Gospel Music’s return to the mainstream
Gospel Music’s return to the mainstream
Lipscomb Softball rebuilds team bond
Lipscomb Softball rebuilds team bond
Graduate Spotlight: Trey Phillips reflects on four years of ‘breaking out of my shell’
Graduate Spotlight: Trey Phillips reflects on four years of ‘breaking out of my shell’
Therapy dogs boost spirits amidst finals
Therapy dogs boost spirits amidst finals
The impact of on-campus jobs
The impact of on-campus jobs
Lipscomb’s LIFE Program: what is it?
Lipscomb’s LIFE Program: what is it?
Lighting of the Green returns to bring Christmas spirit
Students, family members and Nashville residents gathered on Lipscomb’s campus Tuesday night to celebrate the 17th Lighting of the Green. It is an annual tradition hosted by Amy Grant that ushers its attendees into the holiday mood. Some family-friendly festivities began as early as 4 p.m. including a photo opportunity with Santa for the children and a holiday market with specialty vendors. When the sun went down and the many Christmas lights began to glow brighter, the concert began. The grass outside of the Student Activities Center that usually lies empty was converted into a space for hundreds, complete with a large stage, speakers and seats for guests. Since the event was entirely virtual last year, many expressed their feelings on returning in person. “Are you happy to be back live this year?” asked NewsChannel 5’s Leland Stanton, the emcee for the event. He received delighted applause from the audience. The opening act was Lipscomb Academy’s chorus followed by Amy Grant’s first appearance. Grant has been with the event since its first show almost two decades ago. “I cannot believe we’ve been doing this for 17 years,” said Grant. “It’s so wonderful that you all made the effort – I have no idea where you parked or how far you walked!” Her second song was her own classic “Tennessee Christmas.” CeCe Winans, a well-known gospel artist, performed next. “Alright, it’s Christmas,” Winans said before jumping into her upbeat performance. Let’s have some fun!” There were several other songs from the university choir and Corinna Gill, who is Grant’s daughter. Not only was there abundant Christmas music featured, but some clips...
Dates to know for upcoming breaks
As the winter holidays are approaching, students in dorms are expected to go home and are therefore not allowed to remain in the residence halls. If you are living on campus, below are some upcoming dates to keep in mind. For Thanksgiving break: Halls close on Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. Halls reopen Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. For Winter break: Halls close on Dec. 16th at 1 p.m. For graduating students, halls close on Dec. 18th at 6 p.m. Halls reopen Jan. 8th at 6 p.m. For the holiday dining hours, you can find those...
Sigma Alpha embraces cryptocurrency, accepts Bitcoin as dues
Of the several social clubs at Lipscomb, only one will accept your club dues through Bitcoin. Sigma Alpha is pioneering the introduction of cryptocurrency to college organizations. Sigma Alpha started in 2019 and is a smaller and relatively newer club that prides itself on its recent innovation. Sean Hagan, a junior philosophy major from Nashville, introduced the idea of incorporating Bitcoin. Hagan is the president of the club and sees Bitcoin as a way for his younger group to build their reputation as well as their finances. This fall was the first semester that members were able to pay their dues in Bitcoin instead of dollars. “We have to find these creative solutions and innovative ways to protect and maintain at least what we do have, potentially build our purchasing power, and increase what we’re able to do,” Hagan said. Bitcoin is a relatively new and upcoming currency that takes place all digitally. Unlike fiat currency, government-backed money like the U.S. dollar, there is no paper trail. Even before it was officially created in 2009, Bitcoin has had an interesting and somewhat mysterious history. “Bitcoin is a digital asset. It was created in the wake of the [economic] crises by the man or entity under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto,” Hagan said. The identity of Nakamoto is entirely unknown. Prior to Bitcoin’s creation, it published a paper that explained its function and use. “It’s built on the concept of digital scarcity,” Hagan said. “There are only 21 million bitcoins that will ever be in supply.” Bitcoin’s set value is what makes it stand out from other value systems such...
