by Erin Turner | May 22, 2015 | News Slider
What has recently become its own school will also have its very own new contemporary music program. Lipscomb’s School of Music recently announced the expansion of its existing classical music offerings to include contemporary music undergraduate programs, which will dive into songwriting and music production. This charge first began after Lipscomb formed its College of Entertainment and the Arts that houses the new school. School of Music director Sally Reid said that the idea of having a College of Entertainment and the Arts, and even the School of Music, have been in the works for a while. “At some point the president [Lipscomb President Randy Lowry] intervened and said ‘this really sounds like a new college,'” Reid said. After the new college was formed, Lipscomb’s filmmaker-in-residence Steve Taylor had a connection that made the contemporary music program come to life. “Steve had this really good friend who was at a point in his career where he was looking to give back,” Reid said. Producer and singer-songwriter Charlie Peacock will serve as Lipscomb’s artist-in-residence for the contemporary music program. “I really think that we couldn’t launch out and do this without his guidance, because none of the faculty are trained in contemporary music or have any experience,” Reid said. “We needed new faculty, and we needed someone who understands the music industry.” And Peacock has demonstrated his understanding of the music industry ever since he started his career in the ’70s, producing hundreds of albums. He will lead the new program to become more integrated with Music City. “His vision is for it to be Nashville-centric in that it immerses the students in how business...
by Charlie Bateman | May 20, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb’s Dawson Armstrong missed nationals by just one stroke at the NCAA men’s golf Chapel Hill regional at the UNC Finley Course. But Armstrong ended with one of the best scores, shooting a seven-below-par 65, tied for second place. Armstrong said he can build off this success into next year. “The idea is that I am going to have a lot of experience,” Armstrong said. “What has happened in the last few months will help me realize what can happen in the future.” Dawson came into the tournament as the only mid-major golfer to finish in the top five. He said being in this position motivated him to finish strong in the NCAA regionals with the best college golfers. “It was neat to compete against some of the best players in the country,” Armstrong said. “I did not feel I had my best game, but it was encouraging to lose to only one person.” According to final rankings for college golf, Armstrong was considered to be the eighth-best freshman. Armstrong said he was impressed with this rating because of the level of competition he has faced while playing golf at a mid-major school. “At a mid-major school that is huge, because I was not playing in the same tournaments they are,” Armstrong said. “It is also the assurance of all the hard work I have put into the game of golf.” Armstrong said he believes he is not far from beating the best players college golf has to offer and is looking to use what he learned from the NCAA regionals as a way to build confidence going into next...
by Charlie Bateman | May 18, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
After a season-ending sweep of Northern Kentucky last weekend, Lipscomb’s baseball team is primed for taking on the 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship. The Bisons are in Fort Myers, Florida, where they will take on No. 5 seeded Florida Gulf Coast. This sweep of the Norse last weekend at Northern Kentucky’s Bill Aker Complex boosted team spirits heading into the A-Sun, according to Lipscomb coach Jeff Forehand. “After a tough weekend against Stetson last week and then another one on Tuesday, it is good to see us get back on track with these three wins,” Forehand said. Lipscomb grabbed the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament after Stetson lost to tournament hosts FGCU in the final weekend of the regular season. The Bisons have won a record-breaking 35 games in the regular season. Going back to the NAIA days, no Lipscomb team has matched that victory total. Forehand said he has hopes for the Bisons to slug it out for their second A-Sun tournament championship. He also said that in so doing, the team could make the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history (the last being in 2008). The coach said the Bisons’ bats and pitching arms were kept plenty busy — and looked plenty good — in completing that sweep last Saturday. “It is fun to watch us when we are attacking with all facets of our offense and the pitching staff is throwing as well as they are,” Forehand said after the 7-1 victory. The Bisons will now open the tournament at 6 p.m. Wednesday night at Swanson Stadium. It’s a tough task...
by Ellen Butterfield | May 14, 2015 | News Slider
Nearly 400 letters from a German prisoner of war camp near Chattanooga have been donated to the Beaman Library, where a Lipscomb professor is working to translate them in time for a program in the autumn to observe the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The letters were donated by Curtis Peters, who discovered the letters, drawings and photos jammed in a Cornflakes box while cleaning out the house of his wife’s great aunt after she died. The road to Lipscomb for the letters began when Dr. Tim Johnson was in Chattanooga doing historical research into the Mexican War. A woman in a local cafe recognized the Lipscomb professor’s passion for history and introduced him to Peters, who said he hoped the letters could be translated, giving him more insight into his family’s history. That’s when Lipscomb foreign language professor Charlie McVey was contacted, due to his extensive training in German, and the library received the grant that will enable him to translate the letters. Working on these letters shifted his perspective of POW camps in general, McVey said. “I was just flabbergasted that these people were writing these letters back and were so effusively thankful and grateful,” McVey said. “Of course, also in these letters they’re asking for things,” McVey said. “One guy even puts his foot down on the paper and outlined his shoe saying ‘This is the size shoe I need.'” Going from being treated well by the Stribling family, who extended Christian character to their prisoners, to going back to a Germany in shambles was a shock, according to what McVey has...
by Charlie Bateman | May 10, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb baseball took a 5-1 loss to Stetson Friday, but came out Saturday to take a 3-1 victory for senior night at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium. In Friday’s matchup, the Bisons could not get their bats going against the Hatter’s starting pitcher, Mitchell Jordan. Jordan pitched a complete game for Stetson. Lipscomb scored their only run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from sophomore Hunter Hanks. The Bisons could not string enough base hits together to score more runs. But things started to look up for senior night on Saturday. The Bisons started the scoring in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice-fly from senior Grant Massey and an RBI single from senior Jonathan Allison. “This class of seniors has been very special to me,” Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand said. “We have been through a lot together.” Junior redshirt Adam Lee chipped in with a home run in the bottom of the fifth to add to the score for the Bisons. “Adam has had a great season for us offensively,” Forehand said. “He had a good swing to put a charge on the ball for a homerun.” Freshman Jeffrey Passantino had a great start on Saturday for the Bisons. Passantino went eight innings and gave the bullpen some rest before the last week of the season. This makes two starts in a row that Passantino has gone eight innings. “We are beginning to expect this from him all the time,” Forehand said. “He puts our team in a good position to win every time he goes out there on the mound.” With this win,...
by Charlie Bateman | May 9, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
School history was made when Lipscomb freshman men’s golfer Dawson Armstrong was selected to compete in the 2015 NCAA Division I men’s golf championship. As the Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Year, Armstrong is one of 45 individuals chosen to advance to Chapel Hill, North Carolina regional hosted by the University of North Carolina at the University of North Carolina Finley Golf Course. “I am glad I have the chance to represent Lipscomb,” Armstrong said. Armstrong said hopes he can continue his success into the NCAA tournament and show how Lipscomb athletes can compete with the best players. “With college golf, anyone can be just as good as you are,” Armstrong said. “You have to play your best, and sometimes your best is not good enough against college competition.” Armstrong said he has pushed himself to play his finest golf game no matter what the competition is like. Armstrong’s skill has set him up to meet the goals he and Lipscomb head men’s golf coach Will Brewer made at the beginning of the season. “Coach Brewer knew what my goals were going into the season and knows that getting there is a process,” Armstrong said. “He has helped me see the big picture and knows that I have to take each goal little by little and figure out how I can achieve what I have set out to accomplish.” Armstrong will head to North Carolina from May 14-16. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
