by Emily Snell | Dec 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
Uncommon is the norm for Terry Briley. For example, it’s uncommon to find a Bible scholar who regularly attends one of the nation’s largest outdoor music festivals. It’s also uncommon to find a male faculty sponsor for a women’s social club. But Briley, professor of Biblical Studies and former dean of the College of Bible and Ministry, regularly attends the four-day Bonnaroo music and arts festival down in Manchester, Tenn. Briley, dean for 10 years until this fall, also is faculty sponsor for Kappa Chi. The former is because of his love for music, which is also why he’s a ticket holder for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. In fact, he’s even taking violin lessons. The latter, well, it sort of began out of necessity. “When I first started here, we didn’t have as many female faculty members, so social clubs always struggled finding sponsors,” Briley said. During his first semester as a Lipscomb adjunct, he said a student asked him to sponsor the women’s club. “I’m pretty sure it was a notion of ‘Here’s the new guy; he doesn’t know anything.’” Of course, he did it, and “over time, it sort of stuck.” Briley, a professor at Lipscomb since 1986, said building relationships is one of the best things about his job. “To me, the relational side of it is as important, as rewarding, if not more so, than the academic side,” he said. “One of the things I really like about it is not just the relational side while students are here, but the fact that you’re able to stay connected after they’re gone. I know students and...
by Emily Snell | Nov 28, 2012 | Uncategorized
After a successful career in military defense engineering, Kerry Patterson thought he’d arrive at age 65 and start sitting “on the porch in a rocking chair somewhere.” But now that he’s reached retirement age, Patterson says he’ll keep teaching classes and going on engineering missions trips as long as he can. Patterson, who started teaching engineering at Lipscomb nearly 10 years ago, said he entered education as an escape from the “commercial rat race.” According to Patterson, his old friend from the University of Tennessee Fred Gillam, former head of Lipscomb’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering, called one day to encourage Patterson to join the teaching staff at Lipscomb. “When I interviewed with the provost for the position,” Patterson said, “Dr. Bledsoe said, ‘I don’t really think I have much choice because I promised your friend that a condition of his taking the job was that he had to be able to hire you.’” After a three-year stint in the U.S. Army missile command, Patterson spent 25 years doing work related to military ballistic missile defense systems. But Patterson said education had been a possibility in the back of his mind for years. “I always thought that sometime down the road I’d like to teach and I’d like to teach in a Christian university,” he said. “But since there weren’t very many Church of Christ schools that had engineering, I thought I would probably have to settle for math or physics. When this college of engineering thing came along, it was an even better situation than I had anticipated.” Patterson said he knew when he came to Lipscomb that he...
by Emily Snell | Nov 3, 2012 | News Slider
Students paired up and dressed alike on Thursday for “twin day,” the final Bison Week theme before students deck themselves in purple and gold for Battle of the Boulevard. Rena’ Cothron, a junior softball player, dressed as a Dr. Seuss character for twin day. “I really like the idea of Bison Week because it gets people into the athletic aspect of LU,” she said. “I feel like it is not as big of a deal here to cheer on our teams, but we need the support!” Bree Thurman and Jordan Abell partnered with each other for the dress-up theme. “Twin day is may favorite of the days. I am loving bison spirit week!” Abell said. “It’s nice to see people dressing up and getting in the spirit for the game on Friday,” Thurman said. “I hope all the hype for sports rolls over into all of the other sports, too.” Two students, Olivia Stastny and Keiana Hastings, used the basketball team for their twin inspiration. “We are supposed to be the Smith twins on the basketball team,” Hastings said, explaining their wardrobe choice. Clothing from past decades resurfaced Wednesday on campus as students participated in “retro day,” the third theme day of Bison Week. Freshman Lola Sobowale joined the retro fun. “This is my favorite day of the Bison spirit week,” she said, adding a call to action for Lipscomb’s men’s basketball team. “They better win!” Nerds roamed Lipscomb’s campus Monday as students participated in the first dress-up theme for Bison Week: nerd day. In an effort to generate school spirit and excitement for Friday’s Battle of the Boulevard men’s...
by Emily Snell | Nov 1, 2012 | Uncategorized
After working on campus 38 years and serving in more than a dozen positions, Dr. Jim Thomas said he still has the same focus: helping students graduate from college. Thomas said his experiences in different jobs on campus help him understand how to get students to Lipscomb, how to keep them here and how to help them pay for their education. “I do truly believe they’re a huge help here,” he said of some of his former roles. “I think all of that history and background converges to give me an understanding of how they all link together.” “I think I’m someone who believes in what they’re trying to do,” he said. “I’m passionate about students graduating from college. I am so absolutely driven to helping college students graduate, but they’ve got to be a partner with me in that.” Thomas, who currently acts as executive assistant to the president, graduated from Lipscomb in 1969. After completing three years in the military, he began teaching at the university in 1974. Thomas said, of his jobs at Lipscomb, being chair of the speech communication department was one of the most enjoyable. “Probably that was one of my favorite jobs, if you want to know the truth,” he said. “I thought as department chair you had a greater opportunity to influence students’ lives and the curriculum to help them develop.” “My heart has always been on the teaching side,” he explained. “I just think that’s why you get into higher education—to help the students learn and grow and develop their talents to the fullest extent that they can.” Thomas spent one...
by Emily Snell | Sep 26, 2012 | Opinion
You’re driving down Woodmont Boulevard, heading back to campus. As you pull up to the traffic light at Granny White, you look up and slam on your brakes, realizing the car in front of you is just a few inches away. You let out a sigh of relief and finish the text you were just sending. I would bet almost all of us have been guilty of texting and driving. Most people say they know it is unsafe, but an unfortunately high number of them admit they do it anyway. Until last Thursday, I was one of those people. On Thursday in women’s chapel, a former Lipscomb student shared her testimony about how she killed a man because she was driving drunk. She spent three years in prison because of it. Now she’s just 23 years old and has to live with the fact she took someone’s life. No, texting and driving isn’t the same thing as drinking and driving. It’s actually worse. Did you know that some studies show it’s even more dangerous? Think about that next time you see someone who you believe is obviously under the influence and is drifting across lanes. Then realize that what you are doing when texting and driving is probably even more hazardous. That means you could be forced to live life knowing that you took someone else’s … because you just had to send that text. Rolling your eyes about this? Stop and pay attention. This is serious stuff. Just last Wednesday, I read an article by Lipscomb’s own Professor Debi Tate about the prevalence of texting and driving and...
