by Maria Morales | Mar 13, 2019 | News Slider
Lipscomb hosted its first “Day of Giving’on Tuesday in an effort to reach 500 donors in 24 hours so that an anonymous donor would match it with a $100,000 gift. But by 8 a.m., Lipscomb had already surpassed this goal, eventually reaching 2,741 donors, raising $542,164 by the end of the day. To help bring in the donations, Lipscomb set up multiple stations throughout Bison Square where people could give, say thanks and/or pray. In addition, the day included games, food and a photo booth. “Lipscomb Leads” is the initiative behind the event. Stephanie Carroll, assistant vice president for annual giving, said she thinks it’s important to bring the community together to donate. “[Day of Giving] is about working together and is a way to energize our community,” Carroll said. Carrol also said that she thinks surpassing the initial goal of 500 donors is encouraging others to donate funds to any department. Most of the donors were Lipscomb’s alumni. However, Lipscomb also asked students to donate. Rebecca Bennie, who graduated eight years ago from Lipscomb, is now the donor relations coordinator of Lipscomb Leads. “It’s really encouraging to see the Lipscomb community come and donate,” Bennie said. “It’s been mindblowing in the best possible way, and it’s great that is going to the students.” Anna Caroline Rowland, a graduate student working in the Office of Advancement, said that she was glad Lipscomb offered a station where students could thank donors by writing thank you notes. “It’s been cool to see alumni who have graduated in the past 20+ years who are still investing in Lipscomb and giving back,” Rowland said. Rowland...
by Maria Morales | Feb 23, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
If you are a fan of DreamWorks Animation, you will definitely like the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy. Based on one of the book series written by Cressida Cowell, “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” was directed by Dean DeBlois. In this installment, Hiccup and his loyal dragon Toothless continue to rescue dragons that have been captured and bring them back to Berk, which is the island where Hiccup and his people live. We also see Astrid, Hiccup’s love interest, helping Hiccup save more dragons in order to create their own sort of dragon paradise. At some point, Hiccup is faced with overpopulation of dragons in the Island. Hiccup remembers that his late father Stoick told him about the ‘Hidden World,’ which could be a safer place to keep all of the rescued dragons. Meanwhile, warlords and an infamous dragon hunter named Grimmel the Grisly wants to capture Toothless to make him the alpha. Grimmel uses a white female dragon, “Light Fury,” to try to get Toothless’s attention and capture him. Hiccup must find a way to protect Toothless and his people from Grimmel’s threats. For starters, the action scenes are impeccable, and the dragons’ being different even in their smallest detail should give the film the attention it deserves. The storyline delivers two different love stories between Hiccup with Astrid and Toothless with Light Fury. It shows a whole different side of Toothless while he is falling for Light Fury, something that was unexpected yet still charming. While the story keeps its humorous scenes, surprisingly, it has parts that might be considered more for a...
by Maria Morales | Feb 18, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Lipscomb Theatre is hosting several showings of “Silent Sky,” which depicts a woman’s struggle with balancing her faith and with her love for science. Published in 2015, the play is based on the story of astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt. The story takes place in the early 1900s, when Leavitt started working as a volunteer assistant at the Harvard Observatory. Gunderson tells the story of Leavitt and other women who were treated as human “computers” and how they were not allowed to do the same things as men. They were given limited responsibilities and were not allowed to help in “men’s work,” like using telescopes. In the play, Leavitt is struggling to get recognition as a serious astronomer in her field. For a long time, Leavitt worked on her own to make discoveries. Gunderson shows that despite the obstacles Leavitt and her peers faced within society, with hard work and dedication, they managed to succeed. Lipscomb Theatre Department Chair and Director of “Silent Sky” Beki Baker shared that the reason she chose this play is that she wanted to honor women who never had their moment in the limelight. “It’s about cherishing women in our history who have maybe been lost because we just [didn’t] know their names and their stories very well,” she said. Baker said that even though it is a story based on a historical person, it is still relevant today because this play is about equality and about women’s rights. Baker also mentioned that they had not worked with female playwrights often, so she and the Theatre department wanted to make sure they gave different voices...
by Maria Morales | Feb 6, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
The Office of Intercultural Development partnered with Lipscomb’s Department of Visual Arts to support students in commemorating Black History Month. The students’ art pieces were featured in the OID lounge. Students created poems and art pieces that included photos from inventor Marie Van Brittan Brown, magazine covers featuring artists and Black Panther film posters. Last fall, the art department and OID worked together to create posters for the Fall Fiesta. After the success of the event, both departments decided to keep discussing ways they could work together again. OID Program and Outreach Coordinator Juan Reveles said both departments wanted to have the input from students to create similar work to last fall’s art show. After inviting students to participate by providing their own art pieces for Black History Month, students were able to share their artwork with faculty and other students. Reveles said the partnership between the art department and OID is important in giving students a place where they can express themselves. He added that they want to teach the students the value of artwork. “It is something for generations we’ve passed down to those generations that come after us,” he said. He also explained that they wanted to understand a culture in a way other than food, music or entertainment, alongside building other relations with other departments and making sure they know they have a place in the OID. Graphic design student Shadani Fleming presented magazine covers of celebrities from African American descent. These included activist and actress Eartha Kitt and singer Sade Adu. Fleming said she chose to feature celebrities because she wanted to highlight what...
by Maria Morales | Jan 30, 2019 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s Student Government Association recently welcomed its new members for the semester. Six students became new senators of the committees that form SGA. Students that were chosen are now part of the four main areas that SGA focuses on, including communications, spiritual, academic and social. Even though SGA does not choose news member each semester, new positions are occasionally offered due to other members leaving due to graduation or study abroad trips. Student body president Sierra Sparks said some students were already showing their interest in joining SGA last semester. “The first week of school I had people coming up to me saying ‘hey if you have vacancies for the spring semester I would love to be considered,'” she said. “We got a handful of those [this semester], which that never really happens.” After sending a campus-wide email, SGA received forty applicants for the six open positions. They eventually narrowed their search and settled on six new members, including one freshman and five sophomores. Get to know the newcomers below: Freshman Madelyn Ford, Youth Ministry major The reason why Ford wanted to join SGA is its “sense of community.” Ford sees this opportunity to get to know more people at Lipscomb that she wouldn’t get to know otherwise. After applying for SGA without a freshman vacancy, Ford had worked with the Spiritual committee to plan the women’s retreat. She experienced the opportunity to foster more spiritual development among the student body, which was what she described as something she was called to do. After changing her major to Youth Ministry, she didn’t know she was passionate about that, and SGA gave provided that...
