by Erin Turner | Jan 1, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
Happy New Year, Lumination readers! Now that the new year’s resolutions have been made and the first day of 2015 is here, we want to take a hop back in time to look at some of Lipscomb’s biggest moments of 2014. Before we get to the top 10 stories, we want to take a moment to honor those we lost in 2014. Alumni Andrew Nash, Anastasia Sloan, Meghan Day and Jacob Akers, and associate professor of pharmacy practice Kim Barker and longtime faculty member Earl Dennis all passed away. As we begin a new year, we would like to keep those listed and their families in our thoughts and prayers. Quite a few stories made it close to the top 10. They include a few annual events, special guests and people in new positions of leadership. In December, Amy Grant hosted the tenth annual Lighting of the Green in Allen Arena. This year, a scholarship was created in Grant’s honor. During the spring, the fifth annual Charlie Daniels’ Scholarship for Heroes concert brought country music stars and fundraising to Allen Arena once again. Also in 2014, the Dove Awards returned to Lipscomb for its 46th ceremony. In November, the Lipscomb community came together at one of Nashville’s premier venues: The Ryman. Nashville’s Charles Esten joined the program “Lipscomb: On a New Stage,” and even performed a few tunes, too. Also in 2014, Lipscomb welcomed Darrin Bellows as the new director of security and safety and Josh Roberts as the new dean of student development. In April, Drew Watson was elected as the new SGA president. 10. Dana Carpenter wins national award In October, Dana Carpenter took home...
by Cory Woodroof | May 8, 2014 | News Slider
The friends and family of the Anastasia Sloan gathered to celebrate her immensely impactful life in the Ezell Center’s Swang Chapel Wednesday night. “She was such a ray of sunshine,” Walt Leaver, vice president for university relations, said. Ms. Sloan, a 2013 graduate of Lipscomb University, lost her life in an auto accident late Monday night. “As we have all mourned greatly in the past couple of days and will continue to do so over the days and weeks ahead, the purpose of tonight is to bring a message of hope,” said Mark Jent, the director of missions outreach for Lipscomb. Jent and his wife Beth were Ms. Sloan’s team leaders on two mission trips to Australia in 2010 and 2011. “She has been a blessing and joy in our life,” Jent said. During the service, those in attendance joined in worship, prayer and reflections of Ms. Sloan’s life and impact. “I think the greatest blessing for me is knowing her heart,” friend Kaylynn Allen said. “She loved people.” Shuen Lim, of Brisbane, Australia, came to know Ms. Sloan during one of Lipscomb’s mission trips. “I was just blown away by her adventurous spirit,” Lim said. “She was so brave to go and bless the world.” Dean Scott McDowell, senior vice president for student life, recounted reading some of Ms. Sloan’s blog posts on the website for the World Race, a mission trip she was planning on going on later this year. He recommended that everyone in attendance go back and read Ms. Sloan’s powerful words. “You will be blessed by doing that,” McDowell said. Various memories were shared from the...
by Cory Woodroof | May 6, 2014 | News Slider
Update: A celebration of life for Ms. Sloan was held in the Ezell Swang Chapel Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Former Lipscomb University student Anastasia Sloan died in a highway accident late Monday night. Ms. Sloan was driving on Interstate 40 West when her vehicle went off the right shoulder. She over-corrected and crossed both lanes of traffic before going into a guardrail. The vehicle overturned and rested in the middle of the road, and Ms. Sloan was ejected, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s report. The report says she was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. Ms. Sloan, 23, graduated from the university in May 2013 with a degree in organizational communication and public relations. She was also a member of the Pi Delta social club during her time as a student. The university released a statement on Ms. Sloan’s passing, sharing their condolences to all impacted by the loss. “The Lipscomb community is saddened by the sudden loss of alumna Anastasia Sloan, as we are with the loss of any of our alumni across the country and around the world,” the statement read. “Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends as they navigate this difficult time.” Aerial Ellis, one of Ms. Sloan’s teachers, spoke to the kind of person she was. “Anastasia was an awesome person,” Ellis said. “She was very bold and confident. I can always depend on her to be a leader and to stand out. “She always had a heart for community, and she loved learning about public relations and was really excited about the career ahead...
by Anastasia Sloan | Jan 2, 2011 | News Slider
As we are becoming a digital nation, there is much speculation over whether this will help or harm us. “Frontline” examined this topic on television, and it is something that ought to make us all think. Over the past few decades there has been a tremendous rise in digital involvement. Americans are constantly connected in some way. Whenever we can’t find an answer, we whip out our smart phones and google the answer. In fact, “google” is now an official word of our vocabulary. It can be used either in upper or lower case, as in “google” or “Google.” The Webster’s dictionary defines google by saying it is “a verb meaning: using the Google search engine to obtain information on the world wide web.” How did anyone ever function without such readily available materials the Internet provides? The downfall to having everything here and now is that we always expect it that way. People are becoming more impatient. Their attention spans are short lived. Children are relying on online games and media to hold their attention as opposed to playing outside or reading a book. Inside the classroom students expect learning to be game-oriented as opposed to a more traditional lecture style. Studies have shown that our quality of learning has decreased. College students are finding it harder and harder to succeed in a literature classes. When surfing the web, the brain is utilizing several parts and functioning at a fast rate. Therefore, when someone is constantly surfing the web they aren’t exercising their brain as they would when focusing on a single topic or reading a book. So as college students are assigned reading in...
