- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
Lincoln University – Lincoln University President Robert R. Jennings has announced that the following individuals will receive honorary degrees at the 153rd Commencement exercise on Sunday, May 6 at 1:30 pm: Frank Carlos Gihan a 1972 Lincoln alumnus and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees; Clarence B. Jones, Esq., former personal counsel to Dr. Martin Luther King and Dr. Violet J. Plantz (posthumously) Lincoln University Master of Human Services Professor.
As previously announced by President Jennings, Roland S. Martin will deliver the Commencement address.
~Frank Carlos Gihan: Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa~
Frank Carlos Gihan is a senior consultant for several business, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and public relations firms. Among his various assignments are facilitation, media training, communications, organizational restructuring, community development, market planning and research, advertising strategies, fundraising grant-making, workforce development and strategic plan development.
Gihan was previously Vice President at the Flowers Communication Group in Chicago: Executive Vice President-Chief Operations Officer at the Chicago Urban League; Director of Community Relations at the Chicago Tribune; President of the Chicago Tribune Foundation; co-chair of Chicago Tribune Charities and Director of Public and Community Affairs at McDonald’s Corporation.
He has been an Urban League volunteer and has held leadership positions since 1975. Gihan is a past chair of the Lincoln University, PA Board of Trustees and the Quad County Urban League board; he is a fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago and a McCormick Tribune Foundation Fellow. He served as the board chair of One Hundred Black Men in Chicago and second vice chair of DuSable Museum of African American History, as well as a board member of Deeply Rooted Productions.
Gihan holds a master’s degree in Communications/Technical Writing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Lincoln University, and a Spanish certificate from Instituto Linguistico Atenas in Costa Rica. He is also a graduate of Northwestern University’s Media Management Center’s Advanced Executive Program.
Gihan has received numerous leadership and community service awards from such organizations as the Quad County (Aurora, IL) and Philadelphia Urban League, United Negro College Fund, Boy Scouts of America and the NAACP.
~Clarence B. Jones: Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa
Clarence B. Jones, a respected lawyer, accomplished political consultant, investment banker and famed speechwriter, is a Scholar in Residence at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute at Stanford University.
After graduation from high school Jones attended Columbia University but was drafted into the military and forced to put his education on hold. Subsequent to his discharge from the military for refusing to sign the Armed Forces Loyalty Certificate stating that he was not a member of the Communist Party, Jones returned to Columbia to complete his Bachelor’s degree. His discharge was later changed to “honorable” on appeal. He attended Boston University School of Law where he obtained his LLB, then established a practice in entertainment law.
Jones was the former personal counsel, advisor, draft speech writer and close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After becoming a lawyer in the late 1950s Jones worked on the legal team for Martin Luther King, Jr. It was Jones who delivered the famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to the clergy in Birmingham in 1963. He assisted in the writing of the famed “I Have a Dream” speech. Following King’s assassination, Jones continued his own activist efforts. He acted as one of the negotiators during the Attica Prison Riots in 1971.
Jones joined the investment banking and brokerage firm of Carter, Berlind & Weill and was the first African-American to be named an allied member of the New York Stock Exchange.
Clarence B. Jones has received multiple awards and distinctions for his works, including a Distinguished Public Service Award from two African American Chambers of Commerce and a Letter of Commendation from President Bill Clinton.
~Dr. Violet J. Plantz (posthumously): Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa ~
Dr. Violet J. Plantz was a beloved Lincoln University Master of Human Services Professor. She taught at Lincoln from 1978 until her sudden death in the spring of 2011. Her teaching style earned her the respect and love of past and present students. Dr. Plantz was known best for her advocacy work and teaching and training on gender, age, ability, class and race equity.
Dr. Plantz achieved a Master’s degree in Social Work from Marywood University (Scranton, PA) and completed her Doctorate at Walden University (Minneapolis, MN.)
She previously worked for Fulton County Social Services where she was awarded the Daughter’s of the American Revolution (DAR) award. She was also Director of Dauphin County Single County Authority and proprietor of The Women’s Training and Support Program (Harrisburg, PA). Dr. Plantz had also been employed at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Maryland.
Dr. Plantz collected African Art and Afro centric books, the latter aiding her in the completion of her unpublished manuscript Sentient Psychology. In addition to teaching and collecting Dr. Plantz had two additional passions: photography and Irish Wolfhounds. These passions, plus her dear friends, saw her through surviving breast cancer and her final days on earth.