by Erika Plunkett | Aug 2, 2020 | News, News Slider, Sports
Staying in touch with his basketball team during this COVID summer has been so unpredictable and new that it’s been like “building the bridge as we go,” said coach Lennie Acuff, describing the frustrations and adaptations that have been necessary to try to get the team ready from a distance rather than the sidelines. “It’s just really been like nothing we’ve ever encountered,” said Acuff. “We work really hard to stay in contact with our guys. We do Zoom calls once a week with them, and then we are also trying to recruit, which has been really hard.” By this point in the summer, the upcoming year’s team has typically been together for over a month, living on campus in the month of June for summer classes, practices and basketball camp. But this year, Acuff has not even been allowed to enter his office for almost four months. “Tomorrow’s going to be the first day we’re going to be allowed to go back to the office,” said Acuff on Tuesday, July 30. “So we’ve been doing everything remotely. It is for sure something we’ve never experienced, and I hope and pray we never have to again.” Coaches and staff already face challenges to stay connected virtually with the returning players. It is a more difficult task when it comes to the incoming players, according to Acuff. “It’s hard — really, really, really hard. I think that there’s only so much you can do on the phone,” said Acuff. “We signed two kids early in November that we know really well: Tommy Murr and Will Pruitt. “We know them well...
by Camryn Given | Jul 30, 2020 | COVID-19, News, News Slider
It’s no secret that college campuses will look different this semester. With safety at top priority, Lipscomb has created some new ways for students to eat on campus. There have been new dining options, a full-service Chick-fil-A and even a healthy snack bar added to Bennett in preparation for students’ arrival in the fall. “We will be doing some fairly dramatic changing in terms of food service,” said President Randy Lowry in a conversation with Lumination about dining at Lipscomb this fall. Lowry talked about four specific changes that students will notice come August. The first “dramatic change” Lowry noted was the limiting of seating in Bison Cafe to half of its usual capacity, in order to follow social distancing guidelines. To accommodate for this loss of seating, there will now be seating available in two additional spaces: Room 1891 and downstairs in Shamblin. Not only will there be a reduction in seating, but the serving of the food itself will no longer look the same either. That’s where the next two major changes come into play. “There will be no self-service in the cafeteria,” Lowry said. “Everything will be served to you.” The Bison Cafe won’t be changing what food is served, just how the food is served. These modifications will limit contact between those in the cafeteria to reduce the spread of germs. “We will have a very robust grab-and-go kind of concept that will be introduced,” Lowry said. There will be an area where students can pick up pre-portioned food in addition to a cafeteria-style station. Not only will this be safer for students, but it will...
by Gunnar Eng | Jul 29, 2020 | News, News Slider
Ty Osman, called “a remarkable man” by Lipscomb President Randy Lowry, dedicated his life to helping his alma mater and the community. Osman, 54, died in a fishing accident on July 11. He was a business leader and was co-founder and president of Solomon Builders Inc., a commercial construction company. He and his wife, Nancy, are both Lipscomb graduates. “He has not only been very successful in Nashville with the Solomon Builders, but many non-profit organizations as well, and they’re actually the builders for our huge addition to Lipscomb Academy down on Harding and Granny White,” Lowry told Lumination. The Osmans’ most visible — to students, anyway — contribution to the university is the mosaic fountain on central campus that was dedicated to the memory of their son, Ty Osman II who died at age 18 on March 3, 2012. The elder Ty Osman graduated from Lipscomb in 1987 with a degree in business administration, and he also was named Lipscomb University’s “Christian Business Leader” in 2004. The Ty2 Foundation, founded by the elder Ty Osman, is a spiritual and physical landmark at Lipscomb. One side is a baptistry, which has been used frequently since it opened in June 2013. “The fountain in the middle of campus is a way that Ty is remembered, and also a way that Ty and his wife Nancy contributed something very significant to us,” Lowry said. “His son was an organ donor on his own accord, and it’s reported a year after he passed away, Ty and his wife met some of the recipients, and one of the most amazing moments for them was...
