The Horace Mann Bond – Leslie Pinckney Hill Scholarship Program (formerly the Equal Opportunity Professional Education Program) is designed to provide financial assistance to highly-qualified Pennsylvania students from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and Lincoln University who pursue Tier I or Tier II, which includes pre-professional programs in law, medicine, podiatry, and dentistry at Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University or at one of the universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). 

 

The scholarship is named in honor of two distinguished past presidents of Cheyney University and Lincoln University, Leslie Pinckney Hill and  Horace Mann Bond, respectively. 

Based upon funding by the General Assembly, the Bond-Hill scholarship program provides full tuition, fees, and textbooks to recent graduates from Cheyney University and Lincoln University who meet program eligibility requirements and are accepted into approved graduate programs at one of the partnership universities. 

Priority funding is awarded to students enrolling in law, medicine, podiatry, and dentistry.  Based upon available funding, additional scholarships may be awarded to students admitted to master’s programs in Business Administration, Public Administration, Health Administration, Public International Affairs, Science, Public Health, as well as doctoral programs in Education, at the partnership universities. 

 

Eligibility Criteria 

Eligible students must: 

• Be a graduate of Cheyney University 

• Be accepted to Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University or one of the universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) in an approved program of study 

• Enroll full-time in the program within five years of graduating from Cheyney University 

• Be recommended by the Dean of the Honors Academy  

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident 

• Be a resident of Pennsylvania 

• Demonstrate high academic performance and maintain satisfactory progress 

 

Application 

Download Horace Mann Bond – Leslie Pinckney Hill Scholarship Application or obtain from the Office of the Dean, Honors Academy, located in Emlen Hall, 1st Floor.  

Application packets are due April 18 of each year.  Completed applications should be emailed to JWest@Cheyney.edu  

Please submit the following with your application for consideration: 

• Unofficial transcript 

• Resume 

• Cover letter 

• Three (3) letters of recommendation – including a letter from the Dean. 

• Acceptance letter 

• GRE, LSAT, or MCAT scores 

 

Awards 

The number of scholarships awarded and renewed each year is based on the availability of funds from the General Assembly. Awards vary by individual, based on the student’s graduate program and institution. 

Students may receive the scholarship for a maximum of four academic years (eight full-time semesters) as long as they maintain satisfactory academic status as defined by the graduate institution and make academic progress toward the professional degree. 

The Horace Mann Bond-Leslie Pinckney Hill Scholarship Program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education. 

 

Contact 

For questions regarding this scholarship program, please get in touch with Dr. Janelle West at 610-399-2102 or JWest@Cheyney.edu  

 

Dr. Leslie Pinckney Hill (1880–1960) 

Dr. Leslie Pinckney Hill was an educator, author, poet, dramatist, and community leader. He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on May 14, 1880, to Samuel H. Hill, a former slave, and Sarah E. Hill. He received his primary education in Lynchburg, where as a child he played the trumpet and envisioned a career in music. His family later moved to East Orange, New Jersey, where he transferred to the local high school. Due to accelerated study, he skipped his junior year and graduated near the top of his class in 1898. 

In 1899, Hill enrolled at Harvard University, where he attended on a scholarship while working as a writer and waiter. As a member of the debate team, he won second place in the Boylston Prize oratory competition during his junior year. In 1903, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum laude. A year later, in 1904, he earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard. 

From 1904 to 1907, Hill taught at Tuskegee Institute. He then served as principal of the Industrial Institute in Manassas, Virginia, until 1913. That year, he became the first President of Cheyney, then known as the Institute for Colored Youth in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. The school was later renamed Cheyney State Teachers College in 1951. 

During his tenure at Cheyney (1913–1951), Dr. Hill transformed the institution. He raised significant funds, modernized the curriculum, and fostered interracial understanding, particularly through collaboration with the Quakers. Drawing on his musical talents, he also directed the Cheyney Chorus, which performed at colleges nationwide. Under his leadership, Cheyney grew from just 20 students to nearly 500 and achieved accreditation as a state college. 

After retiring, Hill lectured at the University of California, Los Angeles, during two summer sessions. He later served three years as administrator of Mercy-Douglass Hospital in Philadelphia, earning the Seltzer Award for distinguished service. 

In addition to his work in education, Hill was an accomplished dramatist and poet. He authored Jethro (performed in 1931), the poem The Teacher (translated into multiple languages), and his best-known play, Toussaint L’Ouverture, A Dynamic History (1928), a sweeping 35-scene drama. His essays often reflected his activism, including “What the Negro Wants and How to Get It” (1944), which outlined the aims of African Americans in their quest for full citizenship. 

Throughout his life, Dr. Hill championed education as a tool to combat racism and uplift communities. In 1944, he founded Camp Hope in Delaware County to support underprivileged children. He was also active in organizations such as the Interracial Committee of Pennsylvania and the National Education Association’s Committee on the Defense of Democracy through Education. 

Dr. Leslie Pinckney Hill left behind a lasting legacy as Cheyney’s first President and as a visionary leader who used education, the arts, and community engagement to advance equality and opportunity.