by Mckenzi Harris | Apr 23, 2020 | News, News Slider, Student Spotlight
Forty students ran for 27 open office positions on next year’s Student Government Association (SGA). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic that closed campus, this year’s elections were held via e-mail. Five additional senator positions representing the freshman class will be filled when the new students arrive to Lipscomb in the fall. Below is a list of the SGA office position winners. Check back for interviews with the new SGA officers. Executive Officers: President: Mimi Vance Vice President: Dexter Woods Secretary: Rylee Russell Treasurer: Grant Lander Senior Class Senators: Chloe Allen Adelia Birdwell Elliot Forst Ellis Osburn Erin Stanley Junior Class Senators: Grant Bobo Grace Davis Carson Freund Megan Hinerman Grant Hitchcock Sophomore Class Senators: Adele Brothers Dumebi Ene Liz McKell Angie Medina Galeaz Hannah Mulzer At-Large Senators: Madi Ford Will Huff Lorena Maury Mackenzie McConnell Nate Messer Fiona O’Neal Donovan Ross Patrick...
by Tia Calvin | Apr 16, 2020 | COVID-19, News, News Slider, Student Spotlight
COVID-19’s impact on Lipscomb reached the Tennessee Women’s Prison, where a ground-breaking university program allowing traditional and incarcerated students to work together was cut short for the semester. Each Wednesday night for about the last 12 years, inmates from the Tennessee Women’s Prison have studied side-by-side with traditional undergraduate students through Lipscomb University’s Initiative for Education (LIFE) program. The program provides college courses taught inside the prison by Lipscomb professors. It allows those incarcerated to earn credit towards an associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree. But, due to COVID-19 concerns, the Tennessee Department of Correction suspended all visitors and volunteers, including traditional students from the LIFE program. Students enrolled on both sides of the bars were told the class meetings would be ending and it was left unknown when their educational paths would cross again. “It was all really sudden and really tough,” said Emmeline Stuart, who has been a traditional student in the LIFE program for the past two years. “A week before spring break we were told that it would probably be our last class.” “What hurt the most was the women in the prison didn’t even know” Stuart, a senior, continued. “We talked to them and cried with them. None of us felt like there was enough time to even process it all.” Stuart, a ministry and theology major, said the relationships she’s made while a part of this program have only increased her compassion for those incarcerated. She said she hopes her post-graduation work will allow her to continue discussions around reconciliation and forgiveness, as well as to be an advocate for individuals who don’t have...
by Kathryn Farris | Apr 13, 2020 | News, News Slider, Student Spotlight
Election season has once again made its way to Lipscomb’s campus; however, this year campaigning is being done in an electronic format. SGA is hosting their elections for the 2020-2021 school year Tuesday, April 14; polling will be conducted via email for the offices of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer as well as tenators. “I really wish I could be with you guys in person,” said Mimi Vance in her campaign video to students. Vance is running uncontested for the office of SGA president. “If I’m elected my top priority and number one goal will be to listen to you guys,” Vance said in her video directed towards students. “I think SGA can do a lot better on being transparent with our student body, to me that looks like using social media a lot better…using our blog and website better…as well as thorough recaps of all our meetings to be posted.” One commitment Vance is aiming towards is creating open-door office hours to encourage transparency, which has become a popular issue among SGA candidates. “The vice president must communicate clearly, keep discussions open and clear and be a leader on campus for those whose voices need to be represented.” Says vice president candidate Will Huff. The running for vice president is high contested this year. Alongside Huff, the candidates are Nate Messer, Patrick Smith, and Dexter Woods. The election will take place between the hours of 9 am to 3 pm CST. Students will be emailed a ballot by election day morning. For more information and campaign videos from those running for office, check out the email sent from the...
