by Brianne Welch | Nov 10, 2014 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s Veteran Services hosted a Veterans Eve Celebration that involved a parachute demonstration onto the quad Monday morning. The 101st Airborne Division, the Army’s oldest parachute jump team, flew through the air above campus before two jumpers, one carrying a POW flag and the other the American flag, descended onto the field. Students and members of the community lined the sidewalks around the quad in front of the Burton Science building to watch the demonstration. Prior to the jump, the national anthem was performed by the Lipscomb Jazz Ensemble. Then Lipscomb student and Marine Corps Corporal Matt Proctor gave the invocation. As part of the ceremony, an American flag was presented to veteran Christopher Long, and a Tennessee state flag was presented to Dean Scott McDowell. Before the end of the ceremony, Lieutenant Colonel John Sapp spoke about the event and about the importance of Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon Program that allows veterans to come home and receive an education. He also talked about being thankful for veterans as well, and Dean McDowell closed out the ceremony with a round of thanks. Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon Program works hard to create an encouraging and beneficial community for veterans. Corporal Proctor talked a little bit about how they hope to build a connection between veterans and traditional undergraduate students. “There’s an opportunity for those undergraduate’s to see the life experience that veterans have, and the face of war is sometimes very different than the faces of a traditional undergraduate student,” Proctor said. “There’s a lot that can be learned in order to communicate outside of the undergraduate experience.” Proctor was also very...
by Aaron Schmelzer | Apr 16, 2014 | News Slider
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...
by Monaih Sam | Mar 20, 2013 | News Slider
Ben Maenza, 24, from Brentwood, Tenn. has biked from St. Augustine, Fla., to San Diego, raced in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and plans to race in the Music City Marathon next month. The difference between Maenza and most other racers is that he does it with no legs. Maenza had been in Afghanistan for 28-days in October 2010 working as a combat engineer in the Marine Corps when a horrific explosion from an improvised explosive device (IED) resulted in the loss of both of his legs. “We were supposed to look for a body that was supposedly digging in an area that was a known site for IED’s,” Maenza explained. “Everything was regular, a regular patrol.” Maenza and his team went on patrol and secured the area when they came upon a riverbed they needed to cross. The area was a flooded cornfield, and the ground density caused the medal detectors not to work. “I got a really bad feeling about this,” Maenza said. “Just on the way that it was, it was like that was the way they wanted us to go. We went to look for another way. We found something, but the Sergeant was very persistent. He said ‘we’re going to cross where I want to cross.’” Maenza jumped into the river and led the team down the river towards where the body was. Four days prior, Maenza was involved in another explosion in the same area that claimed one life and wounded two others. The squad didn’t find what they were looking for and decided to walk back. “I got the Sergeant across...
by Michael Fox | Dec 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon program has blessed a lot of military lives since it began in 2009. The program started off with 20 military veterans and now has reached to over 150. One student, Sam Schoenheit, shared his story, inspiring the lives of many here at Lipscomb. Schoenheit attended basic training in summer 2003. At the Marine Corps boot camp, he was indoctrinated into the Marine Recon — the Marine Corps’ most elite fighting force. Schoenheit served two combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. While conducting operations in Afghanistan, he was wounded on duty when a bullet fragmented into his brain. “I stayed in the fight for about 45 minutes before I took one,” Schoenheit recalled. “I woke up in Bethesda Naval hospital with a full right side stroke, and that’s when I realized that my journey to recover was going to be a long ways away.” While unconscious, former President George W. Bush personally awarded Schoenheit the Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his combat services. Schoneheit’s recovery has been miraculous, and he is continuing to progress. “My only missing piece is the right hand hasn’t come back yet,” Schoenheit said. “The shoulder movement and stiffness in my forearm … just awkward and clumsy.” We thank Schoenheit for his services, and we are blessed that he chose to be a Bison. For more of Schoenheit’s story, watch this video by Monaih Sam....
