by Karina Gutierrez | Feb 19, 2016 | News Slider
A trip that inspired one professor is now open to all Lipscomb students. Lisa Steele, Assistant Dean and Director of Intercultural Development, has visited Nicaragua for the past seven years with Antioch Church of Christ and will lead a similar trip for Lipscomb this May. “You think you go out there to help people, but at the end you are the one that comes back helped,” Steele said. “It opens up the view of the world.” Lipscomb will visit León, Chacraseca and Las Maripositas, Nicaragua and partner with Christian Relief Fund. Students on the trip will visit CRF sponsored preschools to teach bible lessons, perform skits, teach songs, prepare lunches and visit homes with area church leaders. The team will work to form long-lasting relationships with church members, families and children. “When you are there you’ve just got to be relational,” Steele said. “You have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to build a relationship.” The Nicaragua trip will be May 10-17 and is still open for students to sign up. Up to 12 students can go on the trip. “It’s a very relational trip and I thought it was perfect for students,” Steele said. “We teach women how to make something that they can sell.” The trip is open to any student interested in the Latino culture, but those who speak Spanish or who are majoring in Spanish are especially encouraged to participate, according to Steele. Steele asked junior Jocelyne Lopez to be a co-leader of the trip. Both have lead past trips to Nicaragua. “Nicaragua was my first mission trip ever and I absolutely feel involved with the culture, the...
by Becca Risley | Feb 18, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
It was during the spring semester of her senior year in high school when sophomore theater acting major Haley Sue Pearson was told she would never sing again. Pearson developed open wounded blisters on her vocal chords that, if not taken care of, would leave her unable to sing in full voice and with a full range. “Thankfully by the grace of God that is not what happened,” Pearson said. After nine years of vocal training with the Brentwood and Franklin Performing Arts Academy, six years of musical theater experience, and having just made the decision to pursue theater as a career, this news devastated and empowered the then 18-year-old. “I came to Lipscomb and I worked for it anyway; I started taking better care of my voice and being intentional with every move I made,” Pearson said. Beki Baker, chair of the department of theatre, recommended Pearson to Bonnie Keen. Keen was a Pop-Christian singer in the 90’s and is a founding member of the acclaimed recording trio “First Call.” She continues to perform as a Nashville artist and mentors young performers like Pearson as well. The two began working together during Pearson’s freshman year. “She has been my saving grace, guardian angel on earth,” Pearson said. “Partially because she’s just a wonderful human being, partially because she breathes Jesus and His love openly, and partially because she gives me a place to just sing, which is more of a gift than most people understand.” Working with Keen and continuing to take care of her voice has helped Pearson land roles in the department, the Nashville community and,...
by Lyndi Locke | Feb 17, 2016 | News Slider
Navigating the real world can sometimes be tricky for post-graduates. But the Career Development Center has developed a new program that aims to help students have more confidence in the workforce. Founded this past fall, the PACE program (Professional Advantages for Career Excellence) is designed to help students enhance their business and communication skills so they will have an easier time finding a job in the future, according to Career Development Center Director Monica Wentworth. “Lipscomb is the only university in Middle Tennessee to have a program like this,” Wentworth said. “The PACE program allows students to graduate with a Professional Development Certificate.” Wentworth said that when participating in the program, students are asked to complete 13 components in four quadrants. These quadrants include improving communication, networking, academic and presentation skills. The certificate is earned when students have finished completing various tasks such as attending a career fair, completing an internship and doing a capstone presentation. The PACE program not only gears students up for the real world, but Wentworth said it is also impressive to employers. “It demonstrates a higher level of career readiness and helps students sell their skills,” Wentworth said. “A lot of Lipscomb students are already fulfilling requirements of the PACE program within their academic experience. They just haven’t had a way to package that to let employers know they had professional development training.” Wentworth said the program is also important for networking. “It naturally connects you to employers,” Wentworth said. “Networking becomes easier when students don’t feel burdened to make contacts all by themselves.” Although the PACE Program has just begun its second semester, junior marketing...
