{"id":6968,"date":"2013-08-10T21:26:55","date_gmt":"2013-08-11T01:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=6968"},"modified":"2013-08-10T21:26:55","modified_gmt":"2013-08-11T01:26:55","slug":"lincoln-u-gets-warm-welcome-to-coatesville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=6968","title":{"rendered":"Lincoln U. gets warm welcome to Coatesville"},"content":{"rendered":"

Representatives hope university pushes city to regenerate, inspires youth<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kyle Carrozza<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"City<\/a>

City Manager Kirby Hudson and Lincoln University Provost Dr. Kenoye Eke cut the ribbon on the steps of Gordon Education Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

COATESVILLE \u2013 Lincoln University administrators, staff, and students, local congregations, and city, county, and state officials gathered at the Gordon Education Center Saturday afternoon to welcome Lincoln University to Coatesville.<\/p>\n

City Manager Kirby Hudson and Provost Dr. Kenoye Eke opened proceedings with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Gordon\u2019s steps.<\/p>\n

The celebrations then moved to Gordon\u2019s gym with various government and university officials, including Rep. Tim Hennessey and State Sen. Andy Dinniman, speaking about their happiness of the university’s partnering with Coatesville and their hopes for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all excited; students, faculty, administrators, and staff are all excited,\u201d said Vice President for Student Affairs Carl Walton.<\/p>\n

County Commissioner Ryan Costello agreed.\u00a0\u201cIt is exciting for everyone in Chester County to see this partnership take place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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In a sermonizing delivery, State Sen. Andy Dinniman – accompanied by his dog, Henry – tells about how Lincoln University is one part of Coatesville’s overcoming hardship. “There is no longer a door between the university and the community,” he said.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hudson said that the process to bring the university to the city was a struggle at times. At one point, he was even told that he was wasting his time.\u00a0\u201cDr. Jennings [Lincoln University president] saw the vision from the very beginning,\u201d said Hudson.<\/p>\n

University officials said that Lincoln University and Coatesville should develop a partnership. Cooperation is key for improving the community and the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need you; this is a team,\u201d Jernice Lea, director of graduate student services and admissions, told residents. \u201cWe want to do the right thing by Coatesville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many speakers discussed the effects that having a university will have on the city\u2019s youth. The presence of higher education could push them to improve themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the children: if you don\u2019t have that paper [a college degree], you might as well stay home,\u201d said South Coatesville Mayor James Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Many of the officials spoke with hope for the city. They saw Lincoln University\u2019s arrival as just one aspect of a Coatesville revival that will make the city a better place for everyone.<\/p>\n

Rep. Hennessey talked about roads being fixed, the train station\u2019s renovation, replacement of the Oak Street housing projects, the building of the Marriott, and the new plans to put condos in the Lipkin\u2019s building. He said that Lincoln University will be part of this city regeneration.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Andy Dinniman echoed similar sentiments.\u00a0Paraphrasing James Weldon Johnson\u2019s words in the black national anthem \u201cLift Every Voice and Sing,\u201d he said, \u201cCoatesville is facing the rising sun.\u201d In a sermonizing delivery, he said that he believes the city is in the midst of a special time. \u201cThe stars are aligned in Coatesville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attendees left the gym with the music of the Holy Matrimony Choir of the Mainline Christian Assembly playing in the background.<\/p>\n

Outside, the hopefulness continued. The university, which will offer master\u2019s degrees in business-related programs in the fall, will offer nursing programs in the spring. They will also offer bachelor\u2019s degrees to students who already have their associate degrees. Special Assistant to the President Dr. Judith Thomas said that they hope to offer bachelor\u2019s degrees to everyone within the next two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still in the development stage. If Coatesville and Lincoln partner, it can only strengthen us, and it can only strengthen Coatesville,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also said that the university hopes to offer a full range of courses in the future, including programs in education, math, chemistry, and sociology.<\/p>\n

As the music continued inside, followed by a basketball game in the gym, vendors set up outside the school. Area churches sold food and drink while banks, the Chester County Department of Emergency services, and jewelry, clothing, and appliance merchants were also present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Representatives hope university pushes city to regenerate, inspires youth By Kyle Carrozza,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times COATESVILLE \u2013 Lincoln University administrators, staff, and students, local congregations, and city, county, and state officials gathered at the Gordon Education Center Saturday afternoon to welcome Lincoln University to Coatesville. City Manager Kirby Hudson and Provost Dr. Kenoye Eke opened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[792,2659,427,2662,2660,309,766,2661],"class_list":["post-6968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-city-manager-kirby-hudson","tag-gordon-education-center","tag-lincoln-university","tag-mainline-christian-assembly","tag-provost-dr-kenoye-eke","tag-rep-tim-hennessey","tag-state-sen-andy-dinniman","tag-vice-president-for-student-affairs-carl-walton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}