The board of trustees of The Lincoln University in Pennsylvania has named Valerie Harrison as acting president of the university. She replaces Robert R. Jennings who resigned after he came under fire for comments at a fall convocation ceremony that some listeners considered to be blaming rape victims for what had happened to them. Dr. Jennings had been appointed the 13th president of The Lincoln University in late 2011.
Dr. Harrison has been serving as the university’s General Counsel. Before joining the staff at the university in 2013, she was vice president for legal affairs and general cousel at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Earlier, Dr. Harrison was associate university counsel at Temple University in Philadelphia.
She is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she majored in economics. Acting President Harrison holds a juris doctorate from the Villanova University School of Law, and a master’s degree in liberal arts from Temple University. She is scheduled to receive a Ph.D. in African American studies from Temple University on December 18. Dr. Harrison is the co-author and co-editor of Color Him Father: Stories of Love and the Rediscovery of Black Men (Kinship Press, 2006).