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The Spring ’21 semester was unlike any other for community college student-athletes across the nation, but there was one thing that remained consistent at Lincoln Trail College: strong performance in the classroom. For the 15th consecutive semester, LTC student-athletes combined for an overall GPA above 3.0.

Lincoln Trail College’s Alpha Iota Epsilon Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society was recognized at the Illinois Region Phi Theta Kappa Hallmark Awards. Once again, LTC was recognized as a Five Star Chapter. The recognition is the highest honor a chapter can receive. 

Junsie Cotten is back for another run with Lincoln Trail College. Cotten, who led the Statesmen to a Regional Championship in 2007, was named the head coach of the men's basketball team at the May 18 IECC Board meeting.  "I am absolutely thrilled to be returning to Lincoln Trail College as the head men’s basketball coach,” says Cotten. “It is a place I’m very familiar with and one that has welcomed me with open arms. I am looking forward to developing lifelong relationships with our players, coaches, and the Robinson community.”

Southern Illinois native Zach Loll has been named as the new head coach of the Lincoln Trail College Women’s Basketball team. 

Lincoln Trail College is giving high school students the chance to make up credits this summer. LTC’s Secondary Education Academy runs from June 7 through July 30 and is broken up into four cohorts, each lasting two weeks. “We’ve heard from the high schools that there were some students that struggled with online learning during the pandemic,” says Lincoln Trail College Dean of Instruction Brent Todd. “We’re offering the SEA as a way that those students can take classes in a face-to-face setting and make up credits that they need.”

Lincoln Trail College announced the winners of this year’s student awards. Abbey McCord was awarded the Joseph C. Piland Excellence in Scholarship Award. Mallory Mundy was awarded the J. Rod Harmon Excellence in Service Award and Winter Harmsen was awarded the Bev L. Turkal Excellence in Leadership Award.

Lincoln Trail College honored faculty and staff members for their service at the 42nd Annual Service Recognition Night. Retiring English Professor Dr. Ann Wolven was the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award. It is awarded to faculty members who have demonstrated sustained excellence and have adopted innovative or highly effective practices to aid student learning.

Dr. Zahi Atallah has been named the 11th President of Lincoln Trail College. Atallah is from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, where he was the founder of IncludED Consultants, an educational consulting firm that works to enhance student success, increase access to students with differing abilities and backgrounds, and provides classroom student support.  “I’m very blessed and humbled to receive this opportunity,” says Atallah. “I wanted an opportunity to work in a small community in the Midwest that shares the same interest in higher education that I have.”

Lincoln Trail College will offer a variety of community education classes over the summer, including a return of the popular Children’s Summer Theater and College For Kids programs. “We weren’t able to offer these programs last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Lincoln Trail College Coordinator of Marketing Chris Forde. “These are both very popular programs that bring more than 100 children to our campus each year. We also weren’t able to offer other community education classes for adults and we’re excited to bring those back too.

The Lincoln Trail College Music Department will present two concerts this Spring. The LTC Handbell Ensemble will have its concert on April 30 at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Robinson. There is limited seating available for the concert and tickets are available at the church. There will also be a livestream of the concert at robinsonfumc.org/livestream.