Special Report: Lincoln University Report Card

Lincoln University only graduates one-quarter of its students, according to federal statistics.

That’s the second smallest graduation percentage among Missouri’s public 4-year colleges. Lincoln also saw a 7 percent drop in enrollment this semester. Those numbers, along with significant internal conflict, has ABC 17 News asking leaders if the historic university is on the right track.

Lincoln University has been a fixture of Missouri higher education for 150 years. Three weeks ago, the historically black university held a homecoming celebration honoring the longevity of its education and service to the state of Missouri and the African-American community.

In its 150th year, however, Lincoln’s enrollment is shrinking by the semester most recently, a 7 percent drop in the fall of 2016.

This decrease followed a summer with mold problems at one of its residence halls. Several students had to be relocated and some said they suffered respiratory problems.

But 2016 also saw the end of two degree programs and two sports programs. The associate of applied science in early childhood education, and the bachelor of music education and bachelor of science with an emphasis in sacred music were both cut along with the tennis and baseball programs. Lincoln University president, Dr. Kevin Rome said the cuts were made because of low participation.

“The reality is, we have to make some difficult decisions and we can’t not make those decisions because everyone doesn’t agree with them,” said Rome.

Rome said the lower enrollment isn’t a concern for university leadership. He said it’s not a reflection of poor programs, but high standards.

“If students don’t meet the necessary academic progress that we required, we’ve been adamant about not letting them return to Lincoln University,” Rome said. “It’s unethical for us to allow students to take out loans for their parents or supporters to pay for their education if they’re not progressing academically.”

This summer, the university launched Project Jumpstart, a college readiness program for incoming freshmen. Of the 127 students who participated in the program, 87 percent returned to Lincoln this fall.

Also this year, Lincoln University’s vice president of academic affairs is under scrutiny by faculty members who say Dr. Said Sewell routinely ignores the faculty’s voice.

“It was a general feeling that shared governance at the university was breaking down,” said Faculty Senate chair Dr. Bryan Salmons.

A statement by the Faculty Senate submitted to the president’s office said of Sewell, “(He) has not responded in any substantive way to the concerns expressed by our members. We do not expect any improvement from the current VPAA.”

“Faculty input was not being respected certainly to the degree that it was being solicited just for show,” Salmons said.

In a letter responding to the faculty’s concerns, Sewell said, “It is important to note that even after seeking input from various groups that I as vice president of academic affairs have the sole discretion to make decisions in the best interest of the university.”

“Shared governance is very important, but you also have to define shared governance,” Rome said. “Shared governance means that everyone has input but you also have people who are hired to make decisions.”

Nevertheless, the faculty voted “no confidence” in the vice president of academic affairs, 88 to 18, an overwhelming majority.

“This has turned into an extraordinarily negative environment in terms of faculty morale,” Salmons said.

The morale issues came in the midst of multiple court battles. In May, the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Kenneth Ferguson, a former Lincoln employee of 35 years who claimed that the university fired him because of his age, one of several discrimination lawsuits filed against Lincoln University. Dr. Annette Digby also filed a First Amendment claim, saying that she was forced out of her job in 2011 because she is white.

“We currently had lawsuits by an African individual, an African-American individual and a Caucasian individual all claiming racial discrimination,” said Rome. “I do find it highly irregular and unlikely that they all were discriminated against based on racial identity.”

Those cases are at various stages in court.

With the second lowest graduation rate, a dissatisfied faculty, and a shrinking student body ABC 17 News asked Jefferson City state Sen. Mike Kehoe if Lincoln University is measuring up to the state’s expectations.

“The state has a set of standards that higher education institutions follow,” said Kehoe. “There’s always some room for fine tuning and for improvements in any organization. Lincoln has done as well as many of the colleges in the area.”