by Erin Turner | Apr 4, 2015 | Opinion
Open Letter to the Student Body: My name is Jordan Beale, and I am a presidential candidate for Lipscomb’s Student Government Association for the 2015-2016 school year. I grew up in a small town in Western Kentucky on a farm. I am majoring in biochemistry, with hopes of one day moving on to medical school. My story at Lipscomb: I came to Lipscomb without knowing anyone, and I intentionally searched for ways to change that as quickly as possible. When I heard about SGA, it sounded like a golden opportunity to get involved. During my freshman year and fall semester of my sophomore year, I served as a senator on SGA. I quickly learned the pace of meetings, proposals and voting, but more than anything, I experienced the amount of time and compassion these procedures required. I gained a huge respect for the organization as well as the individual leaders. A large part of my involvement, though, was on the spiritual life committee. We wanted to see a greater community growing, specifically through intentional conversations and small reminders. We planned many daily events as well as late-night devotionals. I gained a lot of experience by seeing passion come to fruition through hard work and camaraderie. I specifically met with the chapel office to discuss ideas and give them student feedback. In my opinion, the only way to be an effective leader is to understand the people you are serving. One of the best ways for me is to be involved in many facets of campus. Throughout the past three years, I have been a part of Greek life, campus...
by Jamin Craig | Mar 5, 2015 | News Slider
Student Life dove into sexual purity from a Biblical viewpoint at Wednesday night’s “Unfiltered” series – a study that allows students to discuss difficult topics. Sam Smith, Dean of Student Life, came up with this series from a conversation he had with Josh Roberts, Dean of Student Development. “Josh Roberts and I went to a conference with some of our sister-school deans, and we were talking about what our campuses should look like, what our students are struggling with and how we can address those issues,” Smith said. “We realized there was this void on our campus when it came to these types of discussions, and instead of trying to avoid it, we’re going to do our best to address it.” “Unfiltered” is a four-part series, and each meeting covers a different topic. The topics include: online identity in social media, pornography and faith, sexual purity and substance abuse. Smith and Roberts decided to purposely not make the series available for chapel credit or a requirement for any Bible classes. They didn’t want students to feel forced in any way to attend the meetings because they knew they were difficult topics to confront. This week, the topic was sexual purity. Dr. Earl Lavender, a bible professor, led the discussion for the evening. He focused on maintaining a Christ-centered identity in a world focused on self-interest and sexual pleasure. “[Students need to] believe that God wills for you to flourish,” Lavender said. “He’s not giving you laws to frustrate you and tell you what you can’t do. He’s created you for His glory, and His teachings on appropriate sexual behavior are...
by Mignonne Bryant | Feb 26, 2015 | Uncategorized
Fifty Shades of Grey had record-breaking ticket sales, and according to Fandango, ticket sales were highest in what’s known as the “Bible Belt.” According to Fortune, the steamy film brought in $85 million it’s opening weekend, and it is Fandango’s fastest-selling R-rated movie in its entire history. “A lot of people reading the book were women,” pastor at Belmont Heights John Garner said. “And that’s very sad to me because this whole movie is about dominance and making women way less than they should be.” Garner suggests that the reason for the high sales in the “Bible Belt” may be tied to church life. “Here in the South, you have some repressed sexuality, and here’s an opportunity to explore new things and that kind of stuff,” Garner said. Some Lipscomb students have avoided seeing the movie or reading the books altogether. “I know a lot more people that kind of took a stand against it and did not go see the movie because of its content, because of the message it sent,” junior Cole Meador said. “I was not interested in going to go see it at all.” One pastor argues that the movie choices people make reveal what they support. “I would say to anyone thinking about watching: number one, any movie I watch or you watch, we’re saying almost we approve of this and here’s our money so you can make another one,” pastor at Judson Baptist Mike James said. “So as a believer – when we spend our money in theaters – we’re actually endorsing the theme and the values of that movie.” While it may have...
by Erin Turner | Feb 24, 2015 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s small piece of Nashville was put in sharp focus for the community during the 2015 Mayoral Candidates Forum Tuesday evening in the Ezell Center. The event allowed the seven mayor candidates to answer questions concerning quality of life issues. The event was presented by the Nashville Civic Design Center, a nonprofit organization that focuses on making Nashville a beautiful and functional city for everyone. Lipscomb’s Nelson & Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership hosted the event. The institute — which was built on the legacy of great Nashville leaders — engages leaders in academic and community programs to create broader communities. The institute did just that during this event — with over 200 filled seats with community members and faculty, and two separate rooms for overflow attendees and students. The candidates were asked questions concerning neighborhood design, transportation, pedestrian safety, housing and parks. They also discussed some of what Mayor Karl Dean has done in Nashville already. The candidates who have officially declared their intent to run for mayor are Megan Barry, Charles Robert Bone, David Fox, Bill Freeman, Howard Gentry, Jeremy Kane and Linda Eskind Rebrovick. Sophomore Jay Klein said that allowing the candidates to speak on Lipscomb’s campus was a good way for students to become aware of the city’s issues. “It was a great way to get our students involved in the election process, whether they are able to vote for mayor this upcoming August or if they’re just trying to get involved in politics in general,” Klein said. Political science professor Marc Schwerdt said that students were mostly interested in issues relating to transportation and walkability. “Walkability...
by Stephanie Schiraldi | Feb 3, 2015 | News Slider
Relay for Life is hitting especially close to home this year for junior Kristen Lammons. Lammons, an elementary education major from St. Augustine, Florida, is finally got the chance to introduce her biggest supporters in Phi Nu to her fun-loving, warrior of a dad. Lammons’ father was diagnosed with stage 4 mantle cell lymphoma her freshman year. After recently celebrating a year cancer-free, Mr. Lammons will be joining her at this year’s event as Phi Nu’s cancer survivor. “I think he was really honored that we thought about him and reached out to him [to be our survivor],” Lammons said. “It’s so important to me to invite him into it that I think it’s important to him.” “My dad is definitely a man’s man, we call him a businessman redneck,” Lammons said. “He’s just a great provider and that’s something I’ve always admired of him.” Lammons said that even through her father’s rigorous chemotherapy schedule, he still remained supportive of their family and stayed true to his character. “Watching him throughout all of that, even though he wasn’t feeling good and his personality was different, he still encouraged us and loved on us regardless,” Lammons said. Despite a transitioning family during the journey, which included Lammons studying abroad and her sister getting married and moving across the country, Lammons said they still managed to grow closer as a family. “It definitely brought our family close together and made us more real about being intentional with each other and spending time together,” Lammons said. “It was really awesome to watch my mom serve him. It made their marriage way stronger.”...
