by Cory Woodroof | Mar 6, 2013 | News Slider
A packed house rocked out to free music for a great cause in Allen Arena Tuesday night as country music legend Charlie Daniels and a host of others headlined the annual ioStudio Charlie Daniels’ Scholarship for Heroes Tour. In its fourth year, the show, always led by Daniels, helps benefit the Yellow Ribbon initiative, a program that pledges to help post-9/11 GI Bill veterans receive an education with little-to-no cost at Lipscomb University. This year, there are around 200 Yellow Ribbon students that attend school. Alongside Daniels, The Grascals, Chris Young, Keni Thomas, Bleach and surprise guest Jason Aldean all played a mix of current hits and classics in order to give the Yellow Ribbon students in attendance an exciting night to remember. Before the show, Daniels met with the Yellow Ribbon students and posed in a group picture. Daniels said that the veterans are brave individuals who endure daily strife all for the ultimate aim of receiving an education. “It takes something that a lot of people don’t have to get out of a bed, to turn off the pain medicine and to walk into a situation where you’re trying to better yourself,” Daniels said. “Just the act of getting out of bed every day is a bigger job than most of us can ever even imagine.” To Daniels, the Yellow Ribbon students – and all those who serve in the military – may have different stories, but all deserve to be recognized in the highest regard for their service to the country. “Everybody’s story is different, but everybody’s got one, and everybody has really struggled to be...
by Kyrsten Turner | Mar 4, 2013 | News Slider
Charlie Daniels may be sending the devil down to Georgia, but he’ll be back in time to headline Tuesday’s Scholarship for Heroes Tour. “It’s an amazing night,” April Herrington, the assistant director of Lipscomb’s veteran services, said. “You’ll get to see Charlie Daniels perform. I know a lot of the students here are probably not familiar with Charlie Daniels, but he is a great supporter,” Herrington said. “He has been on this walk with us for four years. Ever since we started, he’s been right behind us to support us.” The concert series first started four years ago as a way to recognize Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon students. “That was the original start of the Charlie Daniels concert,” Herrington said. “Then it was called Operation Yellow Ribbon. Now, it’s been changed to Charlie Daniels’ Scholarship for Heroes.” “The concert raises money for scholarships to help pay for students who were not 100-percent eligible for free tuition. The money goes toward them to help supplement their cost so that hopefully, when we raise enough money, they can go to school, tuition free as well.” Herrington said donations of over $30,000 were collected at last year’s concert and Lipscomb was able to award 10 scholarships for the current year. They hope to raise even more Tuesday night. There are approximately 175 yellow ribbon students, so every little bit helps. A reception will be held Tuesday night before the concert for veterans and sponsors. The veterans will also have a special meet-and-greet session with the artists before the big performances. “We have several great performers coming,” Herrington said. “Basically, the concert is going...
by Hunter Patterson | Mar 9, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
This week, Jessica Burke and Wade Funderburg fill you in on what’s happening at Lipscomb, from the figurative flood of musicians on campus to the actual flood of the High Rise dormitory. Plus, Clay Smith has the latest in entertainment news, Sydney Poe gives the sports report and Hunter Patterson brings you the weather forecast. Lumination Newscast, March 9, 2012 from lumination Network on...
by Hunter Patterson | Sep 9, 2011 | News Slider
On the morning the Twin Towers fell 10 years ago, our futures became a little less certain, a little more stifled. The anxiety of those first weeks – when it felt like we were living on the brink – has eased, or at least, become so routine that we don’t recognize it for what it is anymore. After all, you can only mourn the loss of life-as-we-know-it for so long before deciding to embrace what is and finding a way to move forward. To understand this is to understand – at least in part – the story of the way students and teachers have adapted to change. The change that was and still is life after 9/11. I know that I don’t speak for myself when I say that the attack felt personal. It was in our faces, in our homes, on our TVs. And most importantly, inside of our own country – on our soil. That was the case for two of Lipscomb’s own – David Hughes, former Special Forces and now Director of the Yellow Ribbon program; and Jon Corley, a student that is a part of the program, set to graduate in May. The attacks on the country hit them so hard – like it did many others – that it was one of the defining reasons they joined the fight against America’s enemies. Jon was 16 when the attacks happened. He says his experience was very different from what most of us went through when the first plane hit the tower. Jon was home alone that day. He was in bed, sick, and was woken...
by Clay Smith | Apr 1, 2010 | News Slider
Cries of “God bless America” and “God bless our troops” rang out loud and clear in Allen Arena during Operation Yellow Ribbon recently. Lipscomb presented recording artists and some special military guests for a fundraising event for the Yellow Ribbon Program on March 23. The G.I. Bill was passed after Sept. 11, 2001, to ensure that people leaving the military could pursue a college education at any state university at no cost. Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon Program pays the difference between Lipscomb tuition and what a state university education costs in Tennessee, about $7,000. The evening was not short on entertainment. Among the artists who performed were Larry Gatlin, Gretchen Wilson, Amy Grant, Kix Brooks (of Brooks & Dunn), Charlie Daniels and Lipscomb’s A Cappella choir. Each artist made a point to mention his/her great appreciation for members of the military. “It just feels good to love on people who have served you,” Grant said. Brooks spoke on how emotional it was to play a concert the day after Sept. 11, 2001, near Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 went down. He also spoke of his own personal visits to the Middle East. “I wish every American had the opportunity to see the good work that’s been done,” Brooks said. Daniels also commented on Americans’ attitudes today versus in years past. “Back during the ‘hippie days’ we had a lot of disrespect for the flag, the country, and all things American,” Daniels said. “But, the spirit of patriotism has always been there.” Thirty Lipscomb students are enrolled through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Each of them made contact first with...
