by Carly Bergthold | Apr 23, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
Student athletes traded their uniforms for formal wear for the second annual Lippy Awards Wednesday evening in Allen Arena. The Lippys honor athletes, coaches and others who contribute in various ways to Lipscomb sports teams. Before the show, guests enjoyed live music from Marquee Mayfield and showed off their formal wear at photo booths. The show was hosted by soccer coach Chris Klotz and cross county coach Marcus Evans. To begin, the James R. Byers Award was presented to senior field thrower April Terry and senior baseball player Josh Lee. It is the highest award given to student-athletes. Terry quoted the Mary Mary song “God in Me” in her acceptance speech, saying, “I hope that you see that I’m really not that outstanding, but all of the accolades, the records, the titles – it’s all God working.” Lee, who made his way from Vandy to Central Arizona College and finally landed at Lipscomb, said that he’s blessed for the opportunities at Lipscomb. “This is a great accomplishment, but the one thing I’ll remember is all the relationships I’ve built with my teammates,” Lee said. Golfer Dawson Armstrong and cross country runner Paige Stoner took home the male and female Freshman of the Year awards. Senior soccer player Luke Gearin won International Player of the Year. Women’s soccer coach Kevin O’Brien received the Don Meyer Head Coach of the Year for his inspiration to the athletic program. “I think I have the best job in the world,” O’Brien said. “I’m so thankful to get to work with the girls I work with every day.” Luke Syverson, who coaches track and field, was...
by Carly Bergthold | Mar 23, 2015 | News Slider, Opinion
I spent hours waiting for the bus last week. On warm and sunny days, spending a few minutes at the bus stop doesn’t seem that bad. Waiting in the cold rain, however, is pretty miserable, especially if you have an appointment to which you’re definitely going to arrive late. I took the bus so often because I was on Lipscomb’s Serve the City missing trip team, working with newly arrived refugees in Nashville. Not only did we learn how to master public transit, but we maneuvered the health system, got library cards, ate a lot of PB&J’s and spent three hours at the DMV. Our team of nine worked with six refugees from Somalia and Burma. When I first met them, they struck me as lovely and intelligent people who just happened to be displaced from their home countries. We soon learned, though, that each of them went through hell and high water to reach the United States. As the week progressed, I stopped thinking of them as “the refugees” and started thinking of them as Ibrahim, Mohamed, Hassan, Hussein, Aung Gi and LinLing. It must have happened as we spent hours laughing and talking, playing soccer with an empty plastic water bottle, riding the seesaw at Cumberland Park and learning that the culture gap isn’t so wide after you’ve crossed Nolensville Road on foot during rush hour and survived. In America, we make memes about “first world problems” and occasionally remember to give $5 to the poor. Yet what we often lack is the ability to see the world through a lens of grateful curiosity — a viewpoint...
by Carly Bergthold | Feb 16, 2015 | News Slider
Hola, bonjour, hallo! Students who have taken a language course at Lipscomb have most likely heard at least one of these ways to say ‘hello.’ Any Lipscomb student pursuing a bachelor of arts or music degree is required to take eight hours of a foreign language. The university offers three core language options – Spanish, French and German. Some Russian is also offered. German professor Charlie McVey said he finds these languages valuable for work and beyond. “The four languages that we have offered fairly regularly are very important in today’s world,” McVey said. “As minors or double majors, [Spanish, French, German and Russian] really enhance anybody’s career choices and personal opportunities for service.” Although Chinese and Russian classes are listed in the academic catalog, no Chinese classes have been offered for several years. One Russian class was offered last fall, but not during the spring 2015 semester. McVey said it is not for lack of teachers or funds. “The language department would love to add classes, but unless they’re required by other departments and other programs, students generally won’t take a lot of languages,” McVey said. “So until programs strongly encourage or even require some language, it would be difficult to add other languages. If the demand comes, the supply can certainly come.” Some students said they wish languages like Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic or Hindi were offered. Mandarin Chinese is the most common language in the world, and there are more speakers of Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese and Japanese than either German or French. “I really wanted to take a Chinese class, but they didn’t have it,” said...
by Carly Bergthold | Feb 3, 2015 | News Slider
Country music playing and an array of instruments across the stage set the tone for A Writer’s Night Monday in Shamblin Theater. The concert was organized by Lipscomb’s chapter of CMA EDU, a nationwide program thats gives college students a foot in the door to the world of country music. Lipscomb’s CMA EDU president Miranda Davidson created the concert to benefit cancer research through Lipscomb’s Relay for Life event. “We got the idea of coming up with a songwriter’s night so we could raise money for Relay For Life,” Davidson said. “We have a really great lineup, so I’m excited.” Audience members sat at round tables and sipped fresh coffee, creating an intimate atmosphere. Ashley Scire and Hayden Hines kicked the night off with some original tunes and a few covers. Scire performed her original songs “The Memory is Still With Me,” “Cracks,” “Goodbye is Cheap” and “Tough Guy.” Hines covered Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel” and Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise.” “I love doing these kinds of shows,” Scire said. “I just like to support such a good cause. I think music can speak to everybody, and I love using it for the good.” Next up were Byron Hatcher, Abbi Scott and Phillip White. Hatcher began with his song called “Nashville.” Later he played “50 Years,” a song he wrote for his grandmother after his grandfather passed away. Scott performed four original songs. Two of them, “Make Mine Count” and “Screwed Up Life,” will be on her upcoming album. White, who accompanied Scott, is a professional songwriter who has written for acts like Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire and George Strait. He gave...
by Carly Bergthold | Jan 20, 2015 | News Slider
Business leaders from the Nashville area met Tuesday morning at Lipscomb for a discussion on workplace diversity in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Lipscomb University Department of Communication and Journalism hosted the event in Ezell Center partnering with the Council on Workforce Innovation and National Organization for Workforce Diversity. Guest speaker Anthony Carter, Chief Diversity Officer at Johnson & Johnson, shared his ideas about diversity over breakfast. Carter discussed his belief that corporations should concentrate more on social leadership and global well-being. “Diversity is who we are,” Carter said. “And inclusion is how we work together. The beauty of that is how we pull all of that together to make sure that we are of best interest to our customers.” Carter views diversity as a social justice imperative, and pointed to Martin Luther King Jr. as a hero worthy of emulation. “His work,” Carter said about King Jr., “in fact his life, illustrates so accurately diversity and social justice. Think about it, Dr. King dismantled the barriers of segregation and transformed a nation.” Breakfast attendees came from all over Nashville to learn how to better support diversity in their own businesses, corporations and organizations. “Diversity really means everything, Lori Adukeh, executive director of 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee said. “It gives people the opportunity to be different, and yet be the same, to collaborate, to be partners.” Attendees also discussed the increased productivity diversity brings. “Diversity, and workforce diversity specifically, really speaks to equality and opportunity,” said Jacky Akbari, director of employee services at the Nashville Career Advancement Center. “We’ve found that when there is a diverse...