by Kathryn Farris | Apr 12, 2020 | COVID-19, News, News Slider, Politics
In an era of deadly pandemic-spurred social distancing and mandated hibernation, the 2020 presidential election seems to have been moved to the back burner. Concern over how to best campaign for national and local elections amid a global pandemic has been the subject of debate among Democrats and Republicans. Manny Sethi — a Republican first-time candidate running for Tennessee’s open Senate seat that’s being vacated by Sen. Lamar Alexander, who is retiring — said he misses the world of full-on rallies and public forums. Sethi spoke with the Nashville Scene on the loss of person-to-person style campaigning due to the virus. “What we’re trying to do is recreate that feeling through these virtual town halls,” he is quoted as telling the Scene. Virtual campaigning is becoming a popular solution for those running for office. Joe Biden — who is going to be the Democratic nominee after he overwhelmed Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday, spurring the latter to drop out — has been implementing virtual roundtables via live streams. Each of the “roundtables” cater to specific voter demographics. They also feature guests alongside Biden via remote video calls. “In some ways, this is the world that every digital person in every digital story you’ve ever written has said would come,” Biden digital director Rob Flaherty told BuzzFeed News. “We were just focused on getting him out there as soon as we could get him out there.” For President Trump, the halt on traditional campaigning is playing to his favor. As the sitting President, Trump’s coronavirus press conferences are broadcast daily and draw high ratings (averaging 8.5 million viewers). What stands in Trump’s way is the...
by Anastasia Davis | Apr 12, 2020 | COVID-19, News, News Slider
This spring’s quick adjustment from in-person to online learning in order to mitigate COVID-19 concerns has set the course for virtual instruction during Maymester and this summer. President Randy Lowry addressed the spring semester change and the plans for Maymester and summer in a live talk — online of course — with the Lipscomb community. “We are absolutely committed to getting this semester done,” said Lowry. “Although we’re obviously doing it in a different way… in a matter of two weeks our faculty have moved the entire curriculum from a wonderful, intimate, face-to-face kind of moment to a completely remote online kind of moment.” Registration has begun for many students, and adjustments to course formats are still being made. “We’re working right now to convert Maymester and summer school to an online program,” said Lowry. He said students may may be wondering what this will look like for certain classes: “If you’re taking a chemistry program in the summer, well what about the labs? “There are some new and creative ways to do that,” said Lowry. Those details will be available when students register. The university announced in an email that the courses will be “asynchronous” and “synchronous,” subject to the instructor’s discretion, which was how it worked in the hasty change when the national emergency arose this spring. Students participating in synchronous remote courses will meet at a specified time online with the professor and fellow students in a virtual setting, Asynchronous teaching and learning allows students to use their own scheduling for learning course content. The quick adjustment this spring from classroom to online teaching and learning...
by Kailey Schuyler | Apr 10, 2020 | COVID-19, News, News Slider
Around 700 students have completed their moveout process amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but some are left wondering when they will be able to receive their belongings from on-campus housing. President Lowry answered this question in a virtual meeting with the Lipscomb community. “We’re inviting you to come back in an orderly way to get those belongings, but we also are committing that if for some reason that’s impossible we will have them packed,” said President Lowry. “We will have our people supervise that packing. We will have professional people doing it, and we’ll store that until there’s some reasonable way to get to you.” As or what will happen if both students have their belongings remaining in the room, President Lowry offered a solution of video calling the students to determine who’s stuff is who’s. “Laurie Sain said we will just get an iPhone, and we’ll just have the student on the other end of this. We’ll show the TV, and they’ll tell us who owns the TV, and we’ll separate that into the right packaging requirements,” says President Lowry. Students have mixed reviews on how Lipscomb handled this crisis. “I think Lipscomb handled it the best they could,” says senior biology major Kyra Drobny. “I talked to Laurie about getting permission to stay the week after spring break. She was accomodating with my plans, and was really quick about answering any questions I had.” Other students believe that Lipscomb could have handled the crisis more smoothly. “I think they could have been more timely about making decisions and informing students on future plans,” said senior fashion design major...
