by Kathryn Farris | Aug 31, 2021 | BREAKING NEWS, News, News Slider
Lipscomb announced Tuesday morning that campus dining is experiencing “industry-wide” staffing issues due to COVID and the national labor shortage. “Many industries across the country are experiencing staffing shortages due to labor availability and health concerns. Unfortunately, from time to time these challenges also affect the Lipscomb community,”said the university in an email to students. “This week, Sodexo, our partner that operates and staffs Lipscomb Dining operations, is experiencing a staffing shortage across their Nashville operations which has an impact on the number of employees who are available to staff the various dining locations on our campus.” Toss, Blue Coast Burrito, Au Bon Pain, Chick-fil-A and Creekstone will be closed for the foreseeable future. Lipscomb also warned students that open dining establishments are likely to experience longer than normal wait times. This story is developing. Lumination will continue to update you on the dining closures. ...
by Kathryn Farris | Aug 23, 2021 | News, News Slider
Dr. Candice McQueen describes her return to Lipscomb as “very satisfying.” Her appointment to succeed Randy Lowry as president of the university brings her back to the campus where she has served as an academic leader as senior vice president and dean of the university’s College of Education. McQueen’s leadership at the school goes back to her student days when she was on the Quest Team, Lipscomb’s student-led orientation group, and also served as the first student coordinator of Singarama, the university’s annual student song-and-dance competition. As of September, McQueen will be tackling a new role at Lipscomb, that of the president. “When I was at Lipscomb, I was very involved, and so I enjoyed leadership roles and certainly roles that were focused on university things, but I can’t say that I’ve probably ever sat down and said ‘Oh, I see myself as the president,’” said McQueen in an interview with Lumination Network. “When you’re involved in leadership, you’re involved in doing things on the campus that you love. That should be a testament that you never know what might happen and certainly that was my case.” McQueen’s past is a stark contrast to that of current President Randy Lowry, who came to Lipscomb as a law professor from Pepperdine University in California. McQueen said she believes her experiences at Lipscomb give her a deep understanding of the university’s reputation. “Being from Nashville and being from Tennessee gives me the perspective of knowing what Lipscomb has been to this community,” she said. “I’m going to listen and learn in my first year and hope to connect what I think...
by Kathryn Farris | Aug 16, 2021 | Galleries, News Slider
Lipscomb’s incoming class of freshmen and transfers has officially begun its journey on campus. On Monday the new students unloaded boxes, mini-fridges and even guitars into residence halls. Greeted by residence life staff, these new students are navigating relaunched COVID restrictions as they trek through their first week at the university....
by Kathryn Farris | Aug 11, 2021 | COVID-19, News, News Slider
The Lipscomb community will be required to wear a mask in indoor spaces beginning Friday. The announcement was made to students and faculty in an email Wednesday afternoon; it follows a recent surge in local Delta variant cases. “As we are preparing for a strong start to the year, the COVID-19 Delta variant continues to spread and has proven to be markedly more transmissible than earlier strains of the virus,” said the university in its notification of the mandate. “Because of the increasing presence of the Delta variant, we have implemented a few policies and procedures to help mitigate the spread of the virus in an effort to start the semester strong. These are similar to the policies at peer institutions such as the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State University and Belmont University.” The Lipscomb mask mandate currently expires Sept. 3 and applies to all students, faculty, staff and guests in university buildings (regardless of vaccination status). The university is also pushing vaccines, adding in the email that “approximately 99% of those in our nation who are having serious adverse effects or are dying as a result of the virus are unvaccinated.” Lumination will continue to keep you updated on this developing story...
by Kathryn Farris | Jul 27, 2021 | COVID-19, News, News Slider
As summer’s end steadily approaches, low vaccination rates and the rising transmission of the COVID Delta variant are sparking concerns for colleges across the country. “We’re monitoring cases on and off campus that affect our community right now. The Delta variant seems to be a much more aggressive type of the virus,” said Kevin Eidson, Lipscomb’s Director of Health and Wellness. “We want as many people to be vaccinated as possible… getting the vaccine allows you to have some more freedoms that you really don’t have without the protection of the vaccine,” Eidson said. In a video sent out to faculty and staff, Susan Galbreath, Lipscomb’s senior vice president for strategy, shared the results of a campus survey revealing 55 percent of Lipscomb’s total population is vaccinated. Full-time employees are at a 74 percent vaccination rate. While higher than Tennessee’s vaccination rates, Lipscomb still falls behind reaching herd immunity. According to Yale Medicine, COVID variants could indicate 80 percent of a population would need to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity. The CDC updated its recommendations on July 27 to encourage indoor mask use for vaccinated individuals in COVID “hot spots.” Earlier this summer, the center had rolled back all restrictive recommendations for vaccinated people (except during travel). Davidson County falls under the CDC’s rating of “high” for transmission levels. In response to the new CDC recommendation, Lipscomb says it will “continue to monitor local, state and federal guidance as we get nearer to the beginning of the semester.” Current policy dictates unvaccinated students are encouraged to practice mask-wearing and could be placed in quarantine if exposed...
