by Erika Plunkett | Mar 20, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, COVID-19, News Slider
Following the White House’s recommendation that gatherings of 10 or more people be canceled or postponed, Lipscomb University officials made the decision to extend online instruction for the rest of the spring semester in the wake of growing concern over the coronavirus. “This difficult and unprecedented decision – one being faced by colleges and universities throughout the country – was made with the health, wellbeing and safety of our students, faculty and staff in mind,” said President Lowry in an email sent Wednesday afternoon. In addition to the extension in remote learning, on-campus residence halls will no longer be available to students unless they have no other option for housing. Not only will on-campus residences be closed, but students will also not be able to return to Lipscomb to move out their remaining belongings until the university puts together a procedure to streamline this process. For those students whose only choice is to return to campus, life will be much different as a mandatory curfew will be put into place and many on-campus locations will be closed. “Dining options on campus will be significantly limited, primarily to grab-and-go options at one location, and recreational opportunities will be unavailable, including those in the Student Activities Center,” said Dr. Lowry. While Lipscomb had already announced the cancellation of all university events through April 30th, adding to the list of cancellations is that of spring commencement, which was set to take place on May 2nd in Allen Arena. Degrees will still be conferred, but graduates will be unable to walk across the stage to reduce the number at gatherings of 50 or...
by Lumination Staff | Mar 18, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, COVID-19, News Slider
MARCH 18, 2020 Following the White House’s recommendation that gatherings of 10 or more people be canceled or postponed, Lipscomb University officials made the decision to extend online instruction for the rest of the spring semester in the wake of growing concern over the coronavirus. “This difficult and unprecedented decision – one being faced by colleges and universities throughout the country – was made with the health, wellbeing and safety of our students, faculty and staff in mind,” said President Lowry in an email sent Wednesday afternoon. Commencement has been canceled for spring 2020 graduates and the dorms are sending students home. Click here to read the rest of the story. MARCH 15, 2020 Thanks to concerns over the coronavirus, the week after spring break this year will be one unlike any Lipscomb has ever experienced. The university announced the following for the week of March 23-27: Undergraduate students will have an extended week of spring break. Graduate classes will resume; programs will determine the format. Faculty will report to campus to transition classes to a remote teaching and learning environment. In a presentation to faculty and staff on Thursday, President Randy Lowry said that “‘closing’ is not a very good word for this.” “We are open and will at some level stay open because we have certain kinds of needs we need to meet for our students,” Lowry said. Click here to read the full story. MARCH 12, 2020 Lipscomb University has announced an extended spring break running until March 27th for undergraduate students. The information was delivered in an email to the Lipscomb community from the office of...
by Kathryn Farris | Mar 17, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider
Empty shelves and out-of-stock signs line the aisles of local supermarkets and stores after the coronavirus pandemic began hitting Tennessee hard, with numbers forecast to grow. And that’s not to mention special locations, like Friedman’s Army Navy Outdoor Store on Hillsboro Road, where more-serious survival items are being scooped up. At the grocery stores, items like hand sanitizer and water bottles are all but gone as soon as they are placed on shelves as consumers load up on the items when they take time from their self-quarantines. Toilet paper is almost impossible to find, and in most grocery stores, the paper-goods aisle is either empty or contains a few scattered items. At places like the Publix in Brentwood’s Maryland Farms, kitchen sanitizing wipes are only in stock for moments, although customers now are limited to just two containers per visit. “As the rise in the number of cases and deaths started happening in China, a lot of people started seeing the writing on the wall,” says Nestor Ilagan, a sales associate at Friedman’s. Friedman’s has been open in Hillsboro Village since 1972. Its combination of military surplus and outdoor recreation has made it a popular destination for the getting ready for their isolation. However, Ilagan said that the recent spike in activity has been due to “panic preppers.” “‘Preppers’ typically will piecemeal their supplies together, get all that stuff over time,” he said. “Then you get what we call ‘panic preppers’ — people who buy everything at once.” At one point, Friedman’s carried pandemic preparedness kits, each containing hand sanitizer, respirators, masks and a pandemic information sheet. However, the...
by Ashley Bingham | Mar 17, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider
As the novel COVID -19 continues to spread across the globe, more and more people continue to feel the effects of it, including Lipscomb’s global learning students. Students studying in Florence were moved to Vienna back on February 28th as a precautionary measure since Italy was one of the places under high watch by the CDC. “None of us suspected it to take this huge of a turn for the worst,” said Lipscomb Sophomore Nina Santiago who was studying abroad in Florence. On Friday, students who were studying abroad in Vienna flew back home to the states, their trip being cut nearly in half. President Randy Lowry sent an email to the students abroad and their families that said the following. “This has been a very eventful semester and we are so proud of all of our students for their resiliency and grace in handling all of the changes and uncertainty we have faced over the last few weeks due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). As you know, the Lipscomb leadership team has been monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Europe on a daily basis. Whether our students are studying on our campus or in locations thousands of miles away from Nashville, our goal of keeping our students safe and secure remains a primary focus.” The students. were taken back by the message but not too surprised. “When we all got the message, we all gasped and started to get really emotional. It’s definitely devastating, but I’m not surprised. I figured it’d probably be coming soon with everything going on, I just didn’t expect it now,” says Rachel...
by Mckenzi Harris | Mar 15, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider
Thanks to concerns over the coronavirus, the week after spring break this year will be one unlike any Lipscomb has ever experienced. The university announced the following for the week of March 23-27: Undergraduate students will have an extended week of spring break. Graduate classes will resume; programs will determine the format. Faculty will report to campus to transition classes to a remote teaching and learning environment. In a presentation to faculty and staff on Thursday, President Randy Lowry said that “‘closing’ is not a very good word for this.” “We are open and will at some level stay open because we have certain kinds of needs we need to meet for our students,” Lowry said. “We’ll be here working that week [of March 23] so that on Monday the 30th of March, we can reinstitute the educational piece to our students wherever in the country we might be,” he said. “And we will be prepared at that time to extend that as long as we need to. We have to be prepared for a longer-term engagement with students in some kind of effective way.” President Lowry expressed his safety concerns of both the faculty and staff, wondering what the right decision for the Lipscomb community would be. “Is a student better off at home or is a student better off here?” Lowry asked. The university had concerns about students all having a home to return to, he said, if it called for a delay of classes. “Something as simple as where should they be becomes really complex when you try to work down at a level that’s sensitive...
by Bailey Burnett | Mar 10, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider
Director of Health Services at Lipscomb, Erin Keckley’s first advice is, “There is no reason to panic”. In December of 2019, the coronavirus, which is a group of viruses, was discovered when it was transmitted going from animal to animal and then human to human. This is a new virus, having no one previously been exposed to it, nobody is immune to COVID-19 This virus can cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. “The group we need to be the most careful with are the elderly, over the age of 60 years, and those with chronic diseases especially those with compromised immune systems,” said Keckley. “This virus is spread by respiratory droplets,” said Keckley, “So when you cough or sneeze, these droplets float in the air and then eventually land on a surface. Keckley explains important information about when you can get tested for this virus. “It is important to know that there is no vaccine, no specific medication, or point of care testing. For you to be tested for the coronavirus, you have to meet certain criteria. Fever, cough, shortness of breath, cold symptoms, and you have to have been either in contact with someone who has had a laboratory-confirmed case or you have traveled in the past 14 days to one of the areas with a contagious level of two or three,” said Keckley. So far there are only five countries labeled either a level two or three. China, Italy, Iran and South Korea are labeled level three and Japan is the only at level two right now. Keckley wants everyone to be...