Lipscomb pivots from mask mandate to recommendation
After several months of campus-wide indoor mask requirements, Lipscomb is moving to an indoor mask recommendation, effective Oct. 16. Lipscomb students and faculty were alerted of the upcoming change via an email sent out Thursday afternoon ahead of the fall break long weekend. The relaxed guidelines are a result of a decrease in COVID numbers campus-wide. “Due to your diligence, we have seen a significant decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases and individuals in isolation or quarantine. As a result, effective Saturday, Oct. 16, the updated mask policy is that masks will no longer be mandatory but will be recommended,” said the email sent to the Lipscomb community. While masks will no longer be required indoors, they will still be worn inside in certain situations. Faculty may still choose to require facial coverings in any of their respective classes and labs. Anyone preparing or serving food in a group setting must also wear a mask. Another exception to the rule is that anyone who is asked to put on a mask by someone within six feet of them is required to comply. “When requested in good faith by a Lipscomb student, faculty, staff member or guest who is presently wearing a mask indoors, a Lipscomb student, faculty, staff member or guest who is within six feet is required to wear a mask,” according to the statement prepared by the university. Lipscomb will continue to offer vaccination clinics with both the flu and COVID-19 vaccines every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon in Bennett Campus Center. Lumination will continue to provide updates about Lipscomb’s COVID...
Lipscomb extends mask mandate to Oct. 15
The Lipscomb community will remain under an indoor mask mandate till at least October 15. The extension was updated on the university’s website and follows a recent decrease in campus cases. “Because of your diligent efforts, the number of positive cases on campus as well as the number of students, faculty and staff in quarantine is headed in the right direction,” said the university in an email to the community. “Let’s keep up the hard work so we can continue to have a strong semester!” The Lipscomb mask mandate applies to all students, faculty, staff and guests in university buildings (regardless of vaccination status). The university is also pushing vaccines, informing students that “approximately 99% of those in our nation who are having serious adverse effects or are dying as a result of the virus are unvaccinated.” Lumination will continue to keep you updated...
Men’s basketball fights hard, flames out at Liberty
LYNCHBURG, Virginia – Hard work pays off–except for the days when it doesn’t. For a Lipscomb team that came into an ASUN Quarterfinal game at East 1-seed Liberty with a 5.6% chance of winning according to ESPN, hard work simply came five points short of being enough. In a defensive slugfest at state-of-the-art Liberty Arena, the Flames earned one final ASUN Tournament win over the Bisons in a 52-47 decision. “What a hard-fought basketball game,” Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff said. “It probably wasn’t the prettiest thing to watch on either end, but… I was unbelievably proud of our team tonight.” “That was really hard-fought,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “I was proud of our group that we didn’t play as efficiently as we had been on the offensive end, but we found a way to pull one out.” Holding a 7-5 record against Lipscomb in the all-time series, Liberty is now 3-0 over Lipscomb in ASUN Tournament matchups, the first two of which were ASUN Championships. Now that Liberty will depart for Conference USA next year, it’s possible that this was Lipscomb’s last chance to beat their recent rivals in a postseason matchup. The story throughout the game was a combination of pure scoring from a pair of dueling guards and excellent defense from both squads. Darius McGhee, who is second nationally in points per game, led Liberty with 26 points on 10-25 shooting and scored half of the Flames’ points on the evening. On the other side of the ball was true freshman Trae Benham, who continued his late-season run of form with a team-leading 21...
Lipscomb softball drops home opener to Northern Iowa
NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb softball team lost to the Northern Iowa Panthers 4-3 in a close affair Wednesday afternoon at Draper Diamond. Despite falling behind 2-1 after the third inning, the Panthers were able to end a five-game skid by scoring three runs over the next two innings. The Bisons, having returned from the Mardi Gras Mambo Tournament in Youngsville, Louisiana, hosted their first home game this season at Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium. Lipscomb took the lead for the first time in the game after scoring two runs in the third inning. Maci Cunconan, a junior from Warrensburg, Missouri, hit a two-run homer to right field for her first of the year. Senior Amy Vetula, a native of Canton, Georgia, who singled to left field earlier in the inning, also earned a run on Cunconan’s homer. Vetula would go 2-3 on the day to help the Bisons lead 2-1 after the third. Starting pitcher Laine Barefoot, who came in at 2-2 on the year, earned six strikeouts in five innings pitched. Following Barefoot, closing pitcher Emily Yakubowski allowed zero runs in her two innings pitched. Despite Yakubowski’s defensive success as the contest wore on, the Bisons could only score one more run for the rest of the game. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Vetula hit a double to center field, allowing senior outfielder Jessie Brown to tally an additional run. However, the fourth inning was costly for the Bisons on defense. Daryn Lamprecht and Hailey Sanders, both sophomores for the Panthers, scored unearned runs on a throwing error. At the top of the fifth, the Panthers...
