Students paired up and dressed alike on Thursday for “twin day,” the final Bison Week theme before students deck themselves in purple and gold for Battle of the Boulevard.
Rena’ Cothron, a junior softball player, dressed as a Dr. Seuss character for twin day. “I really like the idea of Bison Week because it gets people into the athletic aspect of LU,” she said. “I feel like it is not as big of a deal here to cheer on our teams, but we need the support!”
Bree Thurman and Jordan Abell partnered with each other for the dress-up theme. “Twin day is may favorite of the days. I am loving bison spirit week!” Abell said.
“It’s nice to see people dressing up and getting in the spirit for the game on Friday,” Thurman said. “I hope all the hype for sports rolls over into all of the other sports, too.”
Two students, Olivia Stastny and Keiana Hastings, used the basketball team for their twin inspiration. “We are supposed to be the Smith twins on the basketball team,” Hastings said, explaining their wardrobe choice.
Clothing from past decades resurfaced Wednesday on campus as students participated in “retro day,” the third theme day of Bison Week.
Freshman Lola Sobowale joined the retro fun. “This is my favorite day of the Bison spirit week,” she said, adding a call to action for Lipscomb’s men’s basketball team. “They better win!”
Nerds roamed Lipscomb’s campus Monday as students participated in the first dress-up theme for Bison Week: nerd day.
In an effort to generate school spirit and excitement for Friday’s Battle of the Boulevard men’s basketball game, campus organizations developed dress-up themes for each day and events for each night of Bison Week.
“It’s really important for everyone to participate, because it shows school spirit,” said Inett Branch III, Joe Marcario and Daniel Box, three students who decided to show their spirit by dressing up.
Ashely Taylor and Jenna Willis, two members of Stampede, also participated in nerd day.
“More people need to dress up because we need to get pumped for the Battle of the Boulevard,” they said.
“Get your nerd on,” said Corey Nelsen, another student who joined the fun.
TJ Ojehomon, one of the Bison Week organizers, said it’s a great opportunity for students to have fun, show their pride and develop community.
Ojehomon, president of Stampede, Lipscomb’s new student-fan organization, encouraged his fellow students to “step out of the box” and make memories during the week’s events, which culminate in the annual Battle of the Boulevard rivalry basketball game with Belmont University.
“You have four purposeful years in undergrad, and in those four years, you’ve got to make a memory,” he said. “When you walk out of here and somebody asks, ‘Tell me about your college experience,’ and you don’t have anything to remember, then that’s a pretty bad college experience. People need to really step out of the box sometimes and make a memory for themselves.”
“I think it’s just going to be a lot of fun,” Ojehomon continued. “I think things are more fun when you do it with a bunch of people. We’re pushing for the entire campus to do it. … We really want this to be a campus-wide thing. I even want faculty to participate.”
Ojehomon said he and Louis Nelms, director of student involvement, have been meeting weekly for the past six weeks to make sure all of the activities for Bison Week are prepared. Each day of Bison Week, students are encouraged to participate in dress-up themes, and then each night, there will be a featured event.
HoopapaLUza is the event Ojehomon said he is most excited about, partially because he thinks it will set the tone for the rest of the week.
“We’ve got so many new men’s and women’s players on our teams … that’s going to really be the chance for them to be introduced,” he said about the event, which is scheduled for 9 p.m. Monday in Allen Arena.
“People are finally getting to know who their players are. It’s just going to be a great way to kind of start off the week and set the tone. … And we’re reviving something that we’ve done in years past too, so I’m anxious to see how that turns out. How we do it this year, it may set the tone for how we do it here on out.”
According to Ojehomon, Bison Week is designed to generate community by getting the campus to participate as a whole group and also to provide students with a special memory from their college experience.
Ojehomon said the primary reason for the week’s activities is to generate excitement before the Battle of the Boulevard basketball game on Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m.
“It really energizes us, the campus and the student body, to get ready for such a huge game at Battle of the Boulevard,” he said, “and I think by the time we get in there on Friday night, there’ll be so much excitement and camaraderie and community that it’s just going to make a huge difference in how our team plays.”
Bridgette Begle contributed to this article.
The schedule for Bison Week is as follows:
MONDAY
Dress-up theme: Nerd Day
Event: HoopapaLUza at 9 p.m. in Allen Arena
TUESDAY
Dress-up theme: All-American Day (wear red, white and blue)
Events: Cookout in the square (lunch), all-day election coverage in Shamblin Theater, glow-in-the dark recreation party at 10 p.m. in the SAC
WEDNESDAY
Dress-up theme: Retro Day
Events: FREE skate night at Brentwood Skate Center from 7-10 p.m. (Shuttle transportation will be provided in front of Allen Arena starting at 6:30 p.m.), Wednesday Night We Eat at 10 p.m. in High Rise (Giving out FREE money throughout the night!)
THURSDAY
Dress-up theme: Twin Day (dress up like someone else)
The best-dressed twins will win two FREE Titans tickets to the Dec. 2 game against the Houston Texans. Upload your twin photos to the Lipscomb Stampede Facebook page to enter for your chance to win! (Facebook.com/LipscombStampede)
Events: Running of the Bison at 8 p.m. in Bison Square
FRIDAY
Dress-up theme: Spirit Day (wear purple and gold Lipscomb gear)
THE Event: Battle of the Boulevard, Lipscomb versus Belmont at 6:30 p.m. (Come EARLY.)