In a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the building for the new Nursing and Health Sciences Center was dedicated to the administration, faculty and students by President Lowry and five other men and women on Thursday, Oct. 25.
Nursing students, faculty and members of the surrounding community gathered to witness more physical growth on the Lipscomb campus. The dedication ceremony lasted 45 minutes, followed by another segment of tours and a small reception.
Roger Davis, dean of the College of Pharmacy, opened the ceremony, offering, “This is not just about a building; it’s about so much more. It is about the vision of the students.”
“Today we celebrate the work of last year,” President Lowry said, giving many thanks to those involved during the process. The new building would not have been possible without the work of so many, he said.
After the Lipscomb Academy concert chorus sang I Can Tell the World, Lowry and Davis, along with David Scobey (chair of the Lipscomb University Board of Trustees), Beth Youngblood (executive associate dean and professor of nursing), Josh Hardeman (president of the Student Nursing Association) and Rachel Pugh (service coordinator for the Student Nursing Association) cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the newly dedicated building.
The facility consists of a 16-bed simulation center, 19 mannequins, a 14-bed assessment skills lab and spacious classrooms.
“It really has the feel of a true hospital unit,” Youngblood said in an article on the university’s website.
Clint Rider, a senior nursing student from Greenbrier, Tenn., gave special thanks from the nursing students as a whole.
Rider’s senior class will have collaborated with Vanderbilt in their early years of nursing school, while those that are juniors this year will be the first class to have all of their nursing education done through Lipscomb.
“With the opening of the doors,” he said, “we peer into the future of our careers.”