm of Lincoln, from 1938 to 1956. Graduate instruction began in the summer session of 1940, with majors in education and history and minors in English, history and sociology. In 1954, following the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional, Lincoln
University opened its doors to all who could meet its entrance criteria, regardless of ethnicity. Enrollment climbed from 400 to more than 1,000 students, triggering a move to expand curriculum and facilities.
Dr. James Frank was the first Lincoln alumnus to become president of the university, serving from 1973 to 1982. During his tenure, Lincoln University enhanced its land-grant status with the Cooperative Extension Center and acquired additional farm property. The Frank administration also developed a broadcast journalism program and began training students at campus television station JCTV.
The 1990s saw the growth and integration of nursing, teacher education, computer science and agribusiness into Lincoln’s core offerings. As the school made its way into the 21st century, Lincoln enjoyed a resurgence in athletic programs and technological advancements, both in and out of the classroom.
In 2014, John B. Moseley joined Lincoln as head basketball coach. He assumed the position of interim athletic director in 2015 and was selected for the permanent athletic director role in 2016. He began a term as interim president in May 2021, following the resignation of LU President Jerald Jones Woolfolk. On January 28, 2022, the Lincoln University Board of Curators named Dr. John Moseley president of the university.
Today, Lincoln serves a diverse student population, both residential and nonresidential, and offers an array of academic programs, research projects and public services. The university grants associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in more than 30 areas of study.
The legacy of those long-ago soldiers lives on in the growth of the university and the success of its graduates. The Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza on the campus quadrangle pays artistic tribute to the vision of the men of the 62nd and 65th Regiments and the embodiment of their dream.
Program of Events
Presiding
Stevie Lawrence II, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Prelude
Lincoln University Band
Processional*
“War March of the Priests” by Felix Mendelssohn
Lincoln University Band
Posting of Colors*
ROTC Color Guard
The National Anthem*
“The Star-Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key, arr. by Steven Smith
Lincoln University Band
Invocation*
Rev. Dr. Adrian Hendricks II ‘01
Senior Pastor and Founder, The Joshua House Church
The Laying of the Wreath*
John B. Moseley, Ed.D., Lincoln University President ROTC Cadet Jaylan Franks ’27
Taps*
Kelvin Polk ‘25
Greetings
Victor B. Pasley ’68, Board of Curators President
Occasion
John B. Moseley, Ed.D., Lincoln University President
Welcome
Jesse Canamore ’26, 22nd Mister Lincoln University
Yessnia Austin Dixon ’25, 100th Miss Lincoln University
Musical Selection
“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” lyrics by James Weldon Johnson and music by J. Rosamond Johnson Lincoln University Choir
Introduction of Founders’ Day Speaker
Jillian Patton ’25, President, Student Government Association
Founders’ Day Address
Jerome Offord Jr. ‘93, Ph.D.
Family of the Year
The Newton Family
Introduced by Grant Winrow, Ed.D. Vice President for University Advancement
Alma Mater*
“Lincoln, O, Lincoln” by Benjamin F. Allen Lincoln University Band and Lincoln University Choir
Benediction*
Rev. Dr. Adrian Hendricks II ‘01 Senior Pastor and Founder, The Joshua House Church
Retiring of Colors*
ROTC Color Guard
Recessional*
“Pomp and Circumstance” by Edward Elgar, arr. by James Ployhar
Lincoln University Band
Eugene Diggs II, Director of Bands
Michelle Gamblin-Green, Director of the Choirs
*Please rise and remain standing
Speaker Highlight
Jerome Offord Jr. ‘93, Ph.D.
Associate University Librarian and Chief Diversity Officer for the Harvard Library
Jerome Offord Jr., a 1993 graduate of Lincoln University, is the associate university librarian and chief diversity officer for the Harvard Library, which encompasses 26 libraries and approximately 800 employees. In his role, he advances the library’s legacy of diversity initiatives by fostering collaborations to develop and implement strategies that impact the library’s workforce, services, collections and spaces. Offord also serves as president of the 62nd & 65th Regiments Legacy Foundation, supporting Lincoln University’s mission through scholarship support for students.
Before joining Harvard University, Offord was vice president for business and administration at DeEtta Jones and Associates, an organizational development consulting firm. His career includes eight years of leadership roles at Lincoln University. He began as dean of library services and archives, later serving as interim provost, chief of staff to the president and dean of administration and student affairs.
