by Abigail Davis | Apr 3, 2020 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Just before business shutdowns, social distancing guidelines and quarantine mandates began, the Lipscomb College of Entertainment and the Arts community had the opportunity to celebrate the release of the new Christian movie, I Still Believe, with their newly announced partner: Kingdom Story Company. Taking place at the AMC Thoroughbred 20 theater in Franklin, the evening began with guests walking down the red carpet. Jeremy Camp, the real-life inspiration for this story of faith and love, posed with fans for photos alongside his family. The film was shown in Theater 6 which was reserved solely for Lipscomb students and staff. The movie “commercials” included a display of Lipscomb CEA student talent in the form of short films, promotional videos and music videos. Just before the opening credits, Lipscomb’s administration took the stage to announce the partnership between the production company and the CEA. Then, Jon and Andy Erwin and Jeremy Camp took the stage to share more about the film and the process of making it. Many students were on the edge of their seats listening to what these passionate artists had to say. The producers shared their stories of humble beginnings and how blessed they felt for the success they had achieved in the industry. The wisdom which they imparted on all the young, hopeful filmmakers in the room was, “Dream big. Dream bold. Dream impossible.” “I feel like God has anointed this film,” Jeremy Camp said. “There are thousands of stories and the fact that they chose my story is a huge honor.” The film was a heart-warming story of both love and faith that stands strong in...
by Kailey Schuyler | Apr 2, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider, Uncategorized
President L. Randolph Lowry informed the entire Lipscomb Community, during a Live Virtual Conversation, that graduation will be held virtually for May Commencement. This came after an email from the Graduation Office was sent to all May and August Graduates informing them that all graduation activities will be held online. “I am sorry to announce that we will not have a traditional graduation in May,” said Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry. “We simply don’t believe that we will be allowed, even, to have that kind of crowd on campus.” All events concerning graduation will be moved to virtual meetings. This includes: baccalaureate, college, and department celebrations, and conferring of degrees. Virtual baccalaureate will take place on Friday, May 1 for a final time of worship with Lipscomb for the seniors. College and department celebrations will have virtual celebrations. The graduate office email states, “Since we cannot be together in person in May for our usual dinners and celebrations, each college and department will plan a virtual celebration for you and your classmates,”. The email also touched on the conferring of degrees, stating, ” We will virtually confer your degrees as planned on May 2. Many of you have jobs and graduate school plans following graduation and we know it is very important for you to have your degrees,”. Those who plan to complete their degrees in May or August do have a chance to participate in an on-campus commencement. “We are going to invite everyone who completes their degree work in May or everyone who completes it in August to join us in December. Actually the 19th of December, where...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 20, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, COVID-19, News Slider
Following the White House’s recommendation that gatherings of 10 or more people be canceled or postponed, Lipscomb University officials made the decision to extend online instruction for the rest of the spring semester in the wake of growing concern over the coronavirus. “This difficult and unprecedented decision – one being faced by colleges and universities throughout the country – was made with the health, wellbeing and safety of our students, faculty and staff in mind,” said President Lowry in an email sent Wednesday afternoon. In addition to the extension in remote learning, on-campus residence halls will no longer be available to students unless they have no other option for housing. Not only will on-campus residences be closed, but students will also not be able to return to Lipscomb to move out their remaining belongings until the university puts together a procedure to streamline this process. For those students whose only choice is to return to campus, life will be much different as a mandatory curfew will be put into place and many on-campus locations will be closed. “Dining options on campus will be significantly limited, primarily to grab-and-go options at one location, and recreational opportunities will be unavailable, including those in the Student Activities Center,” said Dr. Lowry. While Lipscomb had already announced the cancellation of all university events through April 30th, adding to the list of cancellations is that of spring commencement, which was set to take place on May 2nd in Allen Arena. Degrees will still be conferred, but graduates will be unable to walk across the stage to reduce the number at gatherings of 50 or...
