Lincoln University honored 32 students who are taking the next step to become educators.
The small ceremony Tuesday was a new effort by the school of education to recognize students who have been admitted to the school's Educator Preparation Program, which allows students to become certified to teach.
"There are not many degree programs where you have to apply multiple times. The education profession is one of constant change, but one thing always remains the same: teaching is a calling that not many hear and even fewer answer," said Stephanie Clark, department chairwoman.
"The faculty and staff of our school of education are excited and proud that you have answered the call to teaching, and we cannot wait to see what other great things you will accomplish," she said.
A total of 32 students were recognized, 11 of whom were out teaching or student teaching at the time of the presentation.
Nimrod Chapel Jr., president of the Missouri chapter of the NAACP and son of the late Cynthia Chapel, a Lincoln educator, was the speaker for the event.
Chapel called teaching "probably the most humanitarian thing you can do" to help society move forward.
"Through education, we have a real opportunity to ease and erase some of the barriers that have kept people apart," Chapel said.
He said our society is on the precipice of "wholesale degradation of what it means to be a citizen."
"Education is the only thing standing in the way, and as long as public education is available to us as citizens, and to our children and later generations, we stand a chance," he said.
Chapel said one of his early memories was his mother's classroom.
"My mother, Dr. Cynthia Chapel, was just a phenomenal person," Chapel said. "I wish that everybody could have met her, because she has truly been a light in my life. Every good thing I've ever done is because of her.
"And I think that her being a teacher, an educator, that not just as a vocation, but bringing that love of education home really shaped the trajectory of my life and her grandchildren. ... Do the same thing in your own lives."
"Be that light for somebody else," he added.
Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: Several Lincoln Unversity students in the School of Education were celebrated Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, after being admitted into the Educator Preparation Program, which is a big step for an education major. Some were admitted in the recent fall semester while others were admitted in the spring semester. Some of the education major students were teaching an not available to be at the ceremony held in Pawley Theater on the campus. Standing at far left is Stephanie Clark, chair of the School of Education.