by Anna McClure | Jul 18, 2015 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s Swang Business Center is getting a face lift including the addition of the BAYMAR Telepresence Center and renovations to classrooms, which have not been updated since their construction in 1984. Three first-floor classrooms will be given new paint, carpet and furniture with the front lecture hall being converted for the Cisco Telepresence System. The circular classroom was converted from a tiered room to a single floor and enclosed with a glass wall looking into the lobby. The system will allow students, clients, and guest speakers outside of the classroom to communicate and contribute to the class while watching a real-time video feed using an app on their tablets or phones. “On the graduate side, people want our degrees but can’t drive here one night a week, and they just can’t physically get here,” said Ray Eldridge, Interim Dean of the College of Business. “Now they can be here. I think that really allows Lipscomb to go beyond it’s boundaries.” The Telepresence System will include three plasma screens and cameras at the front of the room with up to 48 different locations that can be fed in to the classroom. This will allow students seeking a graduate business degree that live outside of driving range from the campus or the Spark facility in Cool Springs to take classes more involved than online. “We can also have guest speakers, so now we can have a CEO in New York who doesn’t have time to come down here,” Eldridge said. “All we have to do is give him an app for his iPad and he can talk directly to our...
by Madeline Smith | Apr 24, 2015 | News Slider
Even though Lipscomb students are accustomed to being around heroes, thanks to the Yellow Ribbon program, encountering the man who killed 9/11 terrorist kingpin Osama bin Laden is something unusual and memorable. Former Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, who claims he was the one who fired the fatal bullets at bin Laden during the storming of the terrorist’s compound in Pakistan, came to speak with Tom Ingram for Lipscomb University’s Nelson & Sue Andrews Institute “now that you ask” series Thursday night in Stowe Hall in the Swang Business Center. The hall was filled of members of the Lipscomb community, as well as the Nashvillians who came to hear from the man who was involved in such missions as the rescues of Marcus Luttrell, Captain Richard Phillips and the killing of terrorist bin Laden. O’Neill recounted where he was on 9/11, the difficulties of training for the SEALs and his feelings on being the one to kill Osama bin Laden. O’Neill is a part of the elite SEAL Team Six, and has been a part of over 400 missions in his 16-year career with the Navy SEALs. Three of his missions have been turned into blockbusters “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Captain Phillips,” and “Lone Survivor.” “Captain Phillips was good but not very accurate,” O’Neill said. “Zero Dark Thirty did a good job of portraying the CIA portion of the mission, but Lone Survivor was the most accurate movie.” O’Neill is a bit of a controversial topic for the Navy, after revealing — despite instructions otherwise — that he was the one to shoot bin Laden. Although the Navy has publicly criticized O’Neill for revealing private information, he said...
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 Janice Ng | Mar 29, 2014 | News Slider
Campus Ministry held a dialogue session in Swang Center’s Stowe Hall on Friday following the events that transpired at the most recent Wednesday Night Devo. The speaker for the night, a Lee University graduate, shared his opinions of salvation and his missionary aspirations, which sparked a response from Samha Siddiqui, an audience member of the Muslim faith. Siddiqui was part of a panel at the dialogue session, which included Campus Minister Jake Burton, Tom Seals, an associate professor in the Bible department and the staff sponsor of Aurora Interfaith student group, and SGA President Andrew Hunt. Students who attended also had a chance to pose questions anonymously to the panel. Burton headed the discussion with a few words on campus ministry’s approach to issues of faith. “Conflict isn’t a bad thing, in my opinion,” Burton said. “It provides an opportunity for dialogue. That even though we disagree, we can still love one another.” Siddiqui said she felt that speaking out during Wednesday night’s devotional became necessary when the speaker’s message wasn’t in line with what she believes to be true. “I feel like missionary work requires a lot of knowledge,” Siddiqui said. “Knowledge of your own faith, knowledge of the people you’re trying to explain your message to. “It’s because I felt that the speaker didn’t have enough knowledge about the community he spoke about that I felt motivated to speak up.” Siddiqui said she’s happy to be at the university, and that learning from this event can be the best way to move forward. “I’m glad I made the decision to come to Lipscomb University,” Siddiqui said. “I’m glad I...
by Janice Ng | Nov 1, 2013 | News Slider
Dee Anna Smith is the only female, non-physician leader of a cancer company in the world. She is also the 2013 recipient of the Lipscomb University College of Business Heroes of Business Award. Business students and professionals gathered in Stowe Hall on Thursday, Oct. 31, to hear Smith discuss her leadership role of CEO of the Sarah Cannon Cancer Research Institute. “My daughter saw a bumper sticker the other day that read, ‘women who behave rarely make history,’” Smith said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve interpreted ‘behaving badly’ to being distinguished in what we do. “In Daniel 6, it said that Daniel distinguished himself among the officials. My desire in life is to be distinctive among,” she said. Smith, a Board Member of the Lipscomb College of Pharmacy, began her career at KPMG, one of the biggest professional audit, tax and advisory service providers in the United States. “The discipline that I got from working at that company for all those [six] years gave me a fantastic foundation to take that forward,” Smith said. “The Sarah Cannon Research Institute is in the business of advancing therapy for patients,” Smith said. “It’s a drug testing institute. We want to make sure the medication is safe for people to use. We’ve had quite a large impact in drug development.” The Sarah Cannon Institute, a Nashville-based foundation, later merged with Hospital Corporations of America (HCA), one of the biggest healthcare providers in the world, to provide healthcare for cancer patients. Together, the two merged companies are worth over $4 billion. How does Smith take control of such a large company? She says...
