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- Category: Campus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA (www.lincoln.edu <http://www.lincoln.edu> ) – United States Congressman Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania, a leading advocate in Congress for educational equity and support for higher education, will deliver the 151st Commencement address and receive an honorary degree at Lincoln University on Sunday, May 2, at 1:30 p.m. at the University’s track and field.
Congressman Fattah has won numerous honors and recognition as an innovative and effective advocate for education reform throughout his 27-year career in Congress and the Pennsylvania Legislature.
“Congressman Fattah is a strong supporter of higher education and Lincoln University students have been beneficiaries of programs he has supported and sponsored,” said President Ivory V. Nelson. “Having him address our graduating scholars will certainly be an honor and a source of inspiration for our young leaders to achieve their fullest potential. “
Also, on Sunday, May 2, at 10 a.m., Reverend P.M. Smith, Pastor of the Huber Memorial Church, will serve as the Baccalaureate speaker in the new International Cultural Center. In 1983, Rev. Smith retired from ten years in the legal arena to devote himself to ministry. He is also the father of Trustee Tehma H. Smith, class of 2000.
Congressman Fattah will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. In addition to Congressman Fattah, two other notable professionals will receive honorary degrees. They are: Dr. William E. Bennett ’50, senior scholar with the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement; and Robert W. Bogle, president and chief executive officer of The Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest newspaper primarily serving the African American community.
2010 Commencement Speakers
~ U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah: Doctor of Laws Degree ~
Congressman Chaka Fattah was appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to chair the Congressional Urban Caucus to lead House members to craft an urban agenda. He is also the architect of nationally funded GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) which supports the goal for all children to have an equal opportunity to receive the best education. Assisting millions of children, GEAR UP is the largest pre-college awareness program in this nation’s history. This program has contributed more than $2 billion toward the educational advancement and college readiness of low-income students. In 2003, he created the CORE Philly (Philadelphia College Opportunity Resources for Education) Scholarships that provided about 13,000 Philadelphians with $24 million in one-time college scholarships.
~ Dr. William E. Bennett ’50: Doctor of Science Degree ~
William E. Bennett, Ph.D., is a senior scholar with the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement. He also has been a senior fellow with the American Association of Colleges and Universities. In recent years, he has served on boards and committees of university and academic associations, journals and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bennett received his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D., from Lincoln University, Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. He was awarded a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship for research in the laboratories of noted Professor Zanvil Cohn and Nobel Prize winner Fritz Lipmann, at the Rockefeller University. He holds two honorary doctorates.
~ Robert W. Bogle: Doctor of Literature Degree ~
Robert W. Bogle is the president and chief executive officer of The Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest and the Greater Philadelphia region’s largest newspaper primarily serving the African American community. Before assuming his current position in July 1989, he held other progressive positions of leadership at the newspaper: Advertising Director from 1973 to 1977; Director of Marketing from 1977 to 1981; and Executive Vice President and Treasurer from 1981 to 1989. Widely respected by his peers, Bogle completed a two-term tenure in June 1995 as President of the National Newspaper Publisher’s Association, which consists of 205 Black-owned newspapers located throughout the United States. In 1995, 1997 and again in 1999, the association honored him with the Russwurm Award, the highest honor to the “Best Newspaper in America.” The award is named for John B. Russwurm, co-founder ofFreedom’s Journal, the first African American newspaper in the U.S. (1827).
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Lincoln University – founded in 1854 as the nation’s first Historically Black University – 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 enrolls approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students.
Internationally recognized for preparing learners and producing world-class leaders in their fields, Lincoln has created five academic Centers of Excellence-programs of distinctions. They are: Lincoln-Barnes Visual Arts, Grand Research Educational Awareness and Training (GREAT) for Minority Health, Mass Communications, Teacher Education and Urban Pedagogy and Business and Information Technology.