by Lumination Staff | Mar 18, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, COVID-19, News Slider
MARCH 18, 2020 Following the White House’s recommendation that gatherings of 10 or more people be canceled or postponed, Lipscomb University officials made the decision to extend online instruction for the rest of the spring semester in the wake of growing concern over the coronavirus. “This difficult and unprecedented decision – one being faced by colleges and universities throughout the country – was made with the health, wellbeing and safety of our students, faculty and staff in mind,” said President Lowry in an email sent Wednesday afternoon. Commencement has been canceled for spring 2020 graduates and the dorms are sending students home. Click here to read the rest of the story. MARCH 15, 2020 Thanks to concerns over the coronavirus, the week after spring break this year will be one unlike any Lipscomb has ever experienced. The university announced the following for the week of March 23-27: Undergraduate students will have an extended week of spring break. Graduate classes will resume; programs will determine the format. Faculty will report to campus to transition classes to a remote teaching and learning environment. In a presentation to faculty and staff on Thursday, President Randy Lowry said that “‘closing’ is not a very good word for this.” “We are open and will at some level stay open because we have certain kinds of needs we need to meet for our students,” Lowry said. Click here to read the full story. MARCH 12, 2020 Lipscomb University has announced an extended spring break running until March 27th for undergraduate students. The information was delivered in an email to the Lipscomb community from the office of...
by Kathryn Farris | Mar 17, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider
Empty shelves and out-of-stock signs line the aisles of local supermarkets and stores after the coronavirus pandemic began hitting Tennessee hard, with numbers forecast to grow. And that’s not to mention special locations, like Friedman’s Army Navy Outdoor Store on Hillsboro Road, where more-serious survival items are being scooped up. At the grocery stores, items like hand sanitizer and water bottles are all but gone as soon as they are placed on shelves as consumers load up on the items when they take time from their self-quarantines. Toilet paper is almost impossible to find, and in most grocery stores, the paper-goods aisle is either empty or contains a few scattered items. At places like the Publix in Brentwood’s Maryland Farms, kitchen sanitizing wipes are only in stock for moments, although customers now are limited to just two containers per visit. “As the rise in the number of cases and deaths started happening in China, a lot of people started seeing the writing on the wall,” says Nestor Ilagan, a sales associate at Friedman’s. Friedman’s has been open in Hillsboro Village since 1972. Its combination of military surplus and outdoor recreation has made it a popular destination for the getting ready for their isolation. However, Ilagan said that the recent spike in activity has been due to “panic preppers.” “‘Preppers’ typically will piecemeal their supplies together, get all that stuff over time,” he said. “Then you get what we call ‘panic preppers’ — people who buy everything at once.” At one point, Friedman’s carried pandemic preparedness kits, each containing hand sanitizer, respirators, masks and a pandemic information sheet. However, the...
by Ashley Bingham | Mar 17, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider
As the novel COVID -19 continues to spread across the globe, more and more people continue to feel the effects of it, including Lipscomb’s global learning students. Students studying in Florence were moved to Vienna back on February 28th as a precautionary measure since Italy was one of the places under high watch by the CDC. “None of us suspected it to take this huge of a turn for the worst,” said Lipscomb Sophomore Nina Santiago who was studying abroad in Florence. On Friday, students who were studying abroad in Vienna flew back home to the states, their trip being cut nearly in half. President Randy Lowry sent an email to the students abroad and their families that said the following. “This has been a very eventful semester and we are so proud of all of our students for their resiliency and grace in handling all of the changes and uncertainty we have faced over the last few weeks due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). As you know, the Lipscomb leadership team has been monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Europe on a daily basis. Whether our students are studying on our campus or in locations thousands of miles away from Nashville, our goal of keeping our students safe and secure remains a primary focus.” The students. were taken back by the message but not too surprised. “When we all got the message, we all gasped and started to get really emotional. It’s definitely devastating, but I’m not surprised. I figured it’d probably be coming soon with everything going on, I just didn’t expect it now,” says Rachel...
