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 Logan Butts | Aug 21, 2014 | News Slider
Longtime faculty member Earl Dennis, 88, passed away on Monday. Dennis began working at Lipscomb in 1960 for the mathematics faculty and stayed at the university for over 30 years. In 1977, he was appointed to the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs underneath President Willard Collins. He took over as the dean of faculty in 1988, and stayed in that position until his retirement in 1992. Despite spending such a large percentage of his life in the academic field Dennis originally began working as a control engineer for National Carbon Company in Columbia, Tenn. after receiving a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Vanderbilt. Dennis used this experience outside of education to bring in a unique and innovative approach to academics at the university. “Dr. Dennis was always trying to improve,” executive assistant to the provost Mary Bouldin said to Lipscomb University, “Each year he would have the faculty evaluate how he was doing as a leader. He was forward thinking and very interested in people. He and his wife, Pearl, regularly had students and faculty in their home.” While at Lipscomb, the school changed its status from college to university, helped begin the school’s first graduate program, added many undergraduate programs, and even led the school’s change from a Monday-Friday system for classes to the current schedule of Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Tuesday-Thursday. During this period, the school also transitioned from a quarter system to a semester system. “He worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure faculty had the tools and resources they needed to be successful,” current Chief Academic Officer W. Craig Bledsoe said to Lipscomb University,...
