“Rise and Fall” wins 55th-annual Singarama Sweepstakes photo gallery

“Rise and Fall” wins 55th-annual Singarama Sweepstakes photo gallery

“Rise and Fall” directed by Taylor Sain is the winner of the 55th-annual Singarama Sweepstakes award. With a cast comprised of Pi Delta, Kappa Chi, Theta Psi, Phi Nu and friends, this group told the story of a Blockbuster movie rental store in Little Town, Alaska where the employees found a way to keep the store afloat despite the termination of the franchise. The ensemble was also awarded best “Theme” on Thursday and best “Vocal Performance” on Friday.   Photos by Ellen Butterfield   « ‹ of 3 › »...
“Rise and Fall” wins Singarama Sweepstakes

“Rise and Fall” wins Singarama Sweepstakes

“Rise and Fall” directed by Taylor Sain is the winner of the 55th annual Singarama Sweepstakes award. With a cast comprised of Pi Delta, Kappa Chi, Theta Psi, Phi Nu and friends, this group told the story of a Blockbuster movie rental store in Little Town, Alaska where the employees found a way to keep the store afloat despite the termination of the franchise. The ensemble was also awarded best “Theme” on Thursday and best “Vocal Performance” on Friday. As part of this winning company, senior student body president Carson Panovec commented that “feels fantastic to win, but it’s way better when you’re part of a team.” “It’s just fun to be part of a group that has the energy to put on a show to hopefully entertain some people and to give them some joy.” Sophomore Aijalon Powell of “Rise and Fall” was participating in Singarama for the first time. “As my first year in Singarama it’s an unbelievable experience to come in and almost sweep the whole thing; that almost never happens,” Powell said. “I’m so happy for my team, we worked so hard and I am so proud of everything that we accomplished no matter what the result is tonight.” As director, Sain is very happy with the performance of her team. “I am so proud of my whole cast, my writing team, my music directors, everyone has just been such a support and so amazing to work with that it has been my best Singarama year I have ever had,” Sain said. As for next year, hostess Peytan Porter says planning has begun early. “I am so excited for...
Singarama opens, “Rise and Fall” takes home first award

Singarama opens, “Rise and Fall” takes home first award

The 55th annual Lipscomb University Singarama kicked off Thursday, April 5 with performances from three hard-working groups of students. Each night, a panel of 18 judges will focus on one aspect of each group’s performance and announce a winner for that category. This year’s theme is “It Takes Two” and the judging the first night was on “Theme”—which group had the best plot and successfully incorporated music into the storyline. The winner of Thursday’s performance was “Rise and Fall” directed by Taylor Sain. On taking home the first category, sophomore Jonathan Sottek said “it’s significant because it means that our story was significant to people.” “The way that we performed meant something as opposed to just being entertaining.” This year’s hosts are Berkeley Boglin, Madeline McPherson, Savanna Stewart, Hudson Parker, Luke Howard and Peytan Porter. This is McPherson’s second year hosting but, for her, no less special. “It’s been a really cool community to have and I’ve been coming to Singarama since I was little so it’s been a dream of mine to be a hostess,” she said. “It’s been so good to be singing with people who also love to do the same thing.” While the event is largely represented by social clubs, non-Greek Life friends are encouraged to join in on the fun. According to student body president Carson Panovec’s introduction video, this year has a record number of non-social club member participants. There are three more shows this weekend. Vocal quality is the award for Friday night. Saturday’s matinee will feature the award for best staging. Saturday night’s grand finale includes the award for “Sweepstakes” —...
Name-recognition due to NCAA tournament berth is likely to affect admissions

Name-recognition due to NCAA tournament berth is likely to affect admissions

The “Big Dance” will be watched by millions across the globe, and viewers will likely be wondering (and then Googling) — what is Lipscomb University? News networks from across the country are inquiring about the school, and alumni and current students alike are ecstatic over the big win. But one question Lipscomb admissions has already begun to look into is how this spike in publicity will affect the school’s student admissions. Jonathan Akin, the Senior Director of Admissions at Lipscomb, said other universities have reached out to give advice, telling him that being successful in the tournament will really take things to the next level. “The biggest thing is that this is going to put us on a national stage and help us reach students we are currently unable to reach,” Akin said. Akin also commented that the biggest impact so far has been on social media. The social media team in both the admissions department and the university’s communications and marketing office have been busy responding to the influx of comments and posts. Akin said that this increase of activity has been “really positive and really fun.” In the past, Lipscomb has received positive publicity on a national stage before (and also negative national publicity), in addition to other athletic successes that have drawn attention to the school. Akin added that anything bringing Nashville to the public eye will consequently attract people to Lipscomb. However, the Bisons winning the ASUN championship has taken the school’s recognition to a new level. As of right now, Akin said that the impact will be long term rather than immediate. “More than...
Bison reporters bring home bling from journalism conference

Bison reporters bring home bling from journalism conference

Eleven Lipscomb journalism students road-tripped to Harding University in Searcy, Ark. for the 2018 Southeast Journalism Conference, where they won 11 awards for submitted work and on-site competitions. Editor-in-chief of Lumination Network Erin Franklin won 3rd place in the College Journalist of the Year category, taking home a $250 check. She gave credit to professors Jimmy McCollum and Tim Ghianni and said she was surprised to receive the award. “This was definitely my favorite journalism conference I’ve been to since I’ve been at Lipscomb,” Franklin said. “There was a great group of students who went, and I’m very proud of all my fellow students who competed.” The weekend consisted of conference sessions, on-site competitions and the Best of the South awards banquet. Over three dozen universities participated. Lipscomb students brought home one more award than crosstown rival Belmont. Co-managing editor Anna Rogers and sports editor Russell Vannozzi took first place in their on-site competitions, News and Feature Photography and Sports Writing, respectively. “It was an honor to come home with a pair of awards,” Vannozzi said. “We have a talented team that has been working hard to get great stories all year.” He also credited Ghianni and McCollum for his successes. Jade Spilka finished 2nd in TV Anchoring. Charissa Ricker placed 3rd in the on-site competition for Feature Writing. At the Best of the South Awards, students were judged on work from the previous year in many different categories. Lindsey Nance placed 1st in the TV News Feature Reporter category. 2017 graduate Patrick Carpenter won 2nd for TV News Journalist. Anna Rogers was named 3rd in Special Event Reporting and Russell...