by Cory Woodroof | Mar 7, 2013 | News Slider
On Wednesday night, Lipscomb became a part of the Metro@50 celebration by holding a panel discussion entitled “A Look at Nashville’s Neighborhood Associations…Then & Now” that took a look at the history of neighborhood associations in Music City. The celebration marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Metro Charter that featured the citizens of Davidson County teaming up with the City of Nashville to create the nation’s first unified government. The historic charter was passed in 1962. The event, hosted by the Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership, drew a large crowd and featured esteemed panelists from across the city, including former Mayor Bill Purcell, Ben Freeland of Freeland Chevrolet and current Davidson County Clerk Brenda Wynn. Mayor Karl Dean offered the evening’s closing thoughts. Chairman emeritus of The Tennessean and founder of the First Amendment Center John Seigenthaler served as the evening’s moderator. The first panel discussed the history of Nashville’s neighborhood associations. Reverend William Barnes, founding pastor of the Edgehill United Methodist Church, interim director of the Transportation Licensing Commission for Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County Billy Fields, former Metro councilwoman Betty Nixon, former Mayor Purcell and Mrs. Wynn all gave their insight into the history of neighborhood associations over the past 50 years and their individual work to help pioneer the way for Nashville to have the strong neighborhood system. “These were the pioneers that made this community,” Seigenthaler said about those involved in neighborhood development in Nashville. Former Mayor Purcell actually created the first Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods in 1999. Wynn held the title of the office’s first director. The second panel took a look...
by Cory Woodroof | Feb 6, 2013 | News Slider
The Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership announced a new program entitled ‘Leadership Tennessee’ to the Nashville community early Wednesday. ‘Leadership Tennessee’ will be a 10-month program that will enlist a variety of community leaders and put them to the task of coming up with ideas to solve different state issues. Linda Peek Schacht, the executive director of the Andrews Institute, shared her excitement for the plans in a statement released by the university. “The guiding principle of the Andrews Institute is that great communities are intentional, not accidental. Great states are intentional, not accidental,” Schacht said. “When we bring leaders together from the private, public and nonprofit sectors to work together for the common good, communities can change. Leadership Tennessee extends statewide this collaborative leadership model, based on the idea that informed, committed citizens can find common ground and make common cause to address the challenges and opportunities facing a community, region or state.” Lipscomb President Dr. Randy Lowry also expressed his enthusiasm in the statement. “For the past two years, the Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership has made an impact on Middle Tennessee as it has built on the legacy of Nashville leader Nelson Andrews by engaging emerging and current leaders from government, business and nonprofit sectors in programs to create thriving communities by collaborating together for the common good,” said Lowry. “Nelson Andrews helped create successful local leadership programs. His family chose Lipscomb University to be the institution to expand his vision of collaborative leadership to the state and beyond. So, it is very fitting that the newest initiative from the institute that bears...
by Emily Snell | May 25, 2012 | News Slider
Geena Davis says the media’s role in reshaping the image of women in society is simple: “If they see it, they can be it.” The problem is that the media is not doing its part in representing women and men equally, Davis says, and when women are portrayed in television and film they, often are sexually provocative or stereotyped characters. Davis, who has embarked on a mission to change that and offer more hope and empowerment for young women in popular culture, brought her message to a gathering at Lipscomb’s Andrews Institute. That institute partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Thursday for “A League of Their Own,” an event starring the acclaimed actor and also featuring Deborah Taylor Tate and female local media leaders to discuss the role of women and girls on screen. Davis — who starred in movies like A League of Their Own, Beetlejuice, and Thelma & Louise — founded her institute in 2004 after watching children’s entertainment with her daughter and realizing the lack of female characters present in TV programming and family movies. Davis’ institute, which focuses on research, education and advocacy, conducted the largest body of research on gender prevalence in the media and discovered that only 17 percent of characters in family films are women. Davis noted those few female characters often are portrayed in stereotypical or hyper-sexualized ways. It’s not just popular media. Davis said women are not fairly represented in most areas of society, noting that the U.S. ranks 90th on the list of countries that have female representation in government. “It’s astounding,” she said. “The fact is that women...
by Hunter Patterson | Apr 16, 2012 | News Slider
Earlier this semester, Tennessee’s governor, Bill Haslam, jump-started the “now that you ask…” series with Tom Ingram. The governor’s wife, Crissy Haslam, will join Ingram in the next edition of the series, Tuesday, April 17. Tennessee’s First Lady, Crissy Haslam, introduced a three-part initiative that focuses on the interplay between family engagement and literacy improvement in Tennessee. She has been traveling the state to stress the importance of parents as first teachers, parents as education partners, and also to raise awareness for the exponential value of reading at grade level by the third grade. Born in Houston, Texas, Haslam moved with her family to Memphis, Tennessee, when she was 8-years-old. She graduated from Emory University in 1980 with a double major in finance and marketing in the College of Business. Crissy married Bill Haslam and moved to Knoxville in 1981. While working as the assistant director of admissions for UT-Knoxville, she received a Master of Science degree in Education in the program of College Student Personnel. She has served on numerous civic and community boards, and currently serves as chair of the Tennessee Executive Residence Foundation and Commission. The “now that you ask…” conversation series is hosted by Tom Ingram, the man called the “most influential person in Tennessee politics who does not hold elected office.” The series brings Ingram’s bipartisan, common sense approach to government and politics straight to the table with discussions and debates featuring guests from across the business and political worlds. Ingram, founder of The FIRST Group in Washington, D.C. and The Ingram Group in Nashville, was appointed a leader-in-residence at the Andrews Institute for...
