Charlie Daniels’ Volunteer Jam to raise money for Lipscomb veterans

Charlie Daniels’ Volunteer Jam to raise money for Lipscomb veterans

The sound of Charlie Daniels’ fiddle will no longer echo throughout Allen Arena, but the money will continue to roll in for Lipscomb’s veteran scholarships. On Aug. 12, the Charlie Daniels Band’s 40th anniversary Volunteer Jam will take place at Bridgestone Arena. Profits from the event will go toward The Journey Home Project, a non-profit organization that connects donors to veterans, and The Predators Foundation, a charity organization that uses fan fundraising to help the community. A portion of The Journey Home Project’s proceeds will fund Lipscomb’s Scholarship for Heroes program. “Charlie Daniels is a huge veteran supporter, and he loves Lipscomb,” said April Herrington, director of Lipscomb veteran services. “He had a concern with the fact that we were moving it from campus, but once he realized that it was going to support us even more than it had, he was thrilled about the event.” Herrington said she hopes to increase the cap on the scholarship with the bigger venue. “All in all, I think it’s a great move, and I think it’s going to benefit our program a lot,” Herrington said. “It’s going to be a lot bigger than it could have ever been on campus.” From 2010 to 2014, Daniels partnered with Lipscomb to host his Scholarship for Heroes concerts to benefit Lipscomb’s veteran students and their dependents with tuition cost. Last year’s event rewarded over $52,000 to veteran students. First-year nursing student and veteran Rachel Lanahan is a recipient of the Scholarship for Heroes. After eight years of medical work in the military, Lanahan was offered an intelligence job that involved flying unarmed aircraft oversees. After a few years, she said...

Rebecca Burris combines love for serving, teaching for spring break mission trip

Senior education major Rebecca Burris will return to Cozumel, Mexico for her fourth spring break to serve the orphans at City of Angels. The City of Angels is a Christian children’s home where young children who have been orphaned, abandoned or abused can find a permanent home. Originally from Mitchell, Indiana, Burris had not heard of the City of Angels until she arrived at Lipscomb. The missions fair introduced her to the opportunity. “I went to the info meeting and as I heard more about it, I realized I would love to go on this trip,” Burris said. As an education major, Burris was naturally attracted to the trip because of the emphasis put on spending time with children. “It’s a super laid back trip,” she said. “We do VBS two days and ESL [English as second language] classes two days and the last day is carnival day.” After her first trip, she decided to get more involved as a student leader. “Mark Jent is the leader and he asked me to be a student leader [my sophomore year] so I started doing that and I’ve been that ever since, so I have gotten to be a little more involved each year,” she said. Burris has had a hand in planning the VBS portion of the trip for the last two years. Her and the team spend time teaching, singing and doing arts and crafts. This year Burris will be playing a new role on the trip, though. “This is my first year to be on the [ESL] group,” she said. “We will be giving them English vocabulary words and Mad Libs...

Men’s and women’s tennis split Saturday matches

The Lipscomb men’s tennis team beat Ball State 4-3 Saturday evening while the women’s tennis team lost to Columbus State 5-2. Despite cancellations and freezing temperatures, both the men and women pushed hard and played their game indoors. The men’s team came from behind to get its win against Ball State. The Bisons’ top seed, freshman Rob Mitchell, took a 6-1 and 7-5 win at the beginning of singles. The three spot, freshman Philippe Courteau won 6-4 and 7-5. A big win for the Bisons came from sophomore John Tougher. Tougher won in three sets, 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3. In the women’s match, Columbus started by taking the doubles point against Lipscomb. Junior Danielle Kinnen and freshmen Hannah Gamage were able to win one point in the doubles matches out of three. The singles matches were up and down for each team, but two of the Lipscomb ladies were able to pull out a win. Sophomore Laura Kent secured Lipscomb’s first singles point by winning two quick-paced sets in a row, 6-3 and 6-2. Senior Jenny Borck also played an aggressive singles match that landed with a win 6-3, 4-6 and 10-6. “I started off slow, but I ended up holding it together and coming back both times and pushing through on the ten-point tiebreak,” Borck said. Borck played against a quick-paced competitor that led both the sets, but she was able to come back and take the point. “She was a really good matchup for me because I am really consistent and she is also really consistent,” Borck said. “She likes to mix up her shots and so do I....

Lady Bisons fall in aggressive game against Jacksonville

The Lady Bisons fell to the Jacksonville Dolphins 75-63 Saturday afternoon in Allen Arena. The final five minutes turned in favor of the Dolphins as they suddenly rose to a ten-point lead over the Lady Bisons. “I thought we played very hard, we just had some breakdowns in key turns,” Lipscomb head coach Greg Brown said. The Lady Bisons came out strong in the first half and were leading 35-33 at halftime. Junior Danay Fothergill led the team, scoring twenty-three points total, 10 of which were free throws. “Danay did a great job and took advantage of the mismatches she had,” coach Brown said. Junior Ashley Southern followed by contributing 17 points to the final score, shooting multiple baskets in the paint. The team scored 75 percent of their free throws, resulting in 21 points. “We got them [the Dolphins] into foul trouble,” coach Brown said. Both teams came on to the court with high intensity and renewed energy during the second half. The Dolphins pushed outside the paint, sinking three-pointers and taking advantage of the foul line. The final three minutes were swamped with free throws from both teams. The excitement from the Jacksonville bench overthrew the competition, as the Dolphins shot 16 free throws within the final two. As the season is coming to a close, the Lady Bisons are 8-18 overall and 3-9 in the A-Sun Conference. The Lady Bisons will finish the regular season at home against USC Upstate at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 25. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Jessica Wayda fights for a cancer-free future

Junior Jessica Wayda is one of many fighting for a cancer-free future during Lipscomb’s third annual Relay for Life. Wayda, an education major from Mount Kisco, New York, has been a pioneer in this year’s relay event. As the head of the marketing committee, Wayda oversaw the work of eight other students. While Wayda has been busy promoting the event, she has kept one thing in the back of her mind — the meaning behind it all. “My family hasn’t been hugely affected by cancer,” Wayda said. “[My] aunt was diagnosed last year with breast cancer, but she has been cancer-free for a little bit now.” In addition to her aunt, Wayda also fights for a member of her church. Mrs. Sandra Sasser, the wife of Wayda’s pastor, has faced many battles with cancer. “[Mrs. Sasser] battled cancer for five years and then was cancer-free for a bit,” Wayda said. “Then she was diagnosed again, but hasn’t had it since.” Much like Mrs. Sasser participates in the annual Avon walk to support those still fighting cancer today, Wayda will be relaying for Mrs. Sasser in Allen Arena this Friday. Relay for Life is a nationwide and international organization that fights to create a future without cancer. Many students are affected by cancer whether through family or friends. Lipscomb’s Relay for Life committee set the bar high this year, with a goal of raising $35,000. “It’s so cool to see how the student body works towards making things better and making things come together,” Wayda said. As the event is coming up this weekend, students are fundraising and working together...