by Erin Franklin | Apr 19, 2016 | News Slider
Freshman Cole Buttrey won the third annual Mr. Lipscomb pageant Monday night in Shamblin theater, hosted by Delta Omega to raise awareness for Best Buddies. The pageant consisted of four categories: formal, cold-weather wear, talent and interview. For Buttrey’s talent portion, he wrote a poem which he titled, “Love Letter to Delta Omega.” “Girls you can’t wait to take home to mom and dad / because you know those pearls aren’t just a fad,” said Buttrey as he recited his poem. Justin Cook was runner-up in the pageant. For his talent portion, he performed a rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Other talents varied from Nordista Freeze’s performance of the Lipscomb Alma Mater on top of a ladder to Daniel Johnson’s interpretation of the Napoleon Dynamite dance. Freshman Jake Cartwright won the “Crowd Favorite” award. This was determined by the amount of money that was put in the contestants’ jars, which were set out in the student center earlier. All proceeds went to Best Buddies. “It just feels really good that a lot of people put money in my jar to not just support me but support the Best Buddies as well. It’s just really humbling that people believe in me like that,” said Cartwright. For the interview portion, the judges narrowed it down to five contestants: Colton Smith, Justin Cook, Cole Buttrey, Heath Bridges and Joel Clinger. In the end, Buttrey ended up winning the esteemed title of “Mr. Lipscomb 2016.” “I didn’t even know if I was going to do it or not, so to win it all was pretty funny,” said the newly...
by Erin Franklin | Apr 12, 2016 | Galleries
2016 SGA candidates spoke on their ideas and goals for Lipscomb Monday night in Stowe Hall for the SGA Debate. Each candidate gave a two-minute introductory speech, followed by a presidential debate. Secretary candidates are Caroline Hensley and Vince Law. Vice Presidential candidates are Sinny Chan, Matt Gibson and Carson Panovec. Presidential candidates are Anna Cannone, Katie Scholl and Jackson Smith. Photos by Erin...
by Erin Franklin | Apr 7, 2016 | News Slider
Service Day is a special day for Lipscomb students, faculty and staff to gather together to serve their community. This year, Service Day celebrated its 10 year anniversary with over 900 students, faculty and staff volunteering at multiple locations. All Wednesday afternoon classes were cancelled so students could participate. Service Day was directed by Keela Smith. Students began the afternoon by meeting with their service groups and having lunch in Bison Square, and then left to go to their service locations. Service opportunities varied from sorting clothes at the local ThriftSmart to helping out the School of Music on campus. Students serving at ThriftSmart worked on sorting various items before they will be put out in the store to be sold. 100 percent of ThriftSmart’s profits go to charities such as “The Belize Project,” New Hope Academy, Mercy Children’s Hospital and “African Leadership.” “It was certainly interesting sorting through all the things ThriftSmart has. It was good to know that it was going to a good cause,” freshman Sarah Baxley said. At ThriftSmart, Baxley sorted through a wide assortment of items, and said she even found a can that was labeled that it contained an armadillo. Sophomore Lauren May said it’s great to see how ThriftSmart’s cause helps other people all over the community. “Thrift Smart has a lot of unique stuff, and it’s nice to see that things other people are throwing away are going to help other people in multiple ways,” May said. A vocal music education major, sophomore Sarah Sharp served with the School of Music on campus. “Our project was to help organize the choral music...
by Erin Franklin | Mar 14, 2016 | News Slider
Laura Valentine’s name suits her well. Lipscomb sophomore Laura Valentine Lock has a heart full of love for orphans all around the world. The 20-year-old journalism student started Laura-Valentine Ministries when she was just 16 years old. The ministry is a non-profit organization devoted to raising awareness and funding for abandoned children to be adopted into loving homes. The organization is a singing ministry with all of the proceeds going completely to Christian families wanting to adopt. “Doing something that you are passionate about and that is glorifying God will make you 10 times happier because you are doing something that you love,” Lock said. Lock herself was adopted from China and loves telling her parents’ story of adopting her. Before her adoption, her mom had just given birth a year earlier to a healthy baby boy. But one night she felt God calling her to go to China and adopt a baby girl. Lock believes adoption does not have to be only a second option, such as a couple who has not been able to have children. It can also be a first choice, like her story, since her mom could have chosen to give birth to another child later, but she followed God’s call in adopting Lock. Lock likes to refer to her ministry objective as being adopted twice. “I was first adopted into my forever earthly home, and then secondly I was adopted into my heavenly home through the blood of Christ. I want to help as many abandoned children all around the world get adopted twice just like I was.” Lock recalled she had the...
by Erin Franklin | Mar 3, 2016 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s IDEAL program is experiencing changes as a result of the U.S. Department of Education’s $1.6 million TPSID grant. The IDEAL program started in January 2014 with only three students, and it has since grown to 15 students. IDEAL is a two-year post-secondary certificate program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The students enrolled in the program participate in two IDEAL-specific courses, two university courses and complete internships on and off-campus. The Department of Education’s TPSID Program (The Model Comprehensive Transition and Post-secondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities) awards grants to universities to help start or grow programs for students with intellectual disabilities. Only 25 programs nationwide were selected to receive this grant. Three out of the 25 programs chosen were from Tennessee—IDEAL, Next Steps at Vanderbilt, and TigerLIFE at the University of Memphis. Lipscomb received the grant at the end of September last year. “We’re really proud that we were selected,” said IDEAL Program Director Mallory Whitmore. “It means that the Department of Education views IDEAL as a model program that can be recreated in programs across the country. It’s a commendation of our work so far, and shows their belief in the work that we can continue to do with more resources.” The IDEAL program will experience changes because of the grant, including hiring new staff members, which allows for a smaller student to staff ratio. Laura Roberts, Assistant Director, Joanna Wagner, Program Manager for Off-Campus Job Development and Erin Perry, Graduate Assistant for Applied Behavioral Analysis, were all hired to begin this semester. Meghan Anglim, former IDEAL graduate assistant and 2015 Lipscomb graduate, was promoted to Program Manager for On-Campus Job Development. “It will allow us to expand...
