Essence Magazine’s Susan L. Taylor To Deliver Keynote Address at Lincoln University’s All–University Convocation on October 15

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  • Category: Campus News

Essence Magazine’s Susan L. TaylorLincoln University, PA (www.lincoln.edu) — Lincoln University — the nation’s first Historically Black University— will present its second All-University Convocation of the 2003-2004 academic year on Wednesday, October 15 in Manuel Rivero Hall (main gymnasium) at 4 p.m.

Delivering the keynote address to students, faculty, administration and alumni will be Susan L. Taylor, editorial director for Essence Magazine, the premier publication for African-American women. Taylor directs all editorial operations of the magazine, writes the popular In the Spirit column each month and oversees the content of all divisions of the multimedia company.

Taylor was the founder of her own company, Nequai Cosmetics, before becoming Essence’s fashion and beauty editor and, in 1981, its editor-in-chief.

She is the author of three books: In the Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan Taylor, Lessons in Living and Confirmation: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives, the latter co-authored with her husband, Khephra Burns. In 1999, Taylor became the first African-American woman to receive the Henry Johnson Fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers of America, the magazine industry’s highest honor. In 2002, she was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors’ (ASME) Hall of Fame.


Founded in 1854, Lincoln University combines the best elements of a liberal arts and sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum and selected graduate programs to meet the needs of students living in a highly technological and global society. The University enrolls 2000 undergraduate and graduate students. Lincoln has the unique distinction of having two of its alumni---U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and poet Langston Hughes---honored with first class commemorative postal stamps.

The University is celebrating its 150th anniversary which began on April 10, 2003 and runs through May 2004. Among Lincoln’s upcoming sesquicentennial events will be the presentation of grand gala events in four major U.S. cities: Philadelphia, New York City, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The Philadelphia gala will be held on October 24 at the Wyndham Philadelphia at Franklin Plaza. 

Lincoln University, the nation’s first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU), educates and empowers students to lead their communities and change the world. Lincoln offers a rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse student body of approximately 2,200 men and women in more than 35 undergraduate and graduate programs.