Lumination’s Top 10 Stories of 2014

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...

Darrin Bellows named new director of security and safety

The empty position of director of security and safety has been filled by campus’ Darrin Bellows. The change came about a month after the former director, Jim Humphrey, went to pursue another job away from the university. At the time of his promotion, Bellows had been working as a security officer for the Lipscomb Security and Safety department. He took that job in July 2012. Before then, he worked as an air traffic controls systems maintenance officer in the Marine Corps. Bellows said that the position is an honor. His goal is to not only keep working at the routine tasks of a security office, but also focus on being service oriented. “The goal of the university and the security and safety department is that we provide a safe and secure environment, that everybody that comes upon the campus has a pleasant experience,” Bellows said. “That is going to be my focus. “I want security to do more than just the conventional security and safety functions, but to be service oriented and to help out however we can.” He said that the biggest change he will make to the department is to improve the customer service. “I think sometimes the officers need to know that it’s okay to do more than the conventional stuff, and I’m here to let them know that it is okay and highly encouraged,” Bellows said. Bellows said that he and the security and safety department also wants to continue building the relationship with students, with hopes to increase the safety of the campus. He said further that he wants to serve the Lipscomb community...