Lipscomb baseball headed to Vandy for NCAA Regionals

Lipscomb baseball headed to Vandy for NCAA Regionals

When Lipscomb’s baseball team takes on Vanderbilt in the NCAA regionals Friday evening, coach Jeff Forehand will be just beginning his dream “business trip.” The trip to Vandy’s Hawkins Field, just off West End, isn’t the final destination of that dream. He’s not looking past Vanderbilt, but he has goals of getting much farther west, to Omaha — home of the College World Series. That’s where the Commodores were crowned national champions last year, and he knows Vanderbilt is looking for a repeat. “Every year we work for the same goal,” said Forehand, after his team won the Atlantic Sun tournament over the weekend and earned the school’s second NCAA tourney bid. “We want to end up playing in Omaha.” Of course, you’ve got to start somewhere, so Forehand said he believes the game at Vandy is just the first step of many to accomplish the goal of making it to the World Series. The Bisons baseball team defeated North Florida 8-7 in the Atlantic Sun baseball tournament championship game. Others in the Nashville region bracket include Vanderbilt, Indiana, and Radford. Vanderbilt will be the host team for this division. “This is somethng we have been working towards all season long, to see our name called on the screen for postseason play,” Forehand told Lipscomb athletics department reporter Kirk Downs, after his team watched the selection show on Monday. “It has been such a big day for our team to be able to see that together. “Vanderbilt is such a great team and it will be a unique experience kicking off the tournament on their home field right here...

Josh Lee sends Lipscomb baseball past No. 1 Vandy

Senior Josh Lee made his way back to where his college baseball career began when he provided the firepower to lift the Bisons past his former team, No. 1 Vanderbilt, Tuesday night. Lee drove in three runs for the Lipscomb baseball team to help guide them to a 3-1 win at Hawkins Field. Before coming to Lipscomb, Lee was recruited by Vandy and played three games for the Commodores his freshman year. In 2013, he transferred to Central Arizona Community College before landing at Lipscomb his junior year. “Once I got on Lipscomb’s campus last year I knew this was home for me,” Lee said. “It’s where I was meant to be.” Lee said that although Vandy was not the right fit for him, he enjoyed building relationships with the coaches and players there. Although brief, his experience there helped him prepare for this game. “It was definitely a different feeling [playing on Hawkins Field] than any other game we have had, but it’s a place I was very familiar with, so I knew what to expect in terms of the crowd and how the field was going to play and what I was going to get from the opposing team,” Lee said. Lee said he followed the advice of his father when he stepped up to the plate. “I didn’t want to make the moment too big,” Lee said. “That’s what my dad always told me to do — just relax, have fun, see the ball, hit it gap to gap and just have that in the back of my mind.” Tuesday night, Lee batted in runs in the first...

Sigma Alpha Iota provides women with opportunity to serve, form friendships

Sigma Alpha Iota, a national music fraternity, provides Lipscomb women with opportunities to serve others through music and form friendships outside of Lipscomb. SAI members are active in Lipscomb’s music department — many are involved in the University Wind Ensemble and A Cappella Singers. Although SAI is a music organization, members are not required to be music majors or minors. Majors in Lipscomb’s chapter range from elementary education to chemistry to pre-law. SAI is smaller than most Greek organizations on campus, with only nine collegiate members, but the chapter is growing, having more than doubled its membership in the past three years. This semester’s member-in-training class alone will increase the chapter’s size by more than fifty percent. The small chapter size is augmented by SAI’s status as a national organization. Lipscomb’s chapter frequently collaborates with chapters from other colleges in the Middle Tennessee area such as Vanderbilt, Belmont and MTSU. This experience of sisterhood outside the Lipscomb campus provides SAI members with a unique experience not offered by campus social clubs. Lipscomb’s chapter, Zeta Omicron, was established in 1974 and celebrated its fortieth anniversary last fall. SAI meets once a week to plan service projects, performances and formals. The club holds a musicale at least once each semester in which members demonstrate their musical talents. Different fundraisers held throughout the year benefit music-oriented philanthropies supported by SAI. The philanthropies are dedicated to meeting various musical needs such as providing musical instruments to children in developing countries and providing Braille and large print sheet music to visually impaired musicians. Photo courtesy of Kristin...

Lipscomb receives top national ranking

Lipscomb University has been ranked as one of the top Christian universities in the nation according to the 2015 Niche Ranking. The Best Christian Colleges ranking includes 288 Christian colleges in the country, with Lipscomb ranking in at No. 23. Lipscomb was also listed as the top Christian university in the state of Tennessee. These rankings have been based on 50 statistics and ratings from thousands of surveyed students. This is not the first time Lipscomb has received recognition for its high standards and distinctions. In December 2014, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance named Lipscomb on its list of best values in private universities for 2015. This listing is the first time Lipscomb has been among other top schools in the nation, such as Harvard, Vanderbilt and Duke. Students come to Lipscomb for many reasons — for some it’s the faith aspect, academic quality and community feel. Junior Anna Lail from Charlotte, North Carolina said that she has experienced transforming moments through Lipscomb. “I had a life changing experience on a mission trip to Haiti and knew I needed to change my life’s path,” Lail said. “Knowing that Lipscomb is in the top 25 in the country has made me realize I made the right decision switching schools and majoring in theology.” For freshman Joel Cottrill from Columbus, Ohio, Lipscomb’s location and spiritual emphasis were huge decision-making factors. “My main objective in finding a college was that it was in the South and Christian,” Cottrill said. “My brother goes here and I knew spiritually that Lipscomb would be perfect for me and I’m happy with my choice. “Lipscomb was also my first choice as I...
Nashville university students join hands for MLK Day of Service

Nashville university students join hands for MLK Day of Service

Students from all over Nashville joined hands in a service-filled day to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Over 300 volunteers from Belmont, Fisk, Lipscomb, Tennessee State, Trevecca and Vanderbilt teamed up for MLK Day of Service on Saturday. Dr. King believed that anyone could serve. He revolutionized the society he was living in with values that are still relevant today. The day of service provided students with an opportunity to reflect on those values that Dr. King stood for. Students met at TSU to fellowship and kick off the day. The universities partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank, Feed the Children, Project C.U.R.E., Habitat ReStore and Soles4Souls. One group helped to alleviate hunger in Middle Tennessee by sorting through food, while other groups sorted through shoes, medical supplies and recycled materials. For Christin Shatzer, Lipscomb’s SALT Program director, it is a tradition for Lipscomb students serve, especially during the MLK weekend. “For the last number of years, it has always been multi-university collaborative initiative,” Shatzer said. “Given the themes of the holiday we are celebrating, it’s great for us to have collaboration across the different campuses.” Though some students were not familiar with each other, they joined together to make an impact on the community and recognized that as a whole, they are a part of something much larger. “Even though it’s 2015, a lot of the things that we are reminded of as we celebrate MLK Day are just as relevant as ever, if maybe not more pressing than ever,” Shatzer...