In early September 2003, Keith Lincoln stepped aside after 25 years as the WSU alumni director. Lincoln arrived at WSU in the fall of 1957, having attracted attention as a quarterback at Monrovia High School near Pasadena. At WSU he became a triple-threat halfback and earned the nickname “The Palouse Moose.” He was inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979.

Lincoln became the WSU alumni director in 1978 when E.G. Pat Patterson retired from the position and looked to his assistant, Lincoln, as the ideal successor. In 1982, Lincoln stopped the university from demolishing WSU’s historic livestock barn, which was later renovated into the Lewis Alumni Centre.