Lincoln University wants to keep growing, both in the number of students who come to Jefferson City and in their academic achievements, President Kevin Rome told students, faculty and staff during Thursday's Opening Convocation.
"I'm glad you're with us as we grow forward," he said. "It's not just new students that are included in the "Great Harvest' this academic year of 2015-16. Our returning students also are part of the bumper crop."
He urged all "to take note - once you're here, we want you to stay firmly planted for four years, or less, until graduation. And then go out into the world, and bear the fruit of greatness."
Rome noted the change from life at home to life on a college campus may be a big adjustment for some. And he urged all students to be more professional in their approach to college life, as well as in their lives after college.
"You are in charge of your own success," Rome reminded them, "and the choices we make are, ultimately, our own responsibility."
That includes the way people dress, talk and act, he said.
Rome told the News Tribune he delivers that message in some manner every year.
"Typically I've done that in a closed session," he explained. "One of the things you have to do, particularly when you bring a new group to campus, is set the expectations for the students, up-front.
"(Most) are coming from high school, where there are different behaviors - and we have different expectations here."
Rome also noted Lincoln has a diverse student body, with people coming from inner cities as well as very rural areas - and their cultures, habits and outlooks on life may be vastly different.
"Disrespect will not be tolerated at the "real' LU," he said. "This is a professional educational environment - and that's what you should represent by your dress. ...
"This is a collective - we're all impacted by the good and the bad."
Unlike many of his previous speeches, Rome didn't focus on Lincoln's founding by Civil War soldiers.
But he did remind the LU students that next year marks the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's founding as a school intended to teach reading, writing and basic arithmetic skills to people who had been forbidden to learn them by an 1848 Missouri law.
"As we grow through our 149th year of offering a quality education to those who seek it," Rome said.
"I look forward to working alongside of you to nurture our student body, our faculty, staff and alumni and our community.
"We are all in growth mode - and we can be reapers of a better self, a better Lincoln University and a better future - filled with growth."
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