by Grant Ledgister | Jun 18, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The ASUN conference is getting a new challenger in athletics in the Bellarmine University Knights. The Knights will become the 10th school to join the conference, Bellarmine announced Tuesday morning. However, the university will not join the conference until the 2020-2021 school year. Bellarmine, located in Louisville, is a Catholic university with nearly 4,000 total students. It is set to become the only private D-I school in the state. The Knights were formerly competing in Division II athletics as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a conference it helped create in 1978. Out of its 22 varsity teams, Bellarmine will compete in 17 sports sponsored by the ASUN conference, including basketball and soccer. Men’s lacrosse, field hockey and wrestling will all compete at other conferences or with independent D-I status; men’s and women’s swimming will compete in the Coastal College Sports Association. Bellarmine showed it had the ability to compete at the D-II level, reaching the NCAA Division II basketball championship every year for the past 11 years and winning the tournament in 2012 under coach Scott Davenport. Knights baseball received an automatic berth into the D-II Midwest Regionals, and women’s soccer has reached its tournament six out of the past 10 years. “ASUN is a perfect fit for the Knights, because – like Bellarmine – every school in the conference is committed to putting students first,” Bellarmine Athletic Director Scott Wiegandt said in a press release. “Our student-athletes already meet Division I academic standards, and our players and coaches will be ready to compete when we join our new conference next year. The move to Division I...
by Cory Woodroof | Oct 29, 2013 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb has been buzzing with chatter after news broke Friday night that the university officially would begin removing all use of the acronym “LU” from campus. The university had been contacted by Virginia-based Liberty University, which claimed ownership of the abbreviation. Assistant Vice President of Communication and Marketing Kim Chaudoin said the university will return to “Lipscomb” being the primary logo for the school. “In the whole scheme of the 122 years that the university’s been around, this is just a very small blip on the screen,” Chaudoin said. “Yes, it seems like kind of a big deal now, but Lipscomb has always been the Lipscomb brand.” Chaudoin said that although Lipscomb would still love to keep “LU” as a part of the school, the campus will not allow a logo controversy to throw a wrench in the gears. “We would prefer to be able to use this mark,” she said. “[But] Lipscomb is still Lipscomb, and we’re bigger than two letters. We’re bigger than a logo.” Many Lipscomb students have expressed their shock at the move. “I honestly think it’s kind of dumb,” says Emily Dunn, a senior family relations major. “Aren’t there other universities that use the same abbreviations? I think we should be able to use it because we are Lipscomb University…LU. “But I don’t necessarily think we should go to court over it, either.” Junior English major Melissa Pinhal suggested Liberty take a look at other schools that could potentially use the “LU” acronym, including Lund University, Lincoln University, Lancaster University, Lamar University, Lawrence University, Lehigh University, Loughborough University, Laurentian University, Lindenwood University, Lakehead University, Lingnan...
by Cory Woodroof | Oct 26, 2013 | News Slider, Sports
Update: Here is our second story on the matter, with reactions from Lipscomb, Liberty, students and legal experts. Lipscomb will no longer be able to use the abbreviation “LU” in official capacity, the university announced to campus leaders Friday evening. After Virginia-based Liberty University contacted Lipscomb and claimed ownership over the phrase “LU,” the university decided to begin a transitioning phrase of removing “LU” from all university usage. “Several months ago, the university was contacted by legal counsel for Liberty University who informed us that they had copyrighted the use of the letters “LU” some time ago, and we did not have the right to use it as a logo or in any other description of Lipscomb University,” Vice President of Communications and Marketing Deby K. Samuels wrote in the email. “In subsequent weeks, outside legal counsel was retained, and several attempts were made at reasonable negotiation. In the end, there were two options: one, initiate federal court litigation to adjudicate the rights to “LU” or, two, discontinue its use. The cost and distraction to take the issue to court would be substantial and the outcome could still be negative. Therefore, the decision was made to immediately transition away from the use of “LU” campus wide.” Samuels noted that there will be a period of grace to help ease the transition, but no new use of the phrase “LU” will be allowed. More as this story...
