Small club Kappa Chi wins big at Greek Life Appreciation Awards

Everyone loves a good underdog story, and Greek life members were lucky enough to witness one at the Greek Life Appreciation Ceremony. The ceremony for the 13 social clubs on campus was to honor the achievements of Greek life over the past school year and to crown this year’s boy and girl club of the year. “The event was to celebrate all the accomplishments in Greek life and all the work ICC and Sam Parnell have put into the Lipscomb Community,” Sam Smith, Dean of Student Life, said. “We wanted to celebrate the service, social events, relationships, and drug and alcohol awareness events social clubs have participated in this year.” The winner for the male social club of the year was Theta Psi, a fairly new club on campus, and the winner of the female club of the year was Kappa Chi. Kappa Chi seemed like the underdog of the competition, being one of the smallest clubs on campus, but the club insists this is the recognition they deserve. “The competition was stiff,” Melissa Pinhal, a Lipscomb senior and president of Kappa Chi, said. “”I feel for every girl in the club it’s a lot of validation. [As a smaller club], we don’t get recognized, so to get recognized is great and gives us a goal for next year.” Kappa Chi was the winner out of seven female social clubs, most of which are quadruple the size of it. “It’s unbelievable that our little club is doing such big things,” Kappa Chi senior Whitney North said. “It’s the highest honor us sisters could get, and it’s great that out of everyone...

Alpha Zeta founded, idea inspired by faith

For junior Ashley Arledge, Alpha Zeta is more than just a social club. Arledge, the club’s president, hopes the club will be something different for girls on campus. “We want to be a different club,” said Arledge. “We’ve decided to call our Pledge Week ‘Declaration Week.’ We want our girls to feel empowered by saying they are declaring to the campus that they are a part of Alpha Zeta.” The new social club was founded just today, and the idea stemmed from Arledge’s first experience with Greek Life at Lipscomb. She knew she wanted to be a part of a social club when she began college, but finding a place that she fit in was harder than expected. “I was looking for more out of college than an education, but to be able to experience that collegiate experience with wonderful Christian people.” After going to the rush fair, open rushes and a few closed rushes, Arledge didn’t feel a connection to any of the social clubs. “I knew I wanted to integrate myself into Lipscomb Campus Life, but I didn’t feel there was a place that I fit. And I think there are other girls on campus that feel the same way.” Since that very moment, Alpha Zeta has been in the works. Arledge first brought up the idea to Laurie Sain, Fanning’s head resident, then began working with Dean of Student Life Sam Smith and Sewell head resident Sam Parnell during the drafting of the constitution. The founding members presented the club’s overview to the head of Greek Life and it was approved for charter. Although forming the...

Campus Life changes rush process to accommodate more people

Students participating in formal rush this week are experiencing new changes to the rush process. Campus Life instituted the changes for this semester, hoping to give more students opportunities to be involved in Greek life on campus. Sam Parnell, director of Greek life, said during the spring 2012 semester that 110 students received bids, and 37 did not. Three of those students who did not receive bids were ineligible due to “academic/institutional requirements.” Five hundred undergraduates make up Lipscomb’s 13 social clubs. Parnell said campus life doesn’t “monitor the criteria the social clubs use to pick their members. We are changing the process to allow more students the opportunity to be in a social club.” “The major change is having students list their top choices of social clubs in which they wish to rush,” Parnell said. “If a student doesn’t get sent a formal bid for their club of choice, then they still have other chances to make it in to an alternate choice.” With the new system, students rank their top three choices of clubs, and then are placed in the highest ranking club that extends a bid to them. According to posted eligibility requirements, all students must be in good academic standing and have completed one semester as a full-time student at Lipscomb to rush. Freshmen have to achieve a GPA of at least 2.5, and other undergraduates must earn a GPA of 2.0 or higher. Other requirements include attending four open rush events, three club prospective events and all formal rush events for which you receive an invitation. The men’s (Sigma Omega Sigma, Delta Nu, Tau Phi, Gamma Xi, Sigma Iota Delta) and women’s social clubs (Gamma Lambda, Pi...