by Erin Turner | Mar 14, 2015 | News Slider
It was a dark and rainy day on campus, but smiles and cheers lit up Allen Arena during the Special Olympics State Basketball Tournament Friday evening. The basketball games that continued into Saturday night marked Lipscomb’s 11th year of hosting the tournament. The special bond between Lipscomb athletes and the Special Olympics athletes make the teaming of the tournament and the university a natural fit. “There is a competitive rivalry, but there is also much more support of fellow athletes no matter what team they’re on,” said Lin Garner, Lipscomb’s Associate Athletic Director for Academics. A spotlight was put on the athletic camaraderie at the opening ceremonies, where Lipscomb athletes joined the Special Olympics athletes to cheer them on before they stepped on court. Terry Watkins, Special Olympics Director for Area 1 Nashville, said that in that short time of fellowship, the Special Olympics athletes made connections with the college athletes. “Love is love,” Watkins said. “You can love a sport, whether you’re really good at it or not. “College athletes are generally good at sports. There are some of our [athletes] that may not be, but they still have that love — that common love of sports that comes together when we do things like this.” Watkins, who also teaches Special Education at Nashville’s Glencliff High School, is a veteran of three decades as a Special Olympics coach. He said he loves what he sees on the court, but wishes more would would take the time to cheer in the stands. “Most of our [coaches’] job is encouragement — building on the good things — and when the fans cheer, that...
by Anna McClure | Mar 14, 2015 | News Slider
For some, coming to college means leaving behind the novelties of childhood, but not for Sarah Johnson. Johnson, a freshman theater major, intends to bring Disney characters to life by hand-making costumes and photographing students in the theater department wearing them. Johnson had the idea for a similar project four years ago, but felt she did not have the resources and skills necessary to bring it to life. “When I came to Lipscomb and got into the theater department, got a little more into photography and had a nice camera, I started taking pictures and I started seeing the talent that all these different people had,” Johnson said. “Instead of using models, I thought that it would be interesting to see people, who for or a living or for a hobby want to act as characters, to take on the characters that they love.” Johnson is planning to photograph a different set of characters each semester. The theme of this set will be Disney Princesses, but future plans include Toy Story, Disney villains, Greek Mythology and horror sets. Friend and fellow first year theater student, Natalie Risk, has been assisting Johnson with the project. “This is a project that will span our entire four years of college,” Risk said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the last set of pictures we take and comparing them to our first. Seeing the progression and the growth in every aspect of what we do will be a lot of fun to watch.” Together they have made a schedule, acquired materials and picked locations for photo shoots. With fabrics, bedspreads and clothing from Goodwill...
by Janice Ng | Mar 13, 2015 | News Slider
Chad Johnson and Brianna Langley lead this week’s Lumination News, giving the latest Lipscomb news. Safety for students is a top priority at Lipscomb. Recently, a call box located in the west garage of Allen Arena was found to be out of order. Mignonne Bryant has more on how campus security is continuing to ensure safety for students. In this week’s show, reporter Thomas Jones also provides a recap for Singarama, a strong Lipscomb tradition. Watch for weather updates in your spring break mission trip destination with Leslie Newman. Mignonne Bryant provides a mix of world news headlines and Colleen Casner delivers recent Hollywood buzz. Do you have story ideas? An event you want us to cover? Email our News Director at...
by Stephanie Schiraldi | Mar 12, 2015 | News Slider
Students have a new friend in class in the McFarland Science Center — the sound of a drill. Construction crews are working on an addition on the west side of the original building. The project is part of the Lipscomb:Next campaign, an initiative to invest $125 million in the university by its 125th anniversary in 2016. The $8.5 million addition will include six new laboratories for organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and human anatomy and physiology. Despite a few setbacks, Mike Engelman, director of campus construction, said construction is about to start moving swiftly. “This week we are preparing to pour the concrete on the basement slab,” Engelman said. “After that slab is complete, we will start the next level and should really start seeing this building move quick as long as the weather cooperates.” The construction has drawn quite a few noise complaints from both students and professors in the process, though. Kent Gallaher, chair of the department of biology, said the noise originated after the construction company found a layer of rock settling on top of a layer of mud, which had to be removed. “The solution was a hammer through the rock layer to stabilize the foundation,” Gallaher said. “This was very, very noisy work that required a huge bulldozer-sized jack hammer.” Brittany Elmore, a junior elementary education major from Mt. Juliet, said that some of her professors have had to wait for the noise to stop before they could continue teaching. “It was so loud that no one could hear,” Elmore said. “It’s definitely hard to focus and is distracting sometimes, but it really hasn’t bothered me as much...
by Kayla O'Connor | Mar 11, 2015 | News Slider
Senior education major Rebecca Burris will return to Cozumel, Mexico for her fourth spring break to serve the orphans at City of Angels. The City of Angels is a Christian children’s home where young children who have been orphaned, abandoned or abused can find a permanent home. Originally from Mitchell, Indiana, Burris had not heard of the City of Angels until she arrived at Lipscomb. The missions fair introduced her to the opportunity. “I went to the info meeting and as I heard more about it, I realized I would love to go on this trip,” Burris said. As an education major, Burris was naturally attracted to the trip because of the emphasis put on spending time with children. “It’s a super laid back trip,” she said. “We do VBS two days and ESL [English as second language] classes two days and the last day is carnival day.” After her first trip, she decided to get more involved as a student leader. “Mark Jent is the leader and he asked me to be a student leader [my sophomore year] so I started doing that and I’ve been that ever since, so I have gotten to be a little more involved each year,” she said. Burris has had a hand in planning the VBS portion of the trip for the last two years. Her and the team spend time teaching, singing and doing arts and crafts. This year Burris will be playing a new role on the trip, though. “This is my first year to be on the [ESL] group,” she said. “We will be giving them English vocabulary words and Mad Libs...
by Charlie Bateman | Mar 11, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb softball team improved its record to 9-10 after winning against Southern Illinois 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium. Lipscomb started slow after having a long break between games. In the first inning, the Bisons had two wild pitches that were a big key to the two runs scored by the Salukis. “After having a long layoff you never really know how your team is going to react,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said. “We didn’t let the first inning dictate the whole game.” Lipscomb answered back with an RBI as a result of a sacrifice fly by senior Gracey Aguirre. The Bisons tied the game in the bottom of the second with another sacrifice fly by senior Paige Neely. It was not until the bottom of the sixth when junior Baylee Williams broke the tie with a solo home run. “I really want to win for my teammates,” Williams said. “I wasn’t going up there looking for a home run. I was just wanting to get a base hit.” Ryman said it was important to get clutch hits like Bailey’s on a regular basis. “As a team we try to go up to the plate and make something happen,” Ryman said. “I think if we do that consistently we are going to be okay.” Southern Illinois was aggressive in trying to score runs, but could only manage to pick them up in the first inning. The Salukis had an interesting way to deliver signs to batters at the plate. Ryman said Southern Illinois team looked at their wristbands every time they stepped out of the box. “It is a signal,” Ryman...
