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Chester County Press

Lincoln University gets $100,000 donation

11/06/2014 01:05PM ● By Lev

The Lincoln University received a $100,000 gift from Mihayo Wilmore ’00 and his business partner, Yasmin Chali, to establish the Jacques E. Wilmore, Sr. ’50 Endowed Scholarship Fund under the university’s $10 million The Students First Campaign, president Dr. Robert R. Jennings announced on Oct. 21.

The new endowed scholarship, part of the university’s first endowment campaign for need- and merit-based scholarships, is named for the alumni donor’s father, a class of 1950 valedictorian and a Civil Rights Movement activist.

“I’m proud that our university continues to be associated with the talented and generous Wilmore family,” Dr. Jennings said. “This gift will ensure students who attend Lincoln from Tanzania, or U.S. students who study abroad in Tanzania, will be able to count on financial support from our university.”

Since the establishment of The Students First Campaign in 2013, alumni participation has increased 100 percent, with more than $441,000 in alumni gifts, representing a $140,000 increase from the previous fiscal year.

The Wilmore scholarship will be awarded to Lincoln students studying abroad in Africa, with the priority for students studying in Tanzania.  International students from Tanzania, or more broadly in Africa, will be considered, as will students whose permanent residence is Philadelphia, students with at least one Tanzanian parent, or students born to a U.S. citizen working or living in Africa. 

Since 2009, six Tanzanian citizens have studied at Lincoln.

Mihayo Wilmore graduated valedictorian of the class of 2000, with a degree in computer science.  An entrepreneur, Mihayo established the internet service provider company UhuruOne in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Mihayo’s story was cited in a 2009 op-ed article about entrepreneurship published by the ambassador of the U.S. to Tanzania, who said Mihayo’s company “is a rare example of a young, innovative, diverse Tanzanian company that operates at the cutting edge, with the flexibility to take advantage of the latest trends in technology.”