by Brianna Langley | Feb 16, 2016 | News Slider
The new Indian Student Association (ISA) welcomed its first round of students interested in learning about Indian culture on Feb. 15. “My vision is to create the Indian Student Association so that students from all different ethnic and racial backgrounds could come learn about what Indian culture is all about,” founder of ISA, freshman Kavya Patel, said. “I want the students of Lipscomb to grow in their love for other cultures and people.” Patel brought her vision before the Lipscomb University Intercultural Department before getting the association approved. “I love it when students take the initiative to start an organization as Kavya has done,” said Lisa Steele, Assistant Dean and Lipscomb Director of Intercultural Development. “She is organized, passionate and knowledgeable and wants to share her love of Indian culture with other students.” The Office of Intercultural Development also sponsors Futuro, a professional organization for Latino students; Kappa Iota Theta, the Black Student Association; Lambda Iota Sigma, the international student organization; League of United Latin American Citizens; W.E.B. DuBois Intercultural Honor Society; REAP, an intercultural mentoring program; Multicultural Awareness Skills and Knowledge breakout chapels; and Welcome to our Worlds international leadership team. According to Dean of Student Development Josh Roberts, the ISA’s vision was “marvelous, compelling and right.” “They had identified a need at Lipscomb to raise awareness and appreciation and opportunities for interaction with Indian culture,” Roberts said. “They put together a constitution, a plan for meeting times, different ideas that they could entertain and draw students of interest to that don’t require lots of funds or money in the beginning so they’d be able to immediately jump right in.” Students from various backgrounds were able to taste Indian...
by KJ Lauck | Feb 16, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons (5-21, 2-9) lost to the Jacksonville Dolphins (16-10, 8-3) 76-55, on Monday night in Allen Arena. Senior Chandler Cooper gave the Lady Bisons a quick three-pointer at the beginning of the game. However, the Dolphins took control on the interior and earned a 21-12 lead in the first quarter. The Bisons were down by nine in the second quarter and the Dolphins increased their lead to 10 points at halftime, 38-28. “We gotta work on the rhythm of our offense,” head coach Greg Brown said. The lead increased to 18 points in the third quarter. The Dolphins were led by Jasmyn Brown and Christin Mercer, who finished with 14 and 19 points, respectively. The duo also pulled down a combined 13 rebounds. By the start of the fourth quarter the Dolphins lead was 19 points and the score sat at 61-42. The rebounding differential was 33-19 and resulted in a 40-20 scoring advantage in the paint. “It’s a mentality; there’s not enough reps to go through, so we’ve just got to commit and have the mentality to pursue the ball,” head coach Greg Brown said. “There’s some you’re not going to get, but you have to go every time.” The Bisons were unable to make a run in the fourth quarter as Jacksonville stymied the Lipscomb offense. “They disrupted the rhythm by taking ‘Lo’ [Loren Cagle] out a little bit,” Brown said. “We just gotta work on the simple things as far as execution and movement offensively.” The Lipscomb offense was held to 34% shooting from the field and just 4-11 from three. “They’re solid, they’re athletic, and they’re strong,” Brown...
by KJ Lauck | Feb 14, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Both Lipscomb men’s and women’s basketball teams defeated North Florida on Saturday afternoon in Allen Arena. The Lady Bisons (5-20, 2-8) won their second consecutive A-Sun game 78-71. Senior Ashley Southern led Lipscomb in scoring 17 points and nine rebounds. Six other Bisons scored in double-figures in a balanced scoring attack. Sophomore Loren Cagle approached scored 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Senior Chandler Cooper and sophomore Amber Fuqua each scored 12 points. “It’s great to see stuff she [Fuqua] does in practice carry out in the game, and that’s what you want,” head coach Greg Brown said. The team hit 12 threes and had 23 assists on 28 baskets. “The biggest thing it showed was how each individual player has improved while [Southern] was out,” Brown said. “You have to be thankful for the adversity and then learn from the adversity and grow from it, and I certainly think we have.” The Lady Bisons are now in seventh place in the A-Sun conference and just a game behind North Florida (6-19, 2-8) for the sixth seed in the A-Sun tournament. The Lady Bisons will play again Monday night in Allen Arena against Jacksonville. The men’s basketball team has now won six of eight Atlantic-Sun games after starting 0-3 in conference play, defeating the North Florida Ospreys, 94-87, in the second leg of the double-header. Four Bisons scored in double-figures. Sophomore Nathan Moran and freshman Garrison Mathews led the way for Bisons with 24 and 23 points, respectively. Mathews and sophomore George Brammeier both notched double-doubles. The Bisons were down by as many as 13 and 10 at the half. However, head coach...
