University VP Bennie Harris takes new role at Morehouse School of Medicine

University VP Bennie Harris takes new role at Morehouse School of Medicine

Bennie Harris, Lipscomb’s Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations,will be leaving the university to join Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga. On June 1, Harris will be taking over the role of Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Morehouse. “Bennie led us through two highly successful campaigns,” said university president Randy Lowry in a press release from the school. “He assembled an excellent team of development professionals to undertake a major capital initiative which many schools shied away from in the depth of the economic challenges the country has faced in recent years. “Bennie and his family are an important part of the Lipscomb community and he will be greatly missed.” Harris has been at Lipscomb since 2007, and in his time with the school, he has overseen multiple projects concerning the betterment of the campus. Harris speaks highly of the Lipscomb community, but he said he looks forward to the next step in his career. “My family and I have cherished the supportive, loving and Christian community we have been a part of here,” Harris said in the press release. “But, this is a very unique opportunity to for me to have a new experience in higher education that fits with my long-term career goals. I am excited about this new chapter in our lives.” In 2010, Harris was the leader of the $54 million overhaul project of Lipscomb’s campus that included the construction of The Village, the Thomas James McMeen Music Center and the establishment of the school’s College of Pharmacy, the first of its kind in Middle Tennessee. The 2010 project also involved major...

[Video] An in-depth look at the Lipscomb: Next plan for 2016

Whether you’ve been at Lipscomb for 4 years or 4 weeks, it’s clear that development is playing a huge role in the future of our campus. We’ve already seen a lot of changes in the last few months, what changes can we expect in the months ahead? Please upgrade your browser Tom Wood, Director of Campus Enhancement filled Lumination in on many of the current construction projects. “The north of the [Hughes] building which is currently under construction is our new nursing building, about a 25,000 square foot [facility],” Wood said. It’ll be state of the art for our nursing students. On the south side of Hughes, we will have in a short time frame a “U” shaped complex. The pharmacy research building will go on that south side of Hughes.” “In the future, there will be two more [health science] buildings. One will be in from of the nursing building and the other will be in front of the pharmacy research building.” There are two pieces of land that the university will have to buy, but Wood said that eventually with their purchase and completion of the addition health science buildings, the area will form a five building health science quad on the north side of campus. Also, students and faculty  may be excited to hear that there will be some temporary parking that will be created in the coming months with the construction. “Also, part of this program is a temporary lot which will be behind the Village, which will accommodate about 50 additional cars,” Wood said. “So out of this project here in the next few...

Lowry announces $10 million gift to Lipscomb community

In a letter to the Lipscomb community, University President Randy Lowry announced a major overhaul of the campus school. Thanks to donors Bill and Neika Stephens, the middle school will be moved from its current location to the site where the elementary school currently sits. The school will be a two-story K-8 building. In addition to the relocation of the middle school, a new campus school will be built on the property located between Granny White and the high school’s athletic complex. The buildings that the high school currently uses will be renovated and used by the university. The $10 million donation is the largest ever presented to the campus school and the third largest to the Lipscomb community. The letter reads as follows: I am pleased to share with you an announcement we made last night to our friends and supporters at the Associates Gala. The Stephens Christian Trust, an entity founded by Bill Stephens, has challenged us in our Lipscomb:Next effort by making a $10 million gift for Campus School. This represents the largest gift ever made to the Campus School and the third largest gift ever made to Lipscomb University. The gift has been given to support the activities and programs of the Campus School, the largest K-12 independent school in Middle Tennessee. In addition to announcing that gift last evening, I shared a vision for the Campus School that includes a renovated elementary school to be joined at Harding and Granny White by a new middle school on that site. The vision also includes a new high school on property already a part of the institutional overlay...
Retired astronaut Mark Kelly emphasizes persistence

Retired astronaut Mark Kelly emphasizes persistence

Retired astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly received a standing ovation before a single word had come out of his mouth Thursday morning when he spoke at The Gathering.Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut who has piloted four space missions, is also husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords and Kelly were thrust into the national spotlight in January when Giffords was shot in the head during an assassination attempt in Tucson, Ariz. Kelly said he never expected his wife’s political position to be more dangerous than his own unpredictable career. “I didn’t contemplate how risky of a profession that would be,” Kelly said, thinking back to when his wife began her work in Congress. “I never considered that she was the one with the risky career … but as it turned out she would be the one to nearly lose her life serving our country.” Kelly encouraged students to pursue their dreams and not give up, even when it seems like failure is inevitable. He gave an example of his experiences in Navy flight school, which he “barely passed.” “We all don’t learn at the same rate,” Kelly said. “How well you do in the beginning of anything you try is not a good indicator of what you can become. I am a prime example of someone who was able to overcome a lack of aptitude with practice, persistence and the drive to never ever give up.” Kelly told students that he has one-year, five-year and ten-year plans that help him stay focused on his goals. Sometimes plans change, he said, but it’s good to have an aim. “A plan plus...

“Lipscomb: Next” unveiled, ready to be put into action

“I look forward to a time that I won’t get to experience, and you won’t either. But decades down the road where other people will look back and see that in this moment, this community did what it was called to do.” Those were Dr. Randy Lowry’s concluding words as he introduced the layout of Lipscomb 2016, his vision of what Lipscomb University will look like in five years, to the student body at The Gathering on Tuesday, March 29. ​“We’re going to call it Lipscomb Next: Vision for 2016,” Lowry said. “The essence of this entire plan is to invest $125 million into this institution by the time we get to our 125th anniversary, which is 2016.” ​Lipscomb invested about $54 million into their last plan, making the proposed $125 million dollar investment into their next plan “extraordinarily ambitious.” ​ Notable additions to expect Lipscomb to make in their next plan include: three new colleges, fifty new full time faculty members and thirty new academic programs. ​Some of the changes that Lipscomb will be undergoing will take years to develop. However, Lowry stated a couple of significant changes are set to take place in the very near future. One change being the renovation of Fanning Hall. ​“As we think about residence halls, we realize that they are not at the standard that we would like,” Lowry said. “The city’s approval pending, Lipscomb is set to gut out and renovate Fanning Hall this summer. Thanks to a construction crew committing to working on the project 24 hours a day that summer, a renovation that would normally take nine months...