- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
Mihayo Wilmore ’00 and business partner, Yasmin Chali
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA – Internet entrepreneur and Lincoln alumnus Mihayo Wilmore and his business partner, Yasmin Chali, are offering a deserving Lincoln student an all-expenses-paid three-month internship this summer with their company, UhuruOne, in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania.
Wilmore, a 2000 Lincoln University graduate, made the announcement to students who remained at the university’s International Cultural Center auditorium for what was to be his keynote address at today’s all-university convocation, but had been abbreviated due to travel delays.
“We are looking for someone who has passion and drive,” he said. “We need someone to help us in marketing, possibly a communications major or someone that’s interested in I.T. to develop websites, or law to help with Human Resources manuals. It doesn’t matter.”
The internship, which covers travel and accommodations, also makes various stipulations, requiring the intern to travel to Tanzania via Dubai so that the student will gain greater perspective of that newer, foreign city’s advances and technology as compared to other older, major American cities. In addition, the intern will also visit the Serengeti, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa and one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world, Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, and Zanzibar, an island portion of Tanzania known as a breathtaking tourist destination.
“We want to give students who have never traveled outside of the U.S. an opportunity to come to Africa, to Tanzania, via Dubai,” Wilmore said. “For you to see a city (like Dubai) and compare it to a New York and see the changes that they have, the technology that they have, it is truly impressive. This will give you a different perspective as a student to see where you want to be in the world. Many of my friends from Lincoln remained in the tri-state region so they limited their opportunities to a single continent, to a single geographic area. Come to Africa and see what it’s all about.”
Wilmore explained that he and Chali’s success would not be the same had they remained in the United States.
“What we were able to achieve in 13 years in Africa, we would never have been able to achieve in the U.S. unless we were upper middle class,” said Wilmore, who also donated a collection of African paintings during his visit. “We need to build this ebony bridge with the African American communities in the U.S. with those in countries in Africa. There is tremendous opportunity.”
It is that same success that allowed the pair to present a $100,000 gift to the university to establish the Jacques E. Wilmore, Sr. ’50 Endowed Scholarship Fund in honor of Wilmore’s father last Fall.
To be eligible for the new internship, students must be in good academic and financial standing with the university and possess a clean disciplinary record. Those interested candidates must submit a 500-word or less statement of interest, which (1) explains why the internship is desired, (2) details the candidate’s community service commitment to the university and local community, and lastly, (3) explains how the internship experience will be used to benefit or contribute to Lincoln, their communities and their lives. Submissions should be made to Ms. Connie Lundy via email at clundy@lincoln.edu no later than Friday, April 17 by 5 p.m.
*(Special consideration is also offered to those nine students who remained and were present for Wilmore’s announcement.)
Founded in 1854, The Lincoln University (PA) is the FIRST of four Lincoln Universities in the world and is the nation’s FIRST degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The University combines the elements of a liberal arts and science-based undergraduate curriculum along with select graduate programs to meet the needs of those living in a highly technological and global society. Today, Lincoln, which enrolls a diverse student body of approximately 2,000 men and women, possesses an international reputation for preparing and producing world-class leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, the FIRST African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Lillian Fishburne, the FIRST African American woman promoted to Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy; Langston Hughes, the noted poet; Kwame Nkrumah, the FIRST president of Ghana; Nnamdi Azikiwe, the FIRST president of Nigeria and a myriad of others.