by LeBron Hill | Sep 24, 2017 | News Slider, Opinion
President Randy Lowry on Thursday invited the African-American student body to his house for dinner and conversation. I attended, and what I saw that night indeed was insensitive to African-American culture. What stood out to me was the cotton in the Mason jars placed on the dinner tables. Being exposed to it before, I tried to make light of it by seeing the irony — I let go of it, keeping in mind the good intention of the night. We then headed into the president’s house to have conversation. After Mr. and Mrs. Lowry told their story, they gave the floor to the students to share their story. We ran out of time to have discussion, but the president did tell the audience they could ask him anything at the end of the night. The next day, talk began to circulate about what happened. I told one of my teachers professor about it, and he was shocked. At that point, I had no knowledge of the conversations on social media. Later in the day, an apology was sent out to the entire student body. Channel 4 News got word as well, and the conversation surrounding the night grew. During the weekend, many people talked to me about the occasion. On one side, people felt that the décor was more Southern heritage than an offensive material. On the other side, many felt that the decoration was contextually inappropriate and should have not been on display. The conversation continued into the following week. The Diverse Student Coalition facilitated panel discussions featuring students who attended the dinner. I went to one on Wednesday that...
by LeBron Hill | Sep 21, 2017 | News Slider
After several years under contract with Pepsi, Lipscomb is now a “Coca-Cola campus” as announced this Tuesday during the Gathering in Allen Arena. James Franklin III serves as the CEO for the bottling company and spoke to the student body about his commitment to Lipscomb. After he showed a video highlighting his son, James Baak, and his trip to South Sudan, he invited the Coca-Cola Polar Bear to the stage alongside Vice President of Student Life Josh Roberts. Together they told the crowd about the several Coca-Cola sponsored events happening on campus soon. Baak is the founder of SMARD, Solidarity Ministries Africa for Reconciliation and Development. SMARD’s mission is to empower women and children of South Sudan by educating them and giving them the freedom to find confidence in themselves. Born and raised in South Sudan, Baak dealt with great turmoil as a young boy and told the story of how he had to flee to Ethiopia. “The travel in length was Nashville to Denver,” he said. At first, Baak wished to return home. However, it was after a dream featuring a man in white clothing, giving him a bible and telling him to fight onward that he found Christ. After gaining an education and becoming a pastor, Baak went back to his home country of South Sudan and planted a church while helping other churches there reach their maximum potential. He said he hopes that his mission will continue to touch others and raise awareness surrounding the women and children of South...
by LeBron Hill | Sep 3, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Lipscomb students and alumni gathered in Shamblin theatre on Friday for the College of Entertainment and Arts’ first speaker of the year. Film and TV writer Allan Heinberg has written for films and TV shows, such as “Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Wonder Woman.” He’s also written comics for both DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment. Heinberg started the night talking about his upbringing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, being both Jewish and openly gay. After graduating high school, he soon realized that Tulsa was not the place for him, so he attended Yale University to study acting. While at Yale, Heinberg was active in his craft. He auditioned for and performing in many shows, but he felt his true passion was writing. After graduating from Yale, the “Wonder Woman” writer spent 10 years on Broadway performing. In that time, he experienced the woes of being an actor while starring in “Laughter on the 23rd Floor.” Soon after that, he decided that acting wasn’t for him. After appearing in two other plays, he decided to reevaluate his career. It was then that the GLAAD Media Award winning writer chose to transition to behind-the-scenes and become a writer. During the Friday night event, he analyzed some scenes from “The Catch” and “Wonder Woman.” He explained that his style of writing is based on realistic relationships. He gave an example of that in a scene from “The Catch.” Heinberg conveyed how the characters’ relationship between each other affects the tension in the scene. Relationships being his focus, Heinberg told the audience that his message in the movie was not action but connection. He then credited his years of acting for helping his ability to write the best stories...
by LeBron Hill | Aug 28, 2017 | News Slider, Sports
For sports fans, heated debates are had over who is the “best of all time” — Michael Jordan or LeBron? Manning or Brady? Ali or Tyson? In the case of Mayweather vs. McGregor, fans got to see these two sporting giants fight to settle the discussion, with boxing veteran Floyd Mayweather taking home the victory of Conor McGregor. Saturday night, Sewell Hall held a watch party for the fight open for all Lipscomb students to view the historic event. Sewell Hall Residential Assistant Taylor Phillips planned the event and was excited to host a watch party for such an anticipated night. “We decided at the start of the year that our first event of the year should be the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fight,” Phillips said. “This fight means a lot because I am a huge UFC and boxing fan. Boxing is such a well-known sport; everyone can jump aboard and enjoy the fight.” Sporting a Conor McGregor shirt, Phillips said that he was rooting for McGregor to win the fight. Philips noted that Sewell Hall typically doesn’t hold events, but the fight was a good opportunity for the residence hall to host something for all students at the beginning of the year. First year Head Resident and former Lipscomb student Jackson Smith looked at the event as a chance to bring people closer together. “I love creating opportunities for memories, and that’s exactly what this is,” Smith said. The former Lipscomb student was in favor of Mayweather, learning his lesson from when he rooted for Manny Pacquiao back in 2015. Smith said he was happy with the...
by LeBron Hill | Apr 19, 2017 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
The Fast and Furious franchise gets another high-octane, action-packed addition with The Fate of the Furious. The movie is the eighth film in the saga and sticks to the same street racing and over-the-top stunts rubric that led to the franchise’s early success in 2001 with Fast and Furious. The cast is full of the same lovable characters such as Dominic Torreto (Vin Diesel) and Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). It also features some who are new to the film such as Charlize Theron (The Italian Job) and Jason Statham (The Transporter Trilogy). F. Gary Gray directs — the fifth director of the saga — and is a veteran in the action film genre, having directed movies such as Law Abiding Citizen and The Italian Job. The film begins with Dominic and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) on their honeymoon in Cuba. “Dom” soon has to put his racing skills to the test and raced in his cousin’s beat up 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline against a 1956 Ford Customline. The backbone of the franchise has always been larger-than-life stunts and tons of explosions. However, this movie features a more interesting storyline. Dom’s relationship with his family is intriguing, especially for those who are hardcore fans of the franchise. Moviegoers get a deeper look into Dom’s psyche, and what makes him who he is. Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson are both action juggernauts, allowing for an interesting conversation surrounding the question of who would win in a fight. Viewers have already started a Twitter war, using the hashtags, #teamVin and #teamDwayne. The franchise is the highest grossing movie franchise in Universal Studios history, and...
