by Cory Woodroof | Jul 19, 2014 | Opinion
As the old cliché goes, all good things must come to an end. On Sunday, July 20, it will be time for me to say a goodbye to all of you, the readers of Lumination – at least in a sense. On that day, I will pass along one of the greatest batons I’ve ever had the chance to carry – the title of Lumination’s Editor-in-Chief. When I took over the position in December of 2012, I really had no idea what to expect. By that point, being editor of Lumination had been one of the main goals I hoped to achieve as a college student. Through all of the experiences I had while working as editor, I can safely say that the days between the one where I took over Lumination to the one where I publish this note have been some of the most important, rewarding days of my life. My time as editor has been a whirlwind of big stories, triumphant Bisons victories, crushing Bisons defeats, fascinating Lipscomb developments and mundane-yet-necessary updates. It’s consisted of late nights in the newsroom, good laughs with friends on staff, precious naps at home and hordes of emails in the inbox. I’ve had to make hard decisions in hard times and applaud brilliant work in times of great joy. Simply put, this has been one of the most hectic-yet-irreplaceable times of my life – one that cannot hold a price but would be worth its weight in gold to relive. While the time has come for me to step away from the editor’s role, Lumination’s future is as bright as...
by Brianne Welch | Jul 2, 2014 | News Slider
The longest fireworks display in the city’s history will be the climax of a day of family friendly fun on the Nashville riverfront on July 4. The “Let Freedom Sing” celebration will begin at noon and culminate with the 9:45 p.m. fireworks spectacular that annually is rated one of the best in the country. The kids will be the focus of the first part of the day’s schedule. The McDonald’s free Family Fun Zone – on the Bridgestone Arena Plaza – will be open from noon until 5 p.m. and will offer inflatables, games and a variety of food. And, since this is Nashville, there will be live music from 1-4 p.m., featuring Jason Eskridge and The Farewell Drifters. Beginning at 1:50 p.m. Dippin’ Dots also plans to try and break the Guinness World Record for most ice cream cups prepared by a team of five in a span of three minutes. Record or not, the ice cream will be given out free of charge to spectators. In the early evening, the action goes down to the river, where Billy Currington will be headlining the Jack Daniels concert this year, along with Ashley Monroe, Striking Matches and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. The concert can be found at the main stage at 1st and Broadway and will begin at approximately 6:30 p.m. The fireworks show will begin after the concert, with explosions set to ignite at approximately 9:45 p.m. According to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (NCVC), despite the construction on west Riverfront Park, the area will be open for fireworks viewing. The NCVC has implemented safety rules for...
by Cory Woodroof | May 22, 2014 | News Slider
Bison Square briefly turned into a national stage as famous newsman Brian Williams hosted NBC Nightly News from Lipscomb University Thursday evening. Williams, NBC’s lead anchor for its evening news program, came to Nashville to honor the promise he made to the 2014 Hillwood High School seniors who invited the popular journalist to speak at their graduation. Before heading over to Allen Arena to speak to the graduating class, Williams and his crew created a makeshift news studio on Bison Square by the Bennett Campus Center for its Thursday evening broadcast. Various on-lookers gathered at the perimeter of the area to catch a glimpse of the show. Williams brings tale of unique encounter, message of inspiration to Hillwood students Once NBC Nightly News concluded its ‘live-from-Lipscomb’ show, Williams ventured over to Allen Arena to fulfill his duties as the commencement speaker for Hillwood’s graduation. In February, a video was posted on YouTube by Hillwood’s seniors that showed various students saying why they wanted Williams to speak at their graduation. The segment featured parts of Williams’ speech to a graduating class at Elon University – a class that featured one of the journalist’s children. Their plea to Williams went viral and caught the anchor’s attention, and he agreed to take part in the festivities. “There was no way I was going to say no,” Williams said after viewing the invitation. Williams thanked the group for having him to their ceremony. “And, I have to say this for the record, I was enormously flattered by what you did,” Williams said. “I was enormously flattered that you found value in my words...
by Aaron Schmelzer | Apr 6, 2014 | News Slider
Entering the last show of the three-day production of Singarama’s On Fire, the “Stop,” ‘Drop” and “Roll” groups were all tied up with one win a piece. That changed when university president Randy Lowry announced the show “Just Drop It” as the Sweepstakes Award winner at Collins Alumni Auditorium Saturday night. The show, consisting of members from Sigma Iota Delta, Delta Sigma, Pi Delta, Kappa Chi and friends, made its way to the top, something that director and senior Aaron Joseph said was unforgettable. “It was a fantastic feeling,” Joseph said. “I’ll never be able to forget the feeling [of winning].” Joseph also spoke on one of the key elements of the production. “Scott Bledsoe and Rainey Lankford wrote the script for me, and they did a fantastic job,” Joseph said. “I think that’s what pulled the whole show together.” The story of “Just Drop It” is about a man named Dan, who is constantly assailed by his fear in life. Eventually, he drops his fear and becomes a happier person. The act won its first honor, the Theme Category Award, on Thursday. The “Drop” group sang and danced to “I’m So Excited,” “Bad,” “More,” “Love on Top,” “Higher and Higher,” “Any Way You Want It,” “I Know Where I’ve Been” and “Goodbye.” Joseph admits that he did not walk the path to success alone. “I got so much help from so many different people,” Joseph said. “I couldn’t have done it without those people.” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” directed by junior Makenzie Kanyuh, won the Music Category Award on Friday night. The show consisted of students from Delta...
by Janice Ng | Mar 5, 2014 | News Slider
Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has done it all. Tuesday night, Bredesen spoke at the most recent “now that you ask…” conversation series hosted by Tom Ingram. Lipscomb’s Shamblin Theatre was full of attentive students and community members listening to Bredesen talk about his early life and career. During his term as governor, Bredesen tackled education, finance and health care in Tennessee, establishing large financial reserves, a statewide Pre-K program and a children’s health insurance program. Bredesen was also mayor of Nashville from 1991 to 1999, during which he recruited the NFL Tennessee Titans and the NHL Nashville Predators. However, before Bredesen accomplished those tasks, he started out on a track quite far away from politics. “I wanted to be a forest ranger,” Bredesen said. “In high school, I had no interest in politics at all. But when JFK became president, I realized that politics was something that good people could do, and make it good.” Bredesen then recalled his interests shifting from forest ranger, to geology, to physics. “When Sputnik was launched, I thought it was a sign that I should go into the sciences,” Bredesen said. “The hard sciences are a good field to go into.” Bredesen got into Harvard College “almost on a whim,” where he studied physics. “Growing up near Cornell University and Columbia, I always thought I’d go to one of those colleges, but I applied late to Harvard and ended up getting in,” Bredesen said. When Bredesen finally became involved in the political world, the losses seemed more than the wins at the beginning. “There were a lot of losses, but I learned a...