Baseball beaten by Belmont in latest Battle of the Boulevard
NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb baseball team lost 5-1 to in-town rival Belmont Wednesday afternoon at Ken Dugan Field. A clear, 77-degree sky and a packed house at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium was the backdrop to a midweek game that was mostly characterized by what might have been for the Bisons. A strong offensive start for the Bruins saw the visitors from two miles north take a 4-0 lead after three innings of play. Graduate pitcher Jared Shemper started the game for the Bisons, taking his first loss of the season (0-1). Shemper picked up two strikeouts but gave up two hits and three runs in the first two innings before being relieved. Connor Witzke, Patrick Williams, Hayden Frank, and closer John Cheatwood all pitched for the Bisons on the afternoon. Williams’ 3 innings was the longest stint for a Bisons pitcher in the game, but Shemper led in pitches thrown with 44. Leadoff hitter John Shields collected two hits in four at-bats for the Bisons, the only player for the Purple and Gold to get more than one hit. After senior outfielder Maddox Houghton was hit by a pitch on his first at-bat, sophomore Hayden Skipper replaced him and grabbed an assist on three at-bats. Jordan Zuger picked up the win for Belmont with a 1.80 ERA, while Grayson Taylor led the Bruins on offense with After matching Belmont’s hitting numbers but being unable to convert scoring positions into runs all game long, Lipscomb was tasked with making up a 5-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth. An error, a single, and a walk loaded the bases for...
Women’s basketball ends season with loss at North Florida
NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb women’s basketball team lost 60-42 to the North Florida Ospreys Wednesday night at Allen Arena in the ASUN Tournament First Round. “Our kids came out and battled defensively, especially in the first 30 minutes,” Lipscomb head coach Lauren Sumski said. “We executed the gameplan and did a really good job making them play the way we wanted to; we just really struggled to make shots today.” Lipscomb went 15-57 as a team for a 26% mark on field goals, including 7-32 at the three-point line. Despite 21 points and 12 rebounds from sophomore guard Jalyn Holcomb, including a double-double at halftime, the Bisons scored their lowest total of the season, including just eight points in the first and fourth quarters. “I thought Jalyn [Holcomb] played well,” Sumski said. “She made a lot of shots, but beyond that I think she stepped it up defensively compared to the last time we played [UNF].” Outside of Holcomb’s 5-7, the Bisons went 2-25 from beyond the arc. Sharpshooting guards Sydney Shelton and Blythe Pearson combined to go 1-14 from the three-point line, an uncharacteristic night for both. Shelton, a graduate guard from Greenfield, Indiana, was visibly emotional as she stepped off the court for the final time in Purple and Gold. “Those shots just didn’t fall,” Sumski said. “We knew we were going to get different looks where they were going to switch some, [and] we knew in those situations which ways we wanted them to rotate and where the shots would come from. “We did a good job finding those, but we just didn’t convert them.” Despite...
