Rome reflects on first year as LU president

Lincoln University President Kevin Rome speaks at his 2013 inauguration ceremony.
Lincoln University President Kevin Rome speaks at his 2013 inauguration ceremony.

Kevin Rome has been Lincoln University's president for 54 weeks.

"It's been a quick, long year," Rome told LU curators during Thursday's board meeting in Jefferson City. "I just want to say - and it's really on behalf of the faculty and staff - we've had a lot of change this past year.

"We're a lot leaner. I believe we're stronger. And we're really focusing our priorities on student success and what we can do differently to increase our retention and graduation rates."

Rome said he's pleased with the job and the responsive community of students, making his experience a pleasant one.

It hasn't always been a smooth ride, though, with some of the reorganization efforts late last year resulting in some retirements and others being laid off.

"I have to commend the staff, because there are many people who have taken on new roles," he said. "We have one person doing the work of several people, and we appreciate that. We know we can't continue at that rate forever but - within this last year, I just want to say thanks to the faculty and staff who've stepped up, really taken the challenge and, as we move forward, I'm very optimistic about what we can accomplish - and how we can impact the student experience, the faculty experience and the staff experience."

Rome added he's heard stories about past relationships between the community and the university that were negative, but he's only received positive feedback, which he called a pleasant surprise.

In the interview, Rome said he's found nothing but "pleasant" surprises.

"I've heard all the stories about the relationship between the community and the university, but I didn't experience the negative experiences that I heard about from the past," he explained. "I've only received positive, welcoming, smiling responses from people and, so, that has been a pleasant surprise compared to what I heard prior to coming here.

"And, even with the campus, there are so many good things that are happening here that we don't hear about and people don't talk about."

Despite numerous good things happening at Lincoln, Rome said most people don't talk about it, and that's one of the reasons that the university needs to take better control of its story, Rome said.

"People are still telling the stories from 40 years ago and, unless we change the dialog, people will continue to have the same conversation," he said. "We have some outstanding academic programs and we have some outstanding students.

"Unfortunately - too often, people may focus on the negative and not highlight the positive - but there are many positive things that are happening here."

Telling the story better also will help with fundraising efforts, such as raising more than $1.1 million during his first year as president - which surpassed the personal goal he had set.

"I hope to be able to change some opinions and views from the past, and reintroduce Lincoln to those who may have had negative experiences in the past, to say that "This is a new Lincoln. This is a different Lincoln,' and we're focused on different things," Rome said.

Lincoln is a historically black university, founded in 1866 by members of the 62nd and 65th Missouri Colored Infantry units with an end-of-the-Civil-War goal of helping freed blacks get a basic education, after they had been blocked from learning by an 1847 state law that prohibited it.

That history is important, Rome said - but it's not all that LU is or can be.

"I think we have to learn to appreciate our past, because we have a rich history and tradition at Lincoln University, and it's something that we should, still, highlight," he said. "I think that we've shown that people from different backgrounds and various cultures can come together and, successfully, navigate a university.

But, as a federal 1890 land grant university, LU also has a research role that attracts some of the school's faculty and students - and should help the Jefferson City state-owned university cooperate with the University of Missouri campus only 30 miles away.

"We should look at it as an asset, being close to a Research 1 institution," Rome said. "And where we can collaborate and work with them and learn from them, we should.

At the board meeting, Rome repeated that he and his family - his wife and their twins - are happy that LU curators hired him to be the school's 19th president.

"I keep hearing, "He won't be here long!'" he said. "I want people to know that we plan to be members of this community as long as people will have us. We are very happy and content here.

"I'm not looking at this as a stepping stone. I'm not saying I'll be here forever - but I'm not looking to leave."