by Erika Plunkett | Mar 11, 2021 | News, News Slider, Sports
The fourth-seeded Lady Bisons open conference tournament play Thursday afternoon in Kennesaw, Georgia against the fifth-seeded Stetson Hatters. In head coach Lauren Sumski’s first season, Lipscomb is coming off of one of their best seasons in recent memory, going undefeated at home for the first time in the program’s Division-I era. The Bisons enter the tournament with their highest seeding since the 2017-2018 campaign when they fell in the semifinals to the FGCU Eagles. A huge reason for the Bisons’ success is senior ASUN second-team senior forward Taylor Clark, who is averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for Lipscomb. Clark has been a leader on and off the court, and her versatility makes her an integral part of everything the Bisons do. Joining Clark as an ASUN honoree is freshman Jordan Peete, who has already made a huge impact with Lipscomb in her first season, averaging 9.3 points per game. For Lipscomb to advance, they will need to rely on Clark and Peete, as well as sophomore stalwarts Casey Collier and Jalyn Holcomb. Thursday afternoon Lipscomb will “host” the Stetson Lady Hatters in the one-site tournament location at Kennesaw State University. This new format was introduced to minimize travel in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but will allow teams to have more consistency in between matchups. The Lady Bisons are going to have quite a challenge hoping to clinch the automatic NCAA tournament bid. While Lipscomb swept Stetson in the regular season, the Hatters will be looking to bounce back in this third matchup of the season and keep their perfect record against the Bisons...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 11, 2021 | News, News Slider, Sports
Capping off the end of their six-game homestand the Lady Bisons hosted their rival Belmont Bruins Wednesday afternoon in a midweek matchup but fell 5-1. Junior pitcher Katie Turner got her first start of the season and got off to a rocky start, allowing three hits off of the Bruins’ top three batters. “Belmont came out aggressive and attacked us,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said in a statement released by Lipscomb Athletics. “We were never able to get back in it.” Turner bounced back and struck out two of the next three batters as well as forcing a fly out to end the inning. Lipscomb matched Belmont in hits for the afternoon but was only able to capitalize on one chance in the third inning where a ground out allowed junior infielder Amy Vetula to score. The Bisons would allow two more runs in the fifth and sixth inning, bringing the total to five for the Bruins. “We are still trying to figure out who we are,” Ryman said. “We are still trying to learn to play with consistency. We had chances. We didn’t make adjustments and it wasn’t for lack of trying. We just didn’t succeed. We struggled with it.” Sophomore outfielder Presley Leebrick led the way for the Bisons with two hits in the loss including her fifth double on the season. With the loss, the Bisons fall to 9-8 on the season. Lipscomb travels to Kennesaw State to open ASUN conference play Saturday afternoon. Continue to follow Lumination Network for Lipscomb Athletics coverage. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Kathryn Farris | Mar 9, 2021 | News, News Slider, Uncategorized
The new administration and lawmakers in D.C. are wrestling with solutions to relieve the vast amount of student debt and the rising cost of higher education. Any solutions or changes will hit home for many Lipscomb students, who take out more than 11 million in student loans each school year. Lipscomb’s financial aid office is awaiting changes from the federal level and advocating on behalf of students. Director of Financial Aid Tiffany Summers and Director of the Office of Neighborhood, Community and Government Relations Amanda Martin are each working within college associations to obtain information surrounding upcoming potential policy changes. “I would say there’s a lot that we’re watching right now, certainly higher education was an important part of the administration’s (election) platform,” says Martin. “There can definitely be a difference between what is on the platform and what actually gets done when somebody gets in office.” One of the hot-button issues surrounding President Joe Biden’s higher education plan is student debt forgiveness. Opponents argue loan forgiveness would disproportionately benefit high-income individuals, while supporters contend Biden could do more. “There’s definitely a lot of debate nationally around student loan debt, and so one of the pillars of Biden’s higher education plan was that he wanted to forgive $10,000 worth of student loan debt for everyone,” said Summers. “It’s certainly unclear what any actual student loan action is going to look like. There are some that argue Biden should by executive order forgive $50,000 in student debt for everyone or forgive all student loan debt, which would cost somewhere around $1.5 trillion.” Early this February, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth...
