by Lana Sydenstricker | Nov 19, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
It is all about the team and loyalty for Katie Bradley. The junior volleyball player from Louisville, Kentucky learned a first-hand lesson about loyalty and commitment when Lipscomb volleyball coach Brandon Rosenthal retained interest in getting her on-court for the Lady Bisons–despite a torn ACL when she was in high school. Bradley started playing travel volleyball when she was 13 and quickly grew in her love for the sport. She continued to play at Sacred Heart Academy and made the varsity team her sophomore year. Rosenthal started recruiting Bradley during her sophomore and junior years of high school because of her playing skills. Even after suffering from a torn ACL during her junior year, Rosenthal said he still wanted her on his Division One college team. “It really hit home for me that he said nothing changes on our part,” Bradley said. “By then he had already offered me a full-ride scholarship to play. He said he still wanted me at Lipscomb, so a couple months later I committed here.” Despite multiple injuries, Bradley is a huge supporter of her teammates on and off the court. She said she is making the best of her minimal playing time and believes the team is having a great season. “The team is doing really great,” she said. “My playing time is very limited, but when I get in I just have to make the best of it. Whatever is best for the team is fine with me and as long as we keep winning, I will support my teammates.” Off the court, Bradley wants to be a teacher and is studying elementary education....
by Lana Sydenstricker | Sep 30, 2015 | News Slider, Opinion
Wondering what impact students and Lipscomb’s SALT (Serving and Learning Together) program are having on the Nashville community? I interviewed Bruce Krapf, operations manager of Thriftsmart, to see how his organization is impacted. Tell me more about Thriftsmart and how it impacts the community. Thriftsmart is a nonprofit thrift store that sells clothes and other household items. “One hundred percent of our profits benefit four locally based charities that are making an impact here and internationally. These are New Hope Academy, The Belize Project, African Leadership and Mercy Community Healthcare. We’ve given close to $500,000 total to our charities so far. We also host two programs in our Nashville store that help the refugee and immigrant community – namely sewing training through Sew for Hope and free ESL classes. Our GiveSmart program provides ThriftSmart gift cards to community organizations that help us collect donations, and through that, we’ve given over $200,000 in gift cards to local schools, churches and nonprofits to help them serve others in need.” What impact has the SALT department had on Thriftsmart? “Most notably are Dr. Capps’s training and development classes that have actually held class at our stores and produced training materials we could use in operations. Also, Professor Smith in the business communications area engaged her students to develop a crises management manual for Thriftsmart. The range of engagement is from the one-time volunteer student to the semester class that builds sustainable models and gives students real-world experiences. I think this describes both our relationship and the impact of SALT on Thriftsmart and I just want to add that Lipscomb students are among the best volunteers...
by Lana Sydenstricker | Feb 7, 2015 | News Slider
Jan. 21, 2015 kicked off the trip of a lifetime for students traveling to Vienna, Austria through Lipscomb’s Global Learning program. In the first week of the program students participated in a weekend retreat. The group stayed in a monastery nestled in the mountains of Schlägl and quickly learned about the simple life of the priests who live there. After returning from the retreat, the students settled in to start classes in Vienna. German, Psalms, Cross Cultural Experience, Foundations of Western Civilization since 1600 and International Business are the courses offered on this trip. The students said it is neat to see the connection between what they learn in class and on the weekend trips. “The other night there were riots in the city and it was really interesting to see the political side of everything that happened,” Janie Lynn Lankford said. “It was really cool to see people so passionate about something because sometimes when you travel you just see the light and fluffy side of things and in reality there’s dispute.” During the week, the students also go on walking tours throughout the city to see historical palaces and locations. One of the walking tours included visiting the Schönbrunn Palace. “The view we saw from the Schönbrunn Palace was beautiful and you can see all of Vienna,” sophomore Sarah Wagner said. “It was really mesmerizing.” The students also have the opportunity to visit art galleries and museums. “We went to an art museum and it was so cool because it is unlike any art museum in America,” sophomore Shelby Jordan said. “There is so much history behind the art, and...
by Lana Sydenstricker | Dec 22, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Twenty members of the Lipscomb Track and Field team brought Christmas to the children of the Dominican Republic during their mission trip last week. The team worked with Manna Global Ministries, an organization that provides a children’s home, housing 13 orphan children in two buildings, a Christian high school, and a soon-to-be college program in Santiago. During the trip, the team had the opportunity to share gifts, play games and celebrate Christmas with children throughout the communities. For many of them, these were the only gifts they would receive all year. Through the outreach, the team set out to build lasting relationships. “After watching a pre-trip documentary, our team really wanted to do more than complete quantifiable tasks,” said sophomore Katie Bianchini. “We went to build lasting relationships that we could continue back in the states.” By learning more about the culture of the Dominican Republic, the team was able to grow closer to the people there. The team spilt into three groups to visit houses in the community, and each group got a little taste of the lifestyle during a meal prepared by the native people. While one group learned how to make rugs out of T-shirt cloth, another got to hold baby chicks and wash dishes after lunch. The team also helped the organization by painting an outreach center in Rio San Juan and spreading gravel to make a new entrance for the building. The track team made it safely back to Nashville on Thursday, Dec. 18 and plans to return to the Dominican Republic to work with Manna in the future. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Track and Field...
