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The Lincoln University - that's right THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY

It's now The Lincoln University. Lincoln adds "the" to its name.

The Lincoln University — that's right THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY - has added "the" to its official name to distinguish it from the other Lincoln universities and schools throughout the United States.

There's a Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., another in Oakland, Calif., a Lincoln College in Illinois and a Lincoln College of Technology with multiple locations.

The 2,000-student, historically-black university in the rolling farmlands of southern Chester County officially made the change last month and is in the process of modifying all of its signs and logos. It was a decision by the office of communications and the president's office, said spokesman Eric Webb.

"We've always said we're the Lincoln University because we were the first," Webb said.

Lincoln was founded in 1854 as the Ashmun Institute. It was renamed Lincoln in 1866 after President Abraham Lincoln. Webb said it had been known as The Lincoln University at one point. It became a state-related university in 1972.

Over the years, the university had sometimes been called Lincoln University of Pennsylvania or just Lincoln University, he said.

"We're looking at our identity and making sure our branding is appropriate," Webb said. "If we don't know our own name, nobody else will."

But it will take time to get everyone to catch on.

The university on Monday sent out a press release, announcing that Lincoln's President, Robert R. Jennings, had been selected as one of 10 U.S. college and university presidents to participate in "Project Interchange" from June 29 through July 7 in Israel, an educational institute of the American Jewish Committee. Participants will examine the U.S.-Israel relations and conflicts in the region and discuss academic and student exchanges.

At the end of the release, the university noted that it had changed its name to The Lincoln University and that the name "should be adhered to in all references." But at the end of the release, a boilerplate description of the university that still called it Lincoln University was tacked on.

The university re-issued a corrected release a couple minutes later.

The Lincoln University, it is.