Meet the Lincoln University Oaklanders: Who is FAMU's next football ... - Tallahassee Democrat

The Florida A&M Rattlers will play against the Lincoln University Oaklanders for the final regular season home game at 6 p.m. Saturday on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.

Lincoln University, not to be confused with the noted HBCUs of Lincoln University based in Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, or Lincoln University-Missouri, in Jefferson City, Missouri, caught the attention of fans when FAMU released its 2023 football schedule.

But what about Lincoln University in Oakland?

“We have traditionally been an international school offering a range of undergraduate and graduate programs emphasizing business-related disciplines,” Siobhan Kelly, student services coordinator, told the Tallahassee Democrat.

The university operates out of a complex in downtown Oakland, California, it once owned, but recently sold to generate cash flow, according to a story published in SFGATE.

“The university needed funds to compensate for its enrollment reduction, pay debts, and get some operating capital,” Mikhail Brodsky, president of Lincoln University, said in the story.

According to published reports, the university’s enrollment plummeted to 350 students at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now has 1,000 students enrolled this fall, according to its Office of Admissions.

Here is some information to share during Saturday’s clash at Bragg Stadium.

History behind Lincoln University

Lincoln University Oakland is a private non-profit educational institution founded in 1919 by Benjamin Lickey in San Francisco. In the 1960s and 1970s, the university introduced a curriculum of business administration programs and later added international business and finance management and diagnostic imaging programs.

Academic programs offered

The university is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission, according to its website, and offers six academic programs:

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
Master of Science in International Business
Bachelor of Science in Diagnostic Imaging
Doctor of Business Administration
Master of Science in Finance Management

Lincoln University’s athletic programs

In 2021, Lincoln University established a sports program under the leadership of Desmond Gumbs, the coach of the football team.

“Coach Gumbs has led the formation of our football team, as well as a men’s and women’s soccer team and basketball teams,” Kelly said. “You may have heard our men’s basketball coach, ‘The Glove,’ also known as Gary Payton, is widely regarded as one of the most significant point guards in the history of the National Basketball Association.”

Payton played in the NBA from 1990 to 2007, when he retired from the Miami Heat.

The football team is 0-11 this season, having come on the losing end with games against teams such as Tennessee State, Texas Southern University and Southern University.