by Erika Plunkett | Aug 2, 2020 | News, News Slider, Sports
Staying in touch with his basketball team during this COVID summer has been so unpredictable and new that it’s been like “building the bridge as we go,” said coach Lennie Acuff, describing the frustrations and adaptations that have been necessary to try to get the team ready from a distance rather than the sidelines. “It’s just really been like nothing we’ve ever encountered,” said Acuff. “We work really hard to stay in contact with our guys. We do Zoom calls once a week with them, and then we are also trying to recruit, which has been really hard.” By this point in the summer, the upcoming year’s team has typically been together for over a month, living on campus in the month of June for summer classes, practices and basketball camp. But this year, Acuff has not even been allowed to enter his office for almost four months. “Tomorrow’s going to be the first day we’re going to be allowed to go back to the office,” said Acuff on Tuesday, July 30. “So we’ve been doing everything remotely. It is for sure something we’ve never experienced, and I hope and pray we never have to again.” Coaches and staff already face challenges to stay connected virtually with the returning players. It is a more difficult task when it comes to the incoming players, according to Acuff. “It’s hard — really, really, really hard. I think that there’s only so much you can do on the phone,” said Acuff. “We signed two kids early in November that we know really well: Tommy Murr and Will Pruitt. “We know them well...
by Erika Plunkett | Apr 10, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, COVID-19, News Slider
Lipscomb’s College of Engineering is busy protecting essential personnel who are participating in the mortal battle against COVID-19. The Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering has created and donated over 400 plastic face shields to medical personnel in the Middle Tennessee Area, and there are nearly 200 more currently in production. Leading this operation is Lipscomb’s Peugeot Center for Engineering Service headed by Steve Sherman, executive director, and Caleb Meeks, director of operations, along with Samuel Wright, the college’s engineering laboratory manager. “Connecting engineering capabilities with those in greatest need has been at the core of our engineering college and of the Peugeot Center,” said David Elrod, dean of the College of Engineering. “In this season, we are excited to find both virtual ways of staying connected with many of our international mission partners and to find new ways of serving our local communities.” These shields serve to help protect medical workers in the line of duty by placing a plastic mask in between practitioner and patient, protecting the eyes, nose and mouth from direct oral transmission from a patient. The design utilized by the engineers is an open source design originally created by Georgia Institute of Technology. “We’re using a high power, automated, laser system in our innovation lab to cut out the components,” said Elrod. “Having the tools in the innovation lab lets us readily produce face shields to help local providers.” As safety of the medical personnel is of top priority to the engineers, during construction of the shields, staff is adhering to strict CDC guidelines, wearing gloves and masks as well as limiting the number...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 20, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, COVID-19, News Slider
Following the White House’s recommendation that gatherings of 10 or more people be canceled or postponed, Lipscomb University officials made the decision to extend online instruction for the rest of the spring semester in the wake of growing concern over the coronavirus. “This difficult and unprecedented decision – one being faced by colleges and universities throughout the country – was made with the health, wellbeing and safety of our students, faculty and staff in mind,” said President Lowry in an email sent Wednesday afternoon. In addition to the extension in remote learning, on-campus residence halls will no longer be available to students unless they have no other option for housing. Not only will on-campus residences be closed, but students will also not be able to return to Lipscomb to move out their remaining belongings until the university puts together a procedure to streamline this process. For those students whose only choice is to return to campus, life will be much different as a mandatory curfew will be put into place and many on-campus locations will be closed. “Dining options on campus will be significantly limited, primarily to grab-and-go options at one location, and recreational opportunities will be unavailable, including those in the Student Activities Center,” said Dr. Lowry. While Lipscomb had already announced the cancellation of all university events through April 30th, adding to the list of cancellations is that of spring commencement, which was set to take place on May 2nd in Allen Arena. Degrees will still be conferred, but graduates will be unable to walk across the stage to reduce the number at gatherings of 50 or...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 11, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb rebounded in their first mid-week matchup of this week, defeating Austin Peay 9-7 Tuesday afternoon. The Bisons trailed 7-4 in the seventh inning, but sophomore outfielder Ty Jones singled to bring home junior infielder Malik Williams before senior infielder Haddon Adams hammered a grand slam and gave the Bisons the win. Freshman pitcher Patrick Williams started the game. He was later relieved by sophomore right hander JT Caver, but junior transfer Wyatt Folsom was credited with the win after coming in during the seventh inning. Sophomore reliever Tyler Guilfoil got the save, his fifth of the season. The Bisons’ action continues Wednesday afternoon as they travel to Cookeville to take on the Tennessee Tech Eagles before returning home for a weekend series with...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 6, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider
Just two days after Lipscomb canceled all spring break mission trips due to concerns over the coronavirus, the COVID-19 virus made its first appearance in Tennessee just south of Lipscomb’s campus. Despite this announcement from Gov. Bill Lee Thursday morning, as well as Williamson County’s immediate precautions to cancel all school for Friday and Monday to deep-clean all facilities, President Randy Lowry informed faculty in an email that there were no cases of the virus nor were there any significant risks reported on Lipscomb’s campus. Even though there is no direct threat to Lipscomb right now, Lowry did announce the precautions Lipscomb has already taken, which include the relocation of the Florence study abroad students and the aforementioned cancellation of all spring break international mission trips, as well as new restrictions and recommendations that the school is implementing. Of these restrictions, the most notable is the travel ban that is being enforced on students and faculty. The terms as presented in the email are listed below: “In terms of employee business-related travel and other school-sponsored travel, such is fully restricted until further notice to any country or area that meets any of the following criteria: Has a rating by the CDC at a Level 2 or higher, or Has a rating by the U.S. Department of State at a Level 3 or higher, or Is restricting or banning travel. Any employee or student who independently visits a location that meets any of these criteria is restricted from campus for a 14-day isolation period. If this situation applies to you, employees should inform your supervisor and students should inform Dr....