Men’s basketball dispatches Ospreys, advances to conference quarterfinals
NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb men’s basketball team used a 28-point performance from center Ahsan Asadullah to win 74-65 over the North Florida Ospreys in the First Round of the 2022 ASUN Tournament. “When you get to conference tournament time, it’s one and done, and I thought it was our best defensive effort tonight,” Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff said. “From tip to horn, I thought we played really, really hard.” A fourth-year junior from Atlanta, Asadullah shot 12-20 from the field and added 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Asadullah was named as a First Team All-ASUN selection for the third straight year after leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks. Graduate forward Parker Hazen added 17 points inside for the Bisons, highlighting a dominant display in the paint against UNF. Hazen added 7 rebounds and went 6-8 from the free throw line. The Bisons only went 3-15 on three-pointers over the course of the game, with freshman Trae Benham held under 10 points for the first time in four games. To compensate, Lipscomb scored 46 points in the paint to North Florida’s 26. “Between [Asadullah and Hazen], you’ve got 45 points, 19 rebounds, and 9 assists, so that’s a pretty good night at the office,” Acuff said. “Before the game, we knew that they were probably going to play us one-on-one,” Asadullah said of his matchup against the Ospreys. “I knew I had to look out for them taking charges, but I knew I had to just make the adjustment.” UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll was complimentary of Asadullah and the difficulty he created on the evening...
Lipscomb men’s soccer takes down soon to be conference opponents Central Arkansas 2-1
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team took down non-conference opponents Central Arkansas by a score of 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon. The midweek matchup pitted the Bisons against future Atlantic Sun rivals in the UCA Bears, who also played a fall season in the Sun Belt Conference this year. Despite the fact that this match didn’t count in conference play for either team, both sides wanted the win and fought hard to earn a positive result. It was the home side who would take the initial advantage, though, when Trinidad and Tobago native Tyrece Spicer tucked a shot into the near post, beating the keeper in the 7th minute. Spicer, a freshman left-winger, scored his third goal of the season to put Lipscomb ahead 1-0. In a statistically rare moment, goalkeeper Michael Sibley picked up the assist. It’s the sophomore keeper’s first–and likely only–assist this season. Lipscomb dominated possession of the ball and controlled the midfield from then on, but couldn’t find the net on their other six shot attempts of the half. The Bears capitalized on the opportunities Lipscomb left behind when they scored an equalizer on the stroke of halftime. Substitute Masood Porsa scored against the run of play in a quick series of passes that left the Lipscomb backline undone, leveling the score at 1-1 after the first 45 minutes. The Bisons continued the narrative of controlling the game early on in the second half, but in the 59th minute, it looked as though Central Arkansas was going to nab another fortunate goal. Junior defender Louis Robinson bundled over his opponent inside the penalty box on a cross...
Breakout night from freshman Will Pruit aids Lipscomb basketball in win over Kennesaw State
For the second time this season, Lipscomb men’s basketball has swept a conference opponent. Much like Friday night, the Bisons used a strong second-half performance to take down ASUN bottomfeeder Kennesaw State 77-63 in Allen Arena. Lipscomb is 15-10 and 9-5 in the ASUN and sitting at third place, while Kennesaw State has already clinched the No. 9 seed and will participate in a play-in game in the ASUN tourney. Four Bisons dialed in double-figure nights, with graduate transfer Romeao Ferguson leading the herd with 24. Sophomore guard KJ Johnson scored 20, freshman guard Will Pruitt had 18 (a career-high), and redshirt-junior center Ahsan Asadullah posted 12. Pruitt’s performance was most notable. A local 6-3 guard out of Mount Juliet, Pruitt was making his second consecutive start and just his third overall this season. Don’t be surprised if the Bisons keep him there, as he cashed in on the opportunity by going 6-of-7 and 5-of-6 from range while leading the team with seven rebounds. The Owls’ top two scorers this season were their top two scorers Saturday night. Leading scorer and junior guard Spencer Rodgers led the way with 21, and second-leading scorer and freshman guard Chris Youngblood followed suit with 12. Nobody else cashed in double digit points. Offensively, Lipscomb played a dismal first half. Lipscomb led 12-6 with 15:50 left in the first half before giving up a 14-2 run that lasted for over nine minutes. The Bisons did not score a field goal during that run and were down 20-14, eventually ending the first half down 31-29. But much like Friday night, Lipscomb broke away in...
