One of the more memorable pieces of advice that Elmore Lockley received before enrolling to pursue a master’s degree in professional counseling at Carlow University came from his son, David.
“Don’t quit your day job yet!” David told him, in the age-old tone reserved for children who need to set a parent straight. “I still need to complete my degree.”
Elmore laughs at the memory. His day job— manager of media relations for the natural gas supplier, Dominion Peoples—has lasted 28 years, and he had no short-term plans to abandon it early.
Any lingering worries or concerns will be over soon because on the day Elmore receives his master’s degree, David will get his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Carlow. Both father and son will walk in Carlow’s Spring Commencement Ceremony at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall on Saturday, May 10, 2008. Although this might be the first time in the University’s history that a father and son receive degrees in the same ceremony, Elmore’s focus is on his son.
David (l) and Elmore (r) Lockley
“My wife and I have emphasized that this is David’s day,” Elmore says. “We’re proud of him.”
David appreciates that, but he knows that the day will be special for his father in other ways, as well.
“I’m happy for him because [professional counseling] is something he’s passionate about,” David says. “He wants to give back to the community.”
Elmore’s passion to help others has led him to service with both non-profit boards and his church. He has served on the board of directors of Wesley Spectrum Services, and as youth director at his church, Mt. Zion Baptist Church in South Park. He and his wife, Brenda, are also active with a new nonprofit, known as Melting Pot Ministries—an organization with the mission to help at-risk children and their families, formed through the efforts of five churches—Peters Creek Baptist Church, Sunrise Baptist Church, Shiloh Full Gospel Baptist Church, Faith Temple Church of the Living God, as well as the Lockley’s home church, Mt. Zion.
“I have noticed a need to help young people with behavioral health issues, as well as to help them make healthy choices in life,” says Elmore, who was influenced to come to Carlow through a conversation he had with fellow Wesley Spectrum board member and Carlow professor of psychology, Robert Reed, PsyD.
Elmore remembers Reed’s reply to his question about whether or not Elmore could handle the demands of the graduate program when his own background—a bachelor’s degree in communications and political science from James Madison University in Virginia—was in something other than psychology.
“Dr. Reed asked me three questions: ‘Can you write? Can you understand concepts? Do you enjoy working with people?’” recalls Elmore, who answered each question in the affirmative. “Then, he said, ‘You’ll do fine.’”
“Elmore is a very bright man and a good testament to a middle-aged person coming back to school to pursue a degree,” says Reed. “He’s insightful, and the insights he has are the type that a person gains through life experience. He’s going to do well in the helping professions.”
Nature versus nurture might be the old debate, but, in David’s case, it might be a little bit of both. His interest in psychology began early.
“As a teenager, I had many friends who felt comfortable confiding in me, and I wanted to help them with their problems,” he recalls. “I was actually torn between being a lawyer or a psychologist.” In the end, it was the desire to help others with the problems they face that made the difference.
David’s journey to Carlow began at Hampton University in Virginia. He describes Hampton as a larger school with many activities, but it lacked something he found a lot closer to his Mt. Lebanon home.
“I noticed a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere immediately at Carlow,” he says. “I knew it was the right place for me.”
David has excelled in his studies, and has applied to the professional counseling program at Carlow, too.
“I feel that this is a start of a career for me,” says David, who has plans to eventually pursue his PhD or PsyD and become what he has felt called to become since his teenage years—a psychologist.
Neither Elmore nor David hesitates when asked who has been the biggest influence for them.
“The strongest supporter of both of us is my wife, Brenda,” says Elmore of the Pittsburgh girl he married 25 years ago. “She has been tremendous and extremely supportive.”
“My mother has definitely been instrumental in organizing the household schedule and giving us the encouragement to continue,” David echoes. “It’s not easy having intense schoolwork going on in the same household at the same time, but she’s made it work.”
If any additional inspiration is needed, they need only look to Elmore’s mother, Russell, who was told many years ago by a young David that she would be around to see him graduate from college. At 92, she may not make the trip to Pittsburgh from her home in Virginia for Commencement on May 10, but the Lockley family is certain to share the news with her that history was made at Carlow University.
Carlow University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. (267-284-5000)
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the
US. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
