The 1918 influenza pandemic couldn't bring Lincoln College down. Neither could the Great Depression or World War II. It survived a major fire and economic hardships. But the college is closing for good on Friday — the victim of two modern blights: the COVID-19 pandemic and a cyberattack.
It's a shocking turnaround for the small private Illinois school that has welcomed thousands of first-generation college students and qualified for federal recognition as a predominantly Black institution, or PBI.
