Dr. Larry Brown advocates a Christian education

College is where students generally spend four years of their life getting an education and preparing themselves for their future careers. Some students prioritize a place where they can comfortably practice and share their beliefs alongside their academic studies at a Christian university.  At Lipscomb University, students may be familiar with Dr. Larry Brown, who has taught a variety of classes in his 24 years, including both Bible and Liberal Arts courses. Brown first majored in the field of theater then followed in the footsteps of his parents, who were both teachers at one time. “It seemed natural to follow that path. I grew up in a home where education was appreciated. As an undergraduate, I decided that if I wanted to continue in the field of theater, but not go the professional route, that teaching was my best option,” Brown said. Brown grew up in Nashville and attended Lipscomb University.He received his first teaching job at York College in Nebraska in 1982. Brown’s former professor, Dr. Marlin Connelly, invited him back to Lipscomb when its previous director retired, and 1989 Brown returned to his roots. “I teach a variety of courses. For 19 years I was director of theater, and I still teach a few theater classes,” Brown says, “But also World Lit. and four different online Bible classes; mostly for the Adult Degree Program.” Although theater was his focus for quite some time, Brown always had time set aside to teach Bible. “Besides my PhD in theater,I also have a master’s in Bible,” he said. “I always intended to teach Bible along with my other subjects, as...

Lipscomb Dining adds extra hours, off-campus possibilities for fall semester

Lipscomb Dining has cooked up a few new offerings for the fall, including the addition of an off-campus mean option and extra hours for dinner.  General Manager Wolcott Fary revealed that the dining hall will be adding extra hours to the schedule, meeting the request of many late-dining students. “Extending hours in the dining room: it hasn’t happened yet, but it will happen this fall,” Fary said. “The dining room will stay open an extra 30 minutes and will now be open every Saturday.” The dining room will now be open 7 days a week, and normal hours of operation will be from 7:15 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The long-talked about off-campus dining option is also now a reality, with the first wave of restaurants being commissioned for the fall. “Starting this fall, you’ll be able to use your Bison Bucks at certain local restaurants within a five-mile radius of the school,” Fary said. “The off-campus solutions team with Sodexo are in the process right now of going to more than 35 local restaurants to contract with them each individually to see if they want to become a part of the program. Each contract will be different, and there’s some outlay for the restaurants to become part of the program. Each restaurant will have to decide on its own whether it feels like it can get enough business to support the cost of maintaining the program.” No restaurants can be absolutely confirmed at this time, but Fary disclosed a few of the restaurants on the list, including Copper Kettle, Subway, The Cheesecake Factory and Nero’s Grill. Food-to-go in planning stages, dietary options...

2013’s Christian Scholars’ Conference set to kick off Thursday

From June 6-8, the 33rd annual Christian Scholars’ Conference will be held at various locations around Campus including Ward Lecture Hall, Collins Alumni Auditorium and Shamblin Theatre. More than 500 theologians hailing from almost 100 different universities will be participating in a total of 92 sessions. In 1981, Dr. Thomas H. Olbricht, professor at Pepperdine University, created the conference. Their mission is “to create and nurture an intellectual and Christian community that joins individuals and institutions to stimulate networks of scholarly dialogue and collaboration.” This years theme is “Crisis in Ethics: theology, business, law and the liberal and fine arts.” Featured guests include John Dean, former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon (and a major player Watergate scandal), Charles Mathewes, author of Theology of Public Life and Understanding Religious Ethics and David Miller, founding director of Princeton’s Faith and Work Initiative and former director of the Ethics and Spirituality in the Workplace Program of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. The following Plenary addresses are free and open to the general public: June 8 from 10:45 – 12:00 PM in Collins Alumni Auditorium, John Dean’s “The Ethical Legacy of Watergate.” 6 from 10:45 – 12:00 PM in Collins Alumni Auditorium, Charles Mathewes’ “The Future of Political Theology.” June 7 from 4:15 – 5:15 PM in Acuff Theatre, David Miller’s “God at Work.” Another ticketed event, Blackbird Theater’s production of David Mamet’s Oleanna is open to the public as well. For more information on how to attend these and other panels, please visit the event’s main page. A full schedule is posted as well as registration prices. There is a pre-conference event, free to the public. On Wednesday, June 5 at 7:30...

Summer construction brings new life to campus

When students return for the fall semester, they will notice a lot of new attractions on campus. Over the summer, many construction teams will be hard at work to build several new projects. Kim Chaudoin, Director of Communication and Marketing, shed some light on each of the sites of construction and renovation. The first thing one might notice when walking through Bison Square will be the new Osman Fountain. Built to honor the Memory of Ty Osman II, a Harding student who died in a car accident last year, the fountain will also feature a baptistry. “We thought it was just a really fitting thing to have because our student’s faith is such an important part of what we do here at Lipscomb,” Chaudoin said. “Dr. Lowry has a vision of this being a place where if students decide they want to commit their life to Christ that they might come here and be baptized, right here in the middle of campus.” Students and faculty in the field of sciences can look forward to a new pharmacy and health sciences research facility, which will be located behind the McFarland building. The 15,000 square foot addition will include classrooms, labs and offices. “It’s our intent that just about any student that studies sciences will go through here at least once during their studies,” Chaudoin said. “We’re on target to finish by fall semester, so students should be able to use it soon.” At the Swang building, students are going to return to a new auditorium in Swang 108. The room has been stripped clean and will be receiving new seating,...

Video game tournament offers Bison gamers prime competition

Fourteen teams, four games, no mercy. Lipscomb’s College of Informatics presented the Revenge of the Nerds video game tournament in Shamblin theater Wednesday night. Fourteen teams of four players  – including a LU Faculty team – signed up to battle it out in four games to truly test their skill. Halo 4, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Rock Band were played in a battle royale to prove who was the best of the best. Gamers competed for prizes such as t-shirts, headsets and assorted gaming “swag”. The event was free to enter and watch, and free pizza/drinks were provided to all who attended. The battle began with a heated taunt from the faculty team, challenging the younger players’ “inexperience,” and claimed the other teams had to prove themselves, which they undoubtedly did. The crowd cheered and sang along to great classic rock hits as the gamers played Rock Band songs, featuring  “Cold As Ice”, “Space Oddity” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats during some of the closest matches in Halo history. When all was said and done and the scores were tallied, none compared to the result of team 817 Mafia, who scored highest overall. Congratulations to Rico, Ryan, Stephen and Neil (a.k.a. the 817 Mafia) for showing up the competition, also congrats on those awesome Atari gaming...