Lipscomb University
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| Motto | "The Truth Shall Make You Free" - John 8:32 |
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| Established | 1891 |
| Type | Private |
| Endowment | US $65 million |
| President | Dr. L. Randolph Lowry, III |
| Faculty | 115 |
| Undergraduates | 2,289 |
| Postgraduates | 274 graduate |
| Location | Nashville, TN, USA |
| Campus | Urban, 65 acres (263,000 m²) |
| Colors | Purple and Gold |
| Nickname | Bisons |
| Affiliations | Church of Christ |
| Website | http://www.lipscomb.edu/ |
Lipscomb University is a Church of Christ-affiliated liberal arts university in Nashville, Tennessee.
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[edit] History
Lipscomb University was founded in 1891 by David Lipscomb and James A. Harding. The original name was the Nashville Bible School, which was changed to David Lipscomb College, then to David Lipscomb University. Lipscomb graduated its first senior class in 1948, leaving behind the name of "junior college" forever. In 1954, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools granted Lipscomb its first accreditation. In 1988, Lipscomb attained Level III (master's degree-granting) status and became known as David Lipscomb University. In 1994, the "David" was dropped and the institution was renamed simply Lipscomb University. From the school's inception all full-time students were required to take daily Bible classes and to attend daily chapel services (now held in the on-campus sports facility Allen Arena), although the school was never intended to function primarily as a seminary, a term looked upon with disfavor by many members of the Churches of Christ, but rather as a Christian liberal arts institution.
However, several prominent Church of Christ religious ministers received at least a portion of their higher education there. All university employees and faculty must prove their membership in a Church of Christ before being hired. David Lipscomb was a pacifist who was highly skeptical about government, but Lipscomb University has, with a few notable exceptions, largely strayed from this example. The campus grounds consist predominantly of the former estate of David Lipscomb, who donated it to the school.
[edit] Presidents
There have been 13 superintendents or presidents of Lipscomb over 17 administrations.
2005-Present Dr. L. Randolph Lowry, III
1997-2005 Dr. Steve Flatt
1987-1997 Dr. Harold Hazelip
1977-1986 G. Willard Collins
1946-1977 Dr. Athens Clay Pullias
1943-1946 Batsell Baxter
1934-1943 E. H. Ijams
1932-1934 Batsell Baxter
1923-1932 H. Leo Boles
1921-1923 H. S. Lipscomb
1920-1921 A. B. Lipscomb
1913-1920 H. Leo Boles
1913 J. S. Ward
1906-1913 E. A. Elam
1905-1906 J. S. Ward
1901-1905 William Anderson
1891-1901 James A. Harding
David Lipscomb and James A. Harding (cofounders, 1891) note: David Lipscomb never served as president, but as chairman of the board of trustees. James A. Harding served as the school's first superintendent.
[edit] Academics
The university has a wide range of academic programs, although there is an emphasis on education, biblical scholarship, and business. Aside from the interest in biblical scholarship, which is a traditional field of study at a liberal arts college, the emphasis on education and business has moved the school away from the liberal arts model. The university's reliance on tuition as its main source of income relegates it to something like a comprehensive school status (e.g. it must accept most of its applicants in order avoid cutbacks, and it has had to dramatically scale back traditional liberal arts programs like Latin and Drama, etc.). Many students are involved in pre-professional programs, notably pre-med and pre-law. Additionally, the Raymond B. Jones School of Engineering was accredited by ABET in August 2004. There is also an on-campus high school; the associated elementary school has been moved to a renovated former public school a few blocks away.
[edit] Campus information
The campus is located in the Green Hills suburbs of Nashville between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike on the east.
The center of the university, known as Bison Square, is located between the Student Center and the Willard Collins Alumni Auditorium. The bricked square is traditionally used during warm weather as the location for devotionals, concerts, and other campus activities. Attached to Alumni Auditorium is Burton Hall. To the south side of Burton Hall is the Axel Swang Center where Business and English classes are held.
In the fall of 2006, the university opened their newest academic building, the Ezell Center, where Religious, Education, Mass Communications, Social Work, History Political Science, and Philosophical classes are held. Other academic buildings include the McFarland Hall of Sciences where the Science and Math classes are held.
Some academic buildings were built with public funds, and, because Lipscomb is a Christian school, this led to an extended lawsuit that made it to the Supreme Court. One of the stipulations for receiving public funding was that these buildings cannot have religious classes taught in them. For example, no Bible classes are taught in the McFarland Hall of Sciences, however, the rule about excluding Bible classes does not apply to Ward Lecture auditorium, even though it is attached to McFarland Hall. Construction of Ward was funded through private donations.
Beaman Library was constructed in time for the university's centennial in 1991. The university's old library, the Crisman building, serves as the university's administrative building.
The university has five dormitories. Women's dorms include Elam Hall, Fanning Hall, and Johnson Hall, all of which have a large enclosed courtyard. Men's dorms include Sewell Hall, which was renovated in the late 1990s, and the eight-story High Rise, the university's tallest structure. Men and women are not allowed in dorms belonging to the opposite sex, with a few exceptions: 1) members of both sexes can enter the lobby during certain hours 2) during moving days 3) on "open dorm" occasions 4) Men are also allowed into the central courtyard of the women's dormitories only when cookouts or other such mixers being held.