Offord’s professional experience also includes positions as diversity officer and corporate inclusion manager at OCLC Online Computer Library Center; director of diversity initiatives at the Association of Research Libraries; director of finance and development at Us Helping Us, People Into Living; and student affairs roles at Colorado State University, George Washington University and American University.
Offord holds a Ph.D. in library and information science with a focus on managerial leadership from Simmons University in Boston. He also earned master’s degrees in library and information science from the Catholic University of America and in student affairs in higher education from Colorado State University, as well as an executive MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. He received a Bachelor of Science in agriculture from Lincoln University.
Family of the Year
The Newton Family
Robert and Ruth Newton are 1968 graduates of Lincoln University, where they excelled academically and as student leaders. Ruth, a St. Louis native, earned her degree in elementary education, and Robert, from Fairfield, Alabama, majored in government.
While at Lincoln, both were active in the Student Government Association (SGA). Robert was elected 1966-67 SGA president. The couple met and began dating while attending Lincoln.
Robert was a statistician and team manager for the football and basketball teams, a sports reporter for the Lincoln Clarion and sports editor for the Lincoln yearbook, Archives. His college honors included the 1967 SGA Man of the Year award and a listing in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and College. He was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Ruth’s achievements included recognition as the 1968 SGA Woman of the Year and inclusion in Who’s Who. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she became a lifetime member in 2008.
After their wedding in 1968, the Newtons moved to Washington, D.C., where Robert attended Howard University’s School of Law, graduating in 1971. Ruth began her career as an elementary school teacher. Robert’s legal career included roles with the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Energy and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He was admitted to practice before the Alabama Bar, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He retired in 2011 after a respected federal service career, earning a Distinguished Career Service award.
Ruth earned a master’s in early childhood education from George Washington University in 1974 and later transitioned into library science. She became director of NASA’s Goddard Child Development Center and pursued a Master of Library Science degree at the University of Maryland, where she was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa and Beta Phi Mu honor societies. As the branch manager of the Charles E. Miller Library in Howard County, Maryland, she innovated programs, managed extensive collections and supervised staff. She retired in 2006 after a groundbreaking career.
The Newtons are devoted Lincoln alumni. Ruth served as president of the Washington, D.C., alumni chapter and later as national alumni secretary, leading scholarship initiatives and fundraising efforts. The Newtons have received the Lincoln University Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Awards and are life members of the association. The couple’s contributions include financial support, such as an endowed scholarship for Lincoln students. Their names are etched on Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza in recognition of their enduring legacy.
Residents of Ellicott City, Maryland, the Newtons are proud parents of three sons and grandparents of five.
Alma Mater
Lincoln, O, Lincoln
We thy proud children are; Thou art our guiding star, Lincoln believe.
Ours are hearts that yearn for thee No matter where we be; Morning, noon and always, we Are Lincolnites.
Thy name, O Lincoln Shall e’er us be dear. Thy mem’ries sacred, near Hold us to thee. Thy honors ours shall be, Thy cause when just shall we With loyalty defendFor thee we’d die. Lincoln, O Lincoln!
We thy proud children are; Our hearts, both near and far Love thee with delight. No matter where we are; Whether present, absent far, Morning, noon, we always are True Lincolnites!
Board of Curators
Victor B. Pasley ’68, M.S.Ed., President
Everidge Cade ’73, B.S., Vice President
Tina Shannon, M.P.A, Secretary
Richard R. Popp, J.D., Treasurer
Vernon V. Bracy ’82, B.S.
Stacia R. Bradley Brown ’74, Ed.D.
Richard G. Callahan, J.D.
Terry Rackers, B.S.
Nia Walker, Student Representative
Curators Emeriti
Don W. Cook Sr. ’67, Ed.D.; Greg S. Gaffke ’69, B.S.; Frank J. Logan Sr., M.S.; Winston J. Rutledge ’65, ’71, Ph.D.; Marvin O. Teer Jr. ’85, J.D.
President’s Leadership Team
John B. Moseley, Ed.D. 21st President
Tim Abney ’78, B.S. Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation
Jeffrey Barlow, M.P.A. Vice President for Administration and Finance
Ashton Cleveland, Ed.D. Chief Operating Officer
Douglas LaVergne, Ph.D. Vice President for Land Grant Engagement
Stevie Lawrence II, Ph.D. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Tobias Morgan, Ph.D. Chief Student Affairs Officer
April Robinson, M.S. Executive Director and Chief Human Resources Officer
Grant Winrow, Ed.D. Vice President for University Advancement
Class year designates graduation from Lincoln University.
