President Rome attempting to turn around Lincoln athletics

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri -- Kevin Rome sat in his office Wednesday afternoon sporting a suit, a bow tie and a grin from ear to ear. The walls that surrounded the president of Lincoln University were nearly bare. Boxes were being moved out of the Young Hall offices.

The boxes were headed for next-door Memorial Hall, temporary home of the office of the president while Young Hall gets a facelift.

Despite the change occurring around him, Rome was relaxed and excited to discuss the future of Lincoln athletics.

Few would envy his task of reviving a depleted athletic department. But Rome has been the president of Lincoln since January 2013, and he has embraced the challenge.

His end goal is clear: success within the athletic department across the board.

“I want to win,” Rome said. “But I want to win the right way. More than anything, we want to see our student-athletes win.”

How quick can that happen? Only time will tell. But the university is implementing certain things to make progress.

Take the Blue Tiger Athletics Club, for example. The restructured club — formerly known as the Blue Tigers Quarterbacks Club — was designed to create a means for alumni, community leaders and corporate sponsors to contribute to all Lincoln sports programs.

“You have to invest in a program,” Rome said. “Any program out there that’s winning is because people are investing in the program. It’s financial, it’s emotional, it’s fan base, it’s all those things that creates a winning program.”

CONTINUE READING