Lincoln University Honors Trail-Blazing Alumna Dorothy Lathan at Commencement

Dorothy Lathan receives an honorary degree during Lincoln University's 2025 Commencement, joined by Board of Curators President Victor Pasley and President John Moseley

Lincoln University of Missouri bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters on alumna Dorothy Lathan during Commencement ceremonies May 10. Lathan, a 1954 graduate of Lincoln, was honored “in recognition of her life of service, not only in education but in the pursuit of civil rights,” LU President John Moseley told the crowd of graduates, family and friends.

“This is an awesome, awesome celebration,” he added.

Lathan arrived at Lincoln University in 1950 from St. Louis, where her family had settled to escape the poverty and racism of her Arkansas hometown. At Lincoln, she met and married Arthur Lathan, a member of the class of 1953. Dorothy finished her degree a semester early and the Lathans left Jefferson City in January 1954 because Arthur had joined the Army, which relocated the couple to San Francisco.

Trail blazers from the get-go, the Lathans were the first Black family to buy a home in a west San Francisco neighborhood in 1960. She challenged discriminatory policies of the San Francisco Unified School District to become the first Black teacher at a school that was not predominantly Black students. After 32 years in education, she retired as a principal in 1993.

Lathan continued her activism outside the classroom, joining the city’s first rent-control board and accompanying a delegation to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a sister city to San Francisco. She served on the Commission on the Status of Women, was the first woman president of Youth for Service, helping disadvantaged teens, and president of the Black Leadership Forum.

Lathan was a significant force in developing the Museum of the African Diaspora, which focuses on the Black presence in San Francisco. Opening in 2005, today the Smithsonian-affiliated museum is one of the few museums in the world focused exclusively on African diaspora culture and its rich cultural legacy.

At 92, Lathan is still active in her community, the focus of several tributes for her activism and service. Her Lincoln University honor was special, Moseley noted.

“The reason it is so special is because Mrs. Lathan graduated in January and did not get to participate in her college graduation,” he said. “She later received her master’s degree and did not get to participate in that graduation. So today is Dr. Dorothy Lathan’s first participation in graduation!”

With thunderous applause, the audience roared in agreement: this celebration was special indeed.