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2025 and then: Family of first Black Lipscomb student remembers his story, honors his legacy
The year 2025 has marked 60 years since James Fitzgerald, Lipscomb’s first Black student, enrolled at the university. To honor this anniversary, Fitzgerald’s family reflected on his personal history, legacy and the importance of this milestone. Fitzgerald enrolled at Lipscomb University, then David Lipscomb College, in 1965. He came to the school to study the Bible and enhance his work as a preacher. However, it was not always a given that Fitzgerald would have the opportunity to attend college. Fitzgerald was born in Thompson Station, Tennessee, during the Jim Crow era. Like many other African Americans in the South, Fitzgerald had limited access to educational resources. While white students had…
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2025 and then: Bison Square remains ‘heartbeat of campus’ after 45 years
On any given day, the sound of footsteps and laughter echoes across the brick of Bison Square — the same place where generations of students have met for dinner, studied between classes, or lingered long after sunset. Decades ago, though, the heart of campus was nothing more than a muddy shortcut worn down by thousands of shoes. The student-built Bison Square — now considered the heart of Lipscomb’s social life — has celebrated its 45th anniversary this year. President Willard Collins smiles for a photo when Bison Square was completed (1981). The area exists thanks to the Lipscomb students of the 1970s and 1980s who helped make the square a…
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2025 and then: Former President Gerald Ford spoke to Lipscomb students 40 years ago
It’s not every day a former president of the United States comes to speak to a group of students at a university. Still, for David Lipscomb College students on Nov. 4, 1985, that just so happened to be the case. On Nov. 4, 1985, former President Gerald Ford spoke during a special 2 p.m. chapel service in McQuiddy Gymnasium at the invitation of Lipscomb donors Alvin and Sally Beaman. The entire Lipscomb community, including students from kindergarten through the graduate program, was in attendance. Ford spoke to the students about his optimism in them and how he knew they would do great things in and for the future. “Today’s young…
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2025 and then: Lipscomb celebrates MLK Day for quarter-century
Today, having a day off from classes at Lipscomb University for Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a given. But that has not always been the case. The first MLK Day in the U.S. was celebrated on Jan. 20, 1986, after President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in November 1983. Fourteen years after 1986, Lipscomb University joined in. When the recognition of the holiday was announced, student Matt Kirby, then editor-in-chief of Lipscomb’s school paper The Babbler, wrote an opinion piece. Kirby believed that the new holiday was a step in the right direction, but that the steps should not stop there. To Kirby, simply having a day off…
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2025 and then: Global Learning celebrates three decades of international academics
Lipscomb marked a milestone this fall by celebrating 30 years since launching its first global learning program in Vienna, Austria. The decision not only introduced students to a world beyond campus but also laid the foundation for the global education opportunities the university has today. What began in 1995 with a small group of two dozen students, a handful of committed faculty members, and a vision for cultural immersion has since grown into one of Lipscomb’s most enduring academic offerings. Finding a location that would provide both academic and personal growth took time and careful consideration. The study abroad faculty committee eventually landed on Vienna for several reasons, as shared…
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2025 and then: A half-century later, Bison ace Bo McLaughlin is remembered for MLB signing…and horrific injury
Tucked in a worn brown file deep inside Lipscomb’s athletic archives sits a faded photograph: a young right-handed pitcher in a purple uniform, glove raised, eyes locked onto the catcher. The edges of the image are cracked with age. The name on the back is written in ballpoint pen – Bo McLaughlin, 1970s. Most students walking past the archives have no idea the man in the picture was the first Bison ever to sign with a Major League Baseball team—or that decades later, at 72, he is remembered as much for a terrifying injury that nearly ended his life. McLaughlin played for the Bisons from 1972-1975 and is still considered…
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2025 and then: Pat Boone’s alma mater remains an iconic Lipscomb tradition after 65 years
When Pat Boone first stepped onto the David Lipscomb High School campus in 1948, no one knew he would become one of America’s most recognized singers or the composer of Lipscomb’s signature alma mater. Years before the gold records and national fame, Boone was simply a well-rounded Lipscomb student with a strong voice and a drive to achieve. That determination helped him grow into a notable singer and songwriter and later allowed him to create the alma mater that would become a defining tradition for the university. Today, it remains one of Lipscomb’s most recognizable pieces, sung at every graduation and woven into the identity of the school. Boone actually…
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2025 and then: High Rise renovations still paying off after a decade
After 10 years, the massive High Rise renovation is still serving students to this day. The largest men’s dorm on campus, High Rise Hall opened in 1968. The dorm now houses 375 students and looks a lot different than it did before. High Rise in the mid 1960s In the summer of 2015, High Rise underwent a large-scale makeover. Former men’s basketball coach Casey Alexander told former President Randy Lowry that High Rise needed an upgrade. He wanted to be able to show off a nicer dorm to recruits coming in. Ninety-two days and $7.5 million later, High Rise became what it is now. “The doors were taken off, the…
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McVey concludes 101st consecutive semester teaching at Lipscomb
German and Russian Professor Charlie McVey, lovingly known by students as “Herr McVey,” has a long history with Lipscomb University. Not only was McVey a student here, but he has taught 101 consecutive semesters at the university, alongside 40 summer semesters. “I graduated from Lipscomb with a degree in German in 1967,” McVey said. “Then I went on into life. Grad school, military, grad school again. Then I was at a language conference as I was finishing grad school, in the spring of 1975, in Knoxville, Tennessee… I met up with several of the language professors from [Lipscomb] that I had known while I was there, and they were about…
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Rob Touchstone: brewing faith, business, and purpose
When you sit across from Rob Touchstone, you quickly realize that coffee is just the medium. The real story is about connection, purpose and faith lived out loud. From roots in youth ministry to the founding of The Well Coffeehouse, Touchstone’s journey epitomizes how business and mission can meld seamlessly when love and intention are in the driver’s seat. A graduate of Lipscomb University in the late 1990s, Rob Touchstone majored in Bible and Youth Ministry, a natural fit for someone drawn to serving others. He began his career as a youth minister in Alabama before moving to Tennessee, where experiences within the church became both inspiring and challenging. While…