by Mckenzi Harris | Mar 2, 2021 | News, News Slider
President Randy Lowry said an eye to the post-COVID future of the university played a big role in his decision to step aside and assume the role of chancellor after 16 years of heading Lipscomb University. Lowry said his decision — originally announced February 6 — wasn’t made lightly. He added that family concerns also played a role in his decision. “I’m not sure I want to at all,” Lowry said, when asked about his decision to step aside. “Coming out of COVID, we’re gonna have to do some really important institutional planning,” he said. “And whoever does that — to think about how to make the institution for the future — needs to be here to lead that. And I’m not gonna be here to do that for another decade.” He does take pride in what has been achieved during his time at the helm. “So many things that we set out to do, we’ve accomplished,” he said. “We soon will complete a $250 million campaign. “I think we’ve either built or remodeled every single building except Sewell. “We have a record enrollment. ” Not only the growth of the university, but the growth of his own family played a role in his decision, he said. “I noticed the other day — and I don’t know why it took so long to dawn on me — but I have nine grandchildren, and all nine were born while I’ve been president,” said Lowry. “And frankly I wanna be a good granddad.“ Lipscomb hasn’t had a chancellor in awhile, but the role is often held by the former president. Lowry will...
by Schyler Jones | Feb 28, 2021 | News, News Slider
Bison Compost is a new initiative that began last fall on Lipscomb’s campus that is seeking to reduce food waste in the cafeteria. So far, 5,072.5 pounds of waste have been diverted from the landfill. That’s equivalent to the weight of a Range Rover. The student leader behind Bison Compost is Isadora Koch, a Junior Environmental Sustainability Science major with an emphasis in Communication and Policy. Koch started Bison Compost as part of a fellowship called Youth Evangelicals for Climate Action that requires that the members complete a sustainability-related project. Koch had learned a lot about composting, and when she saw how much waste there was in the Lipscomb cafeteria, she wanted to help start composting on campus. Koch began by talking with her advisor, Dr. Stutzman, who directed her to Darry Hunstman. Huntsman serves as Executive Chef in the cafeteria and has been a sustainability activist himself. In addition to being a farmer and beekeeper, he also worked at William-Mary College, where they already were composting. Koch shared her vision with him, and he agreed to collaborate with her in getting the composting initiative instated at Lipscomb. The first step was figuring out who to partner with, as on-site composting would be difficult and space-limited. Koch found Compost Nashville, which specializes in organics management. They figured out pricing, and a representative came on campus for assessment. With the help of volunteers, a waste audit was conducted in the cafeteria. Because of the new COVID-19 protocols and the required training, it was decided to start capturing food waste from the food preparation side. “I was actually really surprised to...
by Kathryn Farris | Feb 20, 2021 | News, News Slider
As multiple rounds of winter storms hit the Nashville area this week, Lipscomb extended remote learning through Friday. However, rising temperatures and clear skies allowed the university to announce a return to in-person classes starting Monday. “I want to encourage you to hang in there as we continue to wait out this winter storm,” said Vice President of Student Life Al Sturgeon in an email to students earlier this week. “There are multiple frontline heroes here for you, including security officers, residence life staff, food services staff and service operations workers that are all here to make sure you are safe, warm and fed.” As snow and ice fell, Lipscomb dining services shut down everything except Bison Café and Starbucks. Both places have expanded operation hours to serve the resulting increased need. The COVID pandemic added another set of challenges to the icy, snowy, cold week. As students crowded indoors to keep warm, Sturgeon reminded them to take virus precautions in terms of social distancing, especially: “Please do your best to spread out as best you can to prevent a dramatic increase in virus transmission after the winter storm that would threaten our ability to function as a residential community.” To overcome the concerns of treacherous travel to doctors’s offices and other facilities, Lipscomb increased medical staff on campus. This includes the 24-hour availability of medical assessments and treatments. “Being able to offer these enhanced medical services during this time of inclement weather will allow our students to receive increased care and medical assessments on campus rather than requiring transport to a local medical facility,” read a university email....