Bisons rally in second half for big win over Kennesaw State 76-62
Coming off of a weekend split against Jacksonville last weekend, the Bisons sat at 7-5 coming into their last home weekend seeking a win in the first game of the series against Kennesaw State. The Bisons won, 76-62. Kennesaw coming in with their first conference win of the season the previous weekend against Stetson was looking to keep their momentum against Lipscomb. The first half was an even duel for both teams with nearly identical stat lines through the first 20 minutes of play. In the first half, Asadullah hit solid from the field and the free-throw line. A healthy performance from Jake Wolfe and Mr. Consistent, Romeo Ferguson helped the Bisons in the first half. However, it was Kennesaw who was up at the half 35-36. Backed by solid play from #3, Youngblood, with 12 points that matched Asadullah’s first-half mark. 11 first-half turnovers are what kept the game as close as it was. After the halftime break, Lipscomb came back out re-energized and looking fired-up. With a pristine night’s finish for Asadullah (23 points) and continual effort from Johnson, Ferguson, and Wolfe — the Bisons finished the game out handily, 76-62. Lipscomb finished the game seeing 4 players score in double figures — Johnson (16), Ferguson (13), Wolfe (12), Asadullah (23). It was just the win Lipscomb needed to move the Bisons to 8-5 in Conference play. Lipscomb and Kennesaw State will finish their series matchup on Saturday night in Allen Arena at 7 PM. You can stream the game through ESPN+ or listen along through our own, Bison Radio through our website, or iOS app. Photos courtesy...
Gallery: Snow blankets campus and moves classes fully online on Monday
As the winter storm moves across the country, Nashville began to feel its effects. Saturday night’s cold temperatures caused roads to freeze and made travel difficult, but when the sleet and snow began Sunday, roads began to close, and Nashvillians were encouraged to stay home. The university made the decision to move all classes online for Monday and decisions about subsequent days are pending. Students got out to enjoy the snow with sledding and snow ball fights, while maintenance crews tried to clean the sidewalks and keep campus...
Lipscomb defeats Bluefield State in a late addition to the schedule as ASUN games are postponed
Lipscomb’s men’s basketball team was supposed to play at Stetson this weekend, but since the Bisons had played more conference games than most of their ASUN opponents, the conference announced Lipscomb would get a bye week to allow other teams to fill in the gap. Luckily, Lipscomb was able to snag a non-conference opponent in Bluefield State, a Division II independent out of West Virginia, for a Saturday matinee game. The Bisons used 41 bench points and limited the Big Blue to just 21 second-half points to win 89-56. “First off, we’re real [sic] thankful for Bluefield agreeing to come in and play,” Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff said during a postgame interview on ESPN+. “We found out Tuesday afternoon that we weren’t gonna be going to Florida.” Redshirt junior center Ahsan Asadullah paced Lipscomb (11-8, 5-3 ASUN) with 19 points, followed by 13 from sophomore guard KJ Johnson and 11 from sophomore guard Carson Cary. Junior Marquez Cooper and sophomore Taj-Maal Toney dialed in 13 apiece for Bluefield State (1-4), while junior guard Brandon Anyanwu had 11. The bench only contributed seven points for the Big Blue, who were without the top rebounder in Division II Alex Nunnely due to injury. “I thought our bench did a really good job, and I was really excited to see those guys get a chance,” Acuff said. “Cause they’ve played well in practice. I’m not surprised by how well all those guys played.” Lipscomb had a sluggish start and was down 15-7 at the 14:41 mark and then 27-19 with under seven minutes left in the first half. But Bluefield State could only...
Lipscomb Theatre Department presents ‘When She Had Wings’
“When She Had Wings,” staged by the Department of Theatre Feb. 4-13, follows a 9-year-old named B, who believes that when she was younger she could fly, and she spends the story trying to remember. The play by Susan Zeder is specifically written for a younger audience, and parents are encouraged to bring their children. Bakari King is an adjunct professor and College of Entertainment and the Arts board member who directs this production, his first at Lipscomb. King first began his involvement in the theatre department as an ensemble member in the school’s 2013 production of “Ragtime.” King said he was steered toward Lipscomb. “I was teaching around Nashville and I had a connection with a great friend who said you need to be at Lipscomb,” King said He said he was drawn to this play, because he believes this story helps connect children and adults with their inner playfulness. He goes on to say that people should have things in this world that help them create and pretend and that he hopes this show inspires that in people. Caylin Maguire, a junior acting major from Nashville, is in the title role of the play being staged at Shamblin. She said one of her favorite things about this show is being able to invite a younger audience to a live theater experience, noting that it was her own theater experience as a child that inspired her to become a performer. “The story is about finding yourself and overcoming hurdles. Especially nowadays, I think that’s a really important message to people of all ages.” While the production teams are...
