by Jonathan Thompson | Mar 4, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider
In light of the deadly tornado ripping through Nashville and Middle Tennessee early Tuesday morning, Lipscomb students are left wondering, “How can I help?” Christin Shatzer and Al Sturgeon offer a few suggestions. Shatzer, associate professor of general education and director of Lipscomb’s SALT program (Service And Learning Together), suggests students sign up with Hands on Nashville or the United Way of Greater Nashville to be involved with relief efforts. These charitable organizations, alongside others, offer means of donating both time and funding towards Nashville’s tornado disaster recovery efforts. Hands on Nashville works closely with the city of Nashville and the Office of Emergency Situations to collect and distribute funds for disaster management, as well as offer an easy online sign up for anyone looking to volunteer towards clean up and recovery. “Typically in any disaster response the best way to help is through monetary donation,” Shatzer said. “City leaders are suggesting that financial donations be made to the Community Foundation to help with disaster relief efforts.” Another alternative offered to aid the city of Nashville and those affected by the tornado is prayer, something Lipscomb placed a large emphasis on at The Gathering on Tuesday. “When we learned of the terrible losses in our local community, we decided to cancel our scheduled speakers at The Gathering because we felt it appropriate that we simply gather together and pray,” said Sturgeon, vice president of student life and dean of students. Sturgeon encourages students to email Student Life with prayer requests for anyone they may know who has been affected by the tornado. “In the immediate aftermath of a disaster,...
by Sydney Poe | Feb 22, 2012 | News Slider
It may seem like a nuisance, but tornado warnings are meant to be anything but annoying. While students may be accustomed to wintertime classes being canceled for snow days, this semester they’ve been waiting out tornado warnings in basements across Lipscomb University’s campus. It may seem overdone and unnecessary, but the Lipscomb Crisis Center takes every threat very seriously. “We try and really monitor tornado activity,” said Kathy Hargis, the director of risk management. “We have several people who keep up with that so that we can give everybody an advance warning, specifically through LU alert.” While some students may find the alerts excessive, the crisis team tries their best to keep the campus informed. Hargis says when the Crisis Center sends out an LU alert there should be an action on the other end that ultimately keeps the person out of harm’s way. And it is especially important as Nashville enters into what has typically been the most intense part of the tornado season. Every spring, cities in the South and throughout the Midwest are wiped out by tornados. Last year, storms ripped through Alabama and southern Tennessee. Also, who can forget the powerful tornado that virtually wiped Joplin, Mo. off the map. While the storms themselves are somewhat predictable, tornados can pop up within a moment’s notice, not giving people in the area time to take cover. “There have been a lot of schools in the South that have had [tornados] hit their campus,” Hargis said. “So we really feel this type of thing will save lives if they take it [seriously],” said Hargis. It may seem ridiculous...
