by Jordan Forbes | Oct 27, 2020 | News, Student Spotlight
Diversity, development, delicacy and dedication; all can be found within the African Student Association. The school year is off to an exuberant start within the Lipscomb community and so is the African Student Association. The African Student Society, also known as the ASA, is seeking to create a welcoming environment for all, establish relationships and foster a village of unity. This dynamic student organization has set foot on a mission to lead by example by creating memorable moments for all on the Lipscomb campus. The first members’ meeting was held on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, via zoom. The president of ASA, Edom Seyoum, brought together all current and aspiring members of the organization and conducted a meeting, which shared events, updates and plans for the group. Information such as meeting dates, study breaks, on-campus events and goals of the student’s organization was discussed. The meeting consisted of about twenty people who are devoted to seeing the Lipscomb community thrive. When given an option to share ideas about the group, Ellycia Bond, a member of ASA, shared a heartfelt remark when she said, “I want to help out but in the right way. I want to do my part to make sure the organization stays alive.” As ASA grows throughout the Lipscomb community, Edom Seyoum has given herself to ensure all students at the university know they are part of one family through Christ. Seyoum expressed her goal for the group when she said, “I want ASA to grow. ASA is not just for African students; it is for everybody.” In a separate interview with Seyoum, the genuine meaning of...
by Taylor McKnight | Oct 25, 2020 | Arts and Entertainment, News, News Slider
In a normal October, the red carpet would be rolling out and leading into Allen Arena for the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards. This is not a normal October. The 51st GMA Dove Awards will not be hosted at Lipscomb; in fact, there will be no venue hosting the Dove Awards, as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the awards show to be completely virtual, with planners trying to package it differently than a typical awards show. The gospel awards show has taken place in Lipscomb’s Allen Arena for the past seven years, and the organizers hope to be able to come back to Allen Arena in 2021. Doves producer Justin Fratt said organizers wanted to take a different approach for this year’s awards to stand out from other virtual awards shows and to maintain the relevance and power of this event. “When planning, we were thinking about what would be different, but still very compelling,” said Fratt. “We didn’t want to do it like others — we’ve seen awards shows utilizing Zoom. This will be a musical feature that celebrates the music and the message.” The planning started in the spring, and the show was recorded in mid-September at TBN studios in Hendersonville. It took three weeks to record the show, said Fratt, adding there are performances and interviews with artists, who will share stories of faith and how gospel music has gotten them through these trying times. As far as the Dove Awards’ plans to return to Lipscomb next year: it looks like it’s a go. “As long as we can, we would love to gather again at...
by Mckenzi Harris and Kathryn Farris | Oct 23, 2020 | News, News Slider, Politics
Last night, Nashville played a part in history as Belmont University hosted the final 2020 Presidential debate. Streets filled with demonstrations and protests, national media set up camp and two presidential candidates arrived in music city with the hopes of winning America’s vote. After some previously announced changes, Thursday’s debate was a stark contrast to the first meeting of these candidates in late September. Muted mics and stricter segments gave voters a chance to hear each candidates’ policies and plans. “This is a completely different debate than the first debate and I am really happy about that,” said political science professor Susan Haynes to the Q&A audience at SGA’s virtual debate watch party. “I was expecting just the chaos of the first debate where I couldn’t even weigh-in, just because you could hardly tell what was being said.” The 90-minute debate consisted of 15-minute segments on topics such as COVID-19, foreign policy, the economy, race, climate change and more. Key moments of the night included President Trump’s talk of an upcoming Covid-19 vaccine, he said “We have a vaccine that’s coming, it’s ready.” Currently, the FDA has not yet made approval for a Covid-19 vaccine. Four US clinical vaccine trials are in Phase 3 including Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. The FBI’s investigation on foreign election interference was brought up as part of the foreign policy segment of the debate. “They will pay a price if I’m elected,” said Former Vice President Biden, speaking on the interference by China, Russia and Iran. “They’re interfering with American sovereignty. That’s what’s going on.” One of the more “viral” moments of the night went to Joe...