Preview: Black History Month trivia night to be held Wednesday
A Black history-themed trivia night, in celebration of Black History Month, will be at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Bennett Campus Center. The Office of Intercultural Development (OID) and the Students Activities Board (SAB) have teamed up to coordinate a trivia night that will have students test their knowledge on certain events and people pertaining to Black history. Candace Williams, director of Community Life over OID and student organizations, said she is excited to be working with SAB again this year after previously collaborating on numerous past events. “We have traditionally partnered with Students Activities Board in the past for different cultural trivia nights and they’ve gone exceptionally well,” Williams said. Previous collaborations between OID and SAB include Welcome to Our World Week and Hispanic Heritage Month. “[Trivia Night] is a fun event that students already know about,” Williams said. “So, it’s very easy for [OID] to just use our cultural themes to kind of enhance the month but also allow students to be able to participate and have fun.” Britany Gonzalez, a junior Law, Justice, and Society major from Memphis and OID Intern, has been helping with planning for the upcoming trivia night. “Making it tailored to Black History Month, we’ll have questions that will not only be about the historical aspect of it but also a more modern sense to it,” Gonzalez said. This will include how black culture is influencing modern-day society. Esteban Gonzalez, a junior graphic design major from Ensenada, Baja California, México, and OID intern, has also been part of the preparation. Part of his help includes putting together a small slideshow that presents...
Dr. Jan Harris releases poetry book on life, love and the end of the world
Lipscomb’s very own associate professor, Dr. Jan Harris, released a book of poetry last fall titled “Isolating One’s Priority in a Time of Crisis“. With themes of love in the time of disaster, Harris’s free-verse poetry book covers the subject of life after the end of the world. That made me curious to see who Dr. Harris was and what her process was to create such art and where inspiration comes from. “I think for me inspiration comes in a lot of ways,” Dr. Harris said. “It’s really language. I start with a phrase or maybe an image that I want to return to and try to form words around it. Thinking about a topic and idea and trying to find an image that allows the expression of that in a way that creates space for a lot of people to engage.” Harris stresses the importance of making sure the poem was able to let the audiences’ experiences find the emotional center of the poem no matter what their experience was. Dr. Harris said, “That’s where it’s different than fiction since you need to give it an emotional resonance with your audience.” Dr. Harris has been writing most of her life. When she was an undergrad there wasn’t a creative writing program, but she did participate in the school magazine in which she published some poetry. Though she graduated grad school with an unrelated degree, she always felt drawn back to writing and poetry. “Like most people who are writers, I kept trying to do things more practical,” Dr. Harris said, before telling me she went back into writing...
Review: The Undeniable Vibe of Silk Sonic
With the way I grew up, the influence that R&B music was prominent. Whether it was car rides or cleaning the house the genre would be the soundtrack to a lot of the formative moments of my life. My parents would play the likes of Stevie Wonder, Al Green and many others that flooded the speakers with soul and vibes. It’s now the genre I gravitate towards and there is no shortage of artists today that have strived to create those similar songs and sounds that carry the genre forward. One example of this is the dynamic due of Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak, who formed the group Silk Sonic. These two artists have created that nostalgic sound that many have fallen in love with. The smooth instrumentation and lyrics have brought back the sonance that artists of previous generations of music have laid the foundation for. They’ve added their own unique style and voice to it, which has brought R&B music back to the forefront of what people listen to today. The two feed off of each other in the music and it has been a seamless fit for the two to create together. They met back in 2016 when Anderson joined Mars on the European leg of the latter’s 24k Magic World Tour. After hanging and doing a bit of creating they would go on to record as a group. They haven’t looked back and the music they have created has been phenomenal. Their new album, An Evening with Silk Sonic, was released on November 12th and I have to say it may be one of my favorite albums to drop this...