- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA ~ Sophomores Alesha Blue and Steven Steel had different reasons for enrolling at Lincoln University, but their paths crossed when they walked across the stage in recognition of academic excellence at the university’s annual Honors Convocation Wednesday in Manuel Rivero Hall.
Blue is a criminal justice major and had explored other universities before settling on Lincoln. She has a 3.67 grade-point average and hails from Long Island, N.Y, about 290 miles north of Lincoln University.
“I enrolled at Lincoln because the recruiters placed much emphasis on education,” Blue said. “They also said the university has people who would help you succeed. Once I got here, I found that to be true.”
The event was also meaningful for Blue. Her parents, Dottie Blue and Isaac Lamb, made the trip from Long Island to witness the event and watch their daughter receive her certificate of recognition.
Steele, on the other hand, is from nearby Avondale, Pa., about 10 miles from the campus. He is a political science major and hopes to become a teacher or politician.
“I came to Lincoln because it’s close to home and it has a great history,” said Steele, who has a 3.97 grade-point average. “It is a school that has produced memorable leaders.”
Steele is the first in his family to attend the nation’s first historically black college.
Steele lauded Drs. F. Carl Walton and Chieke Ihejirika, assistant professors in the department of political science, for helping him decide on a career. “They have been extremely helpful,” he said. “They mentored me and gave me pointers about my career, sort of pointed me in the right direction.”
Blue and Steel were just two of the large number of students honored at the assembly, an annual pause on the academic calendar to recognize students who have earned high academic achievement.
Founded in 1854, Lincoln University is a premier, historically Black University that combines the best elements of a liberal arts and sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum and selected graduate programs to meet the needs of those living in a highly technological and global society. The University is nationally recognized as a major producer of African Americans with undergraduate degrees in the physical sciences (biology, chemistry and physics); computer and informational sciences; biological and life sciences. Lincoln has an enrollment of 2,423 undergraduate and graduate students.