by Mckenzi Harris and Kathryn Farris | Oct 23, 2020 | Galleries, News, News Slider, Politics
Tonight, Belmont University will host the second and final presidential debate. As part of the increased security surrounding the debate, freshman students from several campus dorms were forced to leave and stay elsewhere. Affected freshmen were sent to Gaylord Opryland to make way for secret service. “A week after we moved into campus things started transforming completely…and about three weeks ago, my residence hall found out that we would have to be moved off campus to Opryland hotel,” Says Becca Pavelich, a freshman at Belmont University. “I wasn’t complaining, Opryland is a beautiful place to go. It was just definitely a shock that we found out so close to the debate that we’d be having to leave.” According to the Belmont Vision, The university provides students with transportation, meals and internet access during their predicted 30-hour stint at Opryland. Pavelich says “we’re honestly not sure what time we get to come back to campus, but we were happy to be able to go somewhere as nice as Opryland.” For Pavelich, the experience of a debate on campus has been a positive one, she says “It is just so surreal. I’ve been watching the other debates and paying attention and to the news but it’s just so cool to think that all of that has been happening on our campus,” “It’s happening tonight on our campus and at our event center that we walk by every day. I know it’s just a great opportunity for our school to be exposed and it’s just an honor to have the president and former vice president here on campus.” Lipscomb University campus security is...
by Hannah Cron | Oct 22, 2020 | News, News Slider, Politics
Tonight, the final presidential debate between current President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will occur just down the road from Lipscomb at Belmont University. In light of this historic event, Lipscomb’s security team has spent weeks making plans to ensure that the campus remains as safe as possible. “For the last month, we’ve really been doing some deep preparation, just getting ready for this evening because we want the campus to remain safe and we want the experience for our students and the employees and any guests that are in the area to be as smooth as possible,” said Kyle Dickerson, Executive Director of Security & Safety. The security team has also been in contact with state and federal law enforcement in regard to making preparations for the night of the debate. “We’ve been talking with the law enforcement partners that are a part of the actual event itself, which includes TBI, FBI, the secret service, just a lot of the big federal entities that are a part of it but also some local entities as well. They’ve been giving us really good information that is helping us feel really good about the evening, which is nice. What they have said is that they are expecting typical things for a debate,” said Dickerson. One of the biggest concerns ahead of the debate is the traffic congestion due to the many road closures around Belmont. “What we think is going to be a really big deal is traffic congestion for the night,” said Dickerson. “Most people don’t go to traffic congestion as their first concern for something like this,...
by Kathryn Farris | Oct 22, 2020 | News, News Slider, Uncategorized
Wednesday afternoon, campus security released plans to help with traffic flow ahead of Thursday’s presidential debate at Belmont University. Beginning at 2 p.m. the campus will begin the transition into a three-way entry/exit. The three access and exit points for the campus will be University Park Drive off of Belmont Boulevard, the Steam plant entrance off of Granny White Pike and Ferndale Drive by Lipscomb University Health Services. Starting at 5 p.m., students will need their ID to get into these entrances. Lipscomb security also advised students to remain aware of certain points of portions of I-65, I-40, and I-440 becoming closed ahead of the debate, saying “We encourage you to plan ahead and seek alternative routes home to prevent being stuck in a difficult traffic situation during the afternoon.” These changes are being made in preparation for security concerns, while such a high-profile event takes place so close to campus. Demonstrations are scheduled to take place in front of Belmont by “Be Better Belmont”, a group aiming to call out the university for ignoring black and brown communities by holding a debate with president trump, whom they say refused to condemn white supremacist at the first presidential debate. On security concerns, Lipscomb security said in their email to students “while we don’t anticipate any issues, we always want to be prepared because the safety and security of the Lipscomb community is our top priority.” Photo Courtesy of Lipscomb...