Allen Arena, a 5,028-seat multipurpose facility, opened in October 2001 on the site of the old McQuiddy Gymnasium. The adjacent student recreational center kept the McQuiddy name. Yearwood Hall, a women's dormitory, was torn down for construction of Allen Arena and its accompanying parking garage.
[edit] Campus life
Lipscomb does not have fraternities and sororities per se. Rather, it has social clubs, which are local and unique to Lipscomb University and are not part of any national Greek system. The women's social clubs include Delta Xi, Delta Sigma, Gamma Lambda, Kappa Chi, Phi Sigma, and Pi Delta. Delta Nu, Delta Tau, Gamma Xi, Omega Nu, Sigma Omega Sigma, Sigma Iota Delta, and Tau Phi make up the Men's social clubs. Social club members participate in Singarama (an annual spring musical variety show), as well as other entertainment, social, and service activities throughout the year. The university also offers membership in other academic, professional, and service clubs including Alpha Kappa Psi International Business Fraternity, Alpha Phi Chi men's service club, Pi Kappa Sigma women's service club, Sigma Pi Beta co-ed service club, Alpha Chi National Honors Society, Sigma Tau Delta National English honor society, Circle K International, College Republicans, and College Democrats.
The Babbler is the weekly student newspaper. The title of the publication comes from Acts 17:18 which in part says "What does this babbler have to say?" The Backlog is the school's yearbook.
[edit] Rules
- Full-time students are required to attend both a Bible class and chapel services each school day. A generalized Bible class called "University Bible" is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Allen Arena for the entire full-time student body, fulfilling both these requirements. Chapel services are held on Mondays in Allen Arena, and Wednesdays and Fridays in small groups around campus. Students take a traditional Bible class on those days as well. Prior to the early 90s, the chapel and Bible class requirements had to be met separately, with a traditional chapel service being held every day. Since then, the exact details of the chapel requirement have changed many times - in some cases with each semester - as the University struggled with finding an effective way to encourage spiritual growth through chapel.
- There is a curfew for freshmen and sophomores living in the dorms, with detailed rules enforced by the head residents.
- No Lipscomb student is allowed to consume alcohol, on or off campus, though the extent to which this has been policed off campus has varied from dean to dean. The campus is a dry campus and students could be potentially suspended if alcohol is discovered on their person by a school staff member. Faculty and staff are also forbidden to drink alcohol. Smoking is disallowed on campus, but is permissible elsewhere.
- A ban on student facial hair was lifted during the 1986-1987 school year.
- Students and faculty are prohibited from engaging in extra-marital sexual relations and/or in homosexual activities. Faculty may be (and have been) fired for such activity, and students may be (and have been) dismissed for it, though not in recent years.
- Potential full-time professors must prove that they are members of the Church of Christ as a prerequisite of employment, and they must demonstrate and maintain denominational affiliation with the Churches of Christ throughout their tenure at Lipscomb University. Even tenured professors whose churches have been deemed by the administration to be insufficiently rooted in traditional Church of Christ doctrine (e.g. exclusive use of A Capella music) have been dismissed from their positions, though not in recent years.
[edit] Study Abroad and Internationalizing the University
Lipscomb offers a handful of study abroad programs. In the mid 1990s a study abroad program in Vienna, Austria was first offered. Programs in London, Great Britain and Athens, Greece have since been added.
The University has several students active in the "Students for International Peace and Justice," and the faculty began the Center for International Peace and Justice "to promote awareness and understanding of international affairs, particularly as they relate to questions of peace, security and justice." (http://cipj.lipscomb.edu/)
[edit] Sports information
Sports teams are nicknamed the Bisons, and there is a large statue of the namesake animal centrally located on the campus. At one time the school was a small-college sports powerhouse, notably in baseball and basketball in the NAIA; now it is a new member of NCAA Division I and competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The university has an ongoing sports rivalry with Belmont University, just 3 miles down the road from Lipscomb. Traditionally basketball games between the two schools are called the Battle of the Boulevard.
In 2006, the rivalry reached a new level when Belmont and Lipscomb advanced to the finals of the Atlantic Sun tournament at the Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, with the winner earning its first-ever bid to the NCAA tournament. Belmont won 74-69 in overtime. Lipscomb was invited to the National Invitation Tournament as the regular-season conference champion, losing in its first game.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Pat Boone (H.S. '52), singer
- B.C. Goodpasture ('18), preacher and writer
- Jim Jinkins ('75) - creator of the animated Doug series.
- LaMar Baker ('38), politician
- Marty Roe ('84) - lead singer of the Country Music band Diamond Rio.
- Michael F. Adams ('70), president of the University of Georgia
[edit] External links
- Lipscomb University website
- Lipscomb Sports - Official Sports Website of the University
- Lipscomb Underground- a student-led discussion about the university
| Atlantic Sun Conference |
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| Belmont • Campbell • ETSU • Florida Gulf Coast* • Gardner–Webb • Jacksonville Kennesaw State • Lipscomb • Mercer • North Florida • South Carolina Upstate* • Stetson * Future member effective 2007-2008 academic year |
