Borrowing heavily from the Pointer Sisters' hit "I'm So Excited," Lincoln University President Kevin D. Rome launched the 2015-16 school year for faculty and staff by saying:
"We want to love LU, fill LU, wrap ourselves around LU.
"We want to squeeze LU, please LU - we just can't get enough.
"And if we move real slow, LU will let us go.
"I'm so excited and I just can't hide it - and I know, I know, I know, I know, I want LU.
"I want LU."
Then, with help from several students who carried wireless microphones to various people in Mitchell Auditorium, Rome asked LU faculty, staff and administrators attending the Fall Faculty-Staff Institute why they're excited about the coming year.
Among the 20 comments he received:
• Tammy Nobles said she's "excited about our new Women's Resource Center that will open in just a couple of weeks."
• Mental Health Counselor Jamie Smith noted: "We're starting to coordinate our services a lot more, so the "silos' are breaking down within Lincoln - so there's a greater coordination of services and outreach within Lincoln, to each other."
• Political Science professor Amy Gossett said she's excited "we are going to have living-learning communities - and they are going to be meaningful and fulltime for these students. And I'm going to be the co-ordinator of the civic engagement piece, which I have wanted to do for the last 10 years."
• Professor Glenda Dahlstrom was excited about the Nursing School's pending change to concentrate only on a four-year bachelor's degree in nursing.
• Donna McKinney, director of the sponsored research and grants office, said: "This is such a wonderful and nurturing place for students. ... I need all of you to accept the challenge to seek grant funding (so) together, we can bring more resources to this campus."
• Fran Long of LU's St. Louis Cooperative Extension office said: "I am the grandmother of a student here at Lincoln, and I'm excited that he's excited about continuing his education - and that Lincoln is meeting his needs in an effort to do that."
The point, Rome noted, is everybody's excitement helps fuel better education.
"You are the keepers of the dreams - the dreams of the 62nd and 65th Colored Infantry Soldiers," he said.
In her welcoming remarks, Student Government Association President Kenisha Gransberry pointed to the LU founding soldiers' vision of higher education for African Americans and "149 years later, we plan to continue the legacy by replenishing the soil. We would like to think of Lincoln University as a "progressing garden,' where the visions of our founding fathers serve as the roots which nourish our school and each of us together represent the stems that uplift our students, who are the blooming flowers - growing stronger in beauty, prosperity and purpose."
Staff Council President Cindy Borgwordt thanked Rome for listening to staff concerns.
"Did you know that staff represents 66 percent of all employees here at Lincoln?" Borgwordt asked the faculty and staff in the audience. "Lincoln is so lucky to have a staff council representing the staff.
"A lot of universities don't have a staff council; there is not a channel to communicate directly to leadership."
Thanks to lawmakers' approval this year of funding for campus renovation projects, and LU's separate planning with Jefferson City's Parks department for a new Wellness Center, Rome said he's excited about the numerous construction projects coming to LU's campus this year - and he asked for everybody's patience with the inconveniences that work will cause.
And, returning his focus to students, Rome said: "I'm excited that we live in a country that's resilient, despite the serious social issues that plague our state, country and world.
"I believe we are educating students who will rise up, and change our world for the better."
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