by Erin Turner | May 2, 2015 | Opinion
Nine Lumination Network staff members graduated with a degree in journalism and new media. Each of them played a major role in producing content for Lumination, as they have written stories for the website, worked on the TV newscast and been heard on the radio. Chad Johnson is a journalism and new media major from Edmond, Oklahoma. Alongside being on the men’s basketball team, Johnson was an anchor, reporter, writer and videographer for Lumination. Johnson said his favorite part about being involved in Lumination was getting to know everyone better. “It’s also allowed me to open up and show people another side of me while perfecting my journalism skills,” he said. Johnson said he plans to go to graduate school at Lipscomb, then eventually become an ESPN reporter or a sports journalist. “Mainly, just finding something I love doing and being happy,” he said. Erika Thornsberry is a broadcast and new media major with a minor in management from St. Marys, Ohio. Along with playing on and helping out with the women’s basketball team as well as interning with the Nashville Predators, she also has written for Lumination Network and been a part of the weekly newscasts. Thornsberry said her favorite part about the communication department is how close and caring everyone is. “Special thanks to Mr. McGee for helping me throughout these four years,” she said. “He helped me in the classroom, getting different jobs around campus and different internships. He has really helped me grow as a student.” After graduation, Thornsberry plans to attend The University of Northwestern Ohio to get her MBA. Madeline...
by Erin Turner | May 1, 2015 | News Slider
Gathered around a table in Pat Boone’s house recently, Lipscomb University President Randy Lowry and the Lipscomb-educated ’50s pop icon drafted a new version of the university’s alma mater. “My wife and I went out to Los Angeles to Beverly Hills about six to eight weeks ago, and we actually sat around a table in Pat Boone’s house and looked at the old music and then started playing with new words for the new music,” Lowry said. Lipscomb eliminated “David” from its title 10 or 15 years ago, and that was one of the major changes made to the song. In the lyrics “David Lipscomb” has been replaced with “Lipscomb University.” In addition to that change, Lowry said there were two places in the lyrics that were not inclusive for this time period. “[‘Brotherhood’] was a word that a church community would use and they would talk about all the churches ‘in the brotherhood,’ but it’s not particularly inclusive of women,” he said. With the help of Boone an updated alma mater was crafted using alternatives words. “An alma mater really tries to articulate some sense of relationship with this institution, and I think that one [the updated version] has a lot of really good stuff in it. “My sense is we always want to be alert to those moments where we can be a little more relevant, a little bit more sensitive, a little bit more inclusive, and after singing the alma mater for 10 years it just dawned on me: this is one of them,” he said. Keeping the original tune, Boone and Lowry gave the new lyrics an...
by Erin Turner | Apr 19, 2015 | Opinion
Hey there, readers! As you have probably noticed, Lumination Network has been down for the last week. We encountered a huge technical issue. We apologize for the delay in getting the website back up, and we thank you for your patience. Our web developer Daniel Johnson was able to rescue the website, and we thank him for all his hard work. As we look into the future of this website, we are interested in hearing your input. If you have any questions, concerns or story ideas, please email me at editor@luminationnetwork.com. For more updates and news, follow us on Twitter and like us...
by Erin Turner | Apr 9, 2015 | News Slider
Rising senior Jordan Beale has been elected SGA president for 2015-16 school year. Rising senior Hannah Passamonte was elected as vice president. Jamie Keiser was elected as secretary and Adrian Ricketts as treasurer. Below is the list of elected senators, from SGA’s email sent to the student body. Senior Senators: Zach Clemens Stephen Grady Brennan Johnson Cole Meador Kendall Young Junior Senators: Anna Cannone Philip Grimsley Caroline Hensley Grant Mathis Katie Scholl Sophomore Senators: Brandon Cunningham Matt Gibson Luis Hernandez Alleah Thompson Grayson...
by Erin Turner | Apr 9, 2015 | News Slider
After several firsts, singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini visited the place where her country roots were nurtured. This former Lipscomb student headlined Student Government Association’s 2015 Spring Concert to a very familiar crowd Wednesday night in Shamblin Theater. “I always dreamed about being an artist and songwriter and doing it for a living, but did not know how to do it,” Ballerini said. But it didn’t take her long to figure out how, as she recently cracked the charts with her song “Love Me Like You Mean It” that debuted in November 2014. This Knoxville, Tennessee native moved to Music City to kick off her career when she was 15 years old, and she landed at Lipscomb several years later. “[Being at Lipscomb] was two of my favorite years of my entire life,” she said. “The whole time I would just go to school and then go to the writer’s round to co-write. I kept trying to do both at the same time until I found the right opportunity.” Just halfway through her sophomore year at Lipscomb, Ballerini signed a deal with Black River Publishing. Her career took off from there, as she debuted on one of country music’s most famous stages — the Grand Ole Opry. Ballerini said the last few months have been nothing but firsts. After hearing her own song on the radio, her music got in the hands of some of her biggest inspirations. “One of the craziest things that’s happening is people that I’m fans of are becoming friends and reaching out, and kind of speaking into my life and helping me,” she said. Most recently, this rising star...