by Gunnar Eng | Jul 29, 2020 | News, News Slider
Among the many additions to Lipscomb this fall will be the Lanier Center for Archaeology. “We’re very excited about it, and I think we will instantly become one of the most nationally recognized archaeology programs in evangelical Christianity,” President Randy Lowry told Lumination Network. Two renowned archaeology scholars, Dr. Steven Ortiz and Dr. Tom Davis, have helped create the new Lanier Center, at the same time bringing extensive resources and artifacts. Both are joining Lipscomb faculty in August after leaving Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. “They will be bringing with them a 6,000-volume library, which will be a wonderful resource to have at our disposal, and will also be bringing 70 or 80 cases of archeological artifacts, so we can display those in some appropriate way as the year goes on,” Lowry said. The Lanier Center for Archaeology has plans to offer a Ph.D. in archaeology of the Ancient Near Middle East and a master’s in Biblical Studies beginning in January. The approval for the new M.A. and Ph.D. programs is still pending from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SASCOC). “Right now, it will start as these two major programs, but as we start to collaborate and learn of the richness that’s here at Lipscomb, we will be able to project future collaborations with other programs that are already here,” Ortiz said. “Our hope is that this will expand into the undergraduate level, perhaps starting with a minor in Biblical Archaeology, and then hopefully expand to a major, as Lipscomb expands its offerings and reach in that way,” Davis said. Students also will be able...
by Gunnar Eng | Jul 23, 2020 | COVID-19, News, News Slider, Uncategorized
Lipscomb’s nursing program, always reliant on physical interaction and hands-on experiences in the past, had to adapt dramatically when the school switched to virtual learning. The pandemic that mandated virtual learning also caused problems in terms of the opportunities for nursing students. “Many clinical partners, around the same time Lipscomb decided to switch to virtual learning, also decided to no longer let students into their facilities,” said Dr. Chelsia Harris, the program’s executive director. “The rationale was to conserve their personal protection equipment, or PPE’s, for essential workers that absolutely needed them.” “It was challenging for me to finish online in the spring, seeing a lot of cool things in my clinicals (at Vanderbilt Trauma Unit), but was only able to go twice before everything started shutting down,” said McKenzie Allen, a senior. Despite many clinical partners and direct physical interaction being cut off, the nursing program made successful adaptations, according to Harris. “We have such incredible faculty and staff that worked really hard to work with some of the vendors in a virtual capacity, and were able to launch a high-fidelity type virtual simulation,” she said. “Some of the simulations are so realistic, and actually have students think more critically than what you thought you would even imagine comparatively to bedside with a real patient.” “The Tennessee State Board of Nursing as well as our national accreditation body were in full support of the utilization of virtual simulations as long as students were able to meet outcomes,” Harris said. The sudden shift to isolation for students and faculty did cause adjustment, according to Harris. “It was gut-wrenching to...
by Mckenzi Harris | Jul 14, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb men’s soccer has announced a new roster for the coming season, and the eyes of the coach were focused on ability to attack offensively. “We’ve historically been known as a team that has a really potent offense and some really dynamic attacking pieces,” said head coach Charles Morrow. The coaches were looking for more of that attacking force with this signing class, with high hopes to improve that sting in their offense. “In addition to filling some key positions like Ben Loche as our holding midfielder, that we lost last year, really the focus of this group was finding attacking players that could give us more of a threat in the attack and scoring goals,” said Morrow. “We’re really happy with the group that we got and the quality they bring as players and really excited with the quality of people that we’re seeing so far,” said Morrow. Here is more on the signing class and some of their notable achievements. Gerik Jakubowksi is a forward from Phoenix, Arizona. 1st-Team All-Region at Sunnyslope High School. He Led TSV Allershausen in assists, second in goals for a season. Won U16 State Cup Championship with Real Salt Lake AZ and he will be joining his brother Zarek Jakubowksi, an upcoming junior, on the Bisons roster. Austin Marfell is a winger from Warner Robins, Georgia. He is a first-team advanced to ECNL National Championship Final and a Team MVP for Houston County High School. Marfell is a two-year team captain and won the regional championship with HCHS. Marlon Grossman is a forward from Schwaebisch Gmueno, Germany. Grossman made 26 appearances in...
