Ceremonies and volunteerism come with 2010 back-to-school fun
Janel Shoun |
From slip-and-slides to candlelighting ceremonies, the first three weeks of school keeps students hopping, meeting new people and starting their college career with a bang.
The 2010-11 school year kicked off Friday, Aug. 13, with 77 pharmacy students receiving their white coats in a special ceremony, and the hubbub of freshman moving into the residence halls beginning Sunday, Aug. 15.
The annual Initium ceremony, Aug. 22, got freshmen started off with a "clean slate," and President's Convocation, Aug. 31, will reinforce the importance and challenges of obtaining a college degree.
Back-to-school activities for 2010:
- White Coat Ceremony, Aug. 13
- Move-In Days, Aug. 15 & 16, Aug. 21 & 22
- QuestWeek, Aug.17-22
- Initium, Aug. 22
- First Day We Pray, Aug. 23
President’s Convocation, Aug. 31
President L. Randolph and Mrs. Rhonda Lowry invite the community to attend this ages-old formal academic ceremony to begin the 2010-11 school year. The ceremony, held at 10:55 a.m. in Allen Arena, is the year's first formal chapel service and will feature music, worship, an address by Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry, a bagpipe procession and a gathering of faculty in regalia.
President's Convocation 2010
Move-In Days
One of the distinct features of the Lipscomb University family is our reputation for serving our students with kindness and compassion. As a welcoming gesture, each year faculty and staff were encouraged to help new students move in on designated days. Employees were allowed to dress for hard labor and take time from their regular work duties to help families who need an extra pair of hands.
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College of Pharmacy Class of 2014 White Coat Ceremony
| Dean Roger Davis welcomes new students. |
| Student pharmacists |
| Student pharmacist gets his white coat from the dean and Lipscomb president. |
| Guest speaker Max Ray |
Lipscomb University’s back-to-school festivities kicked off Friday, Aug. 13, with the College of Pharmacy’s White Coat Ceremony, a formal ceremony to present the Class of 2014 with their white coats they can wear as they begin their college career.
This fall’s class is the largest so far, with 77 students from 15 states, enrolling in the pharmacy doctorate program.
More than 900 people applied for Lipscomb’s College of Pharmacy this year, Dean Roger Davis told the students at the ceremony. “You’ve earned the right to be happy because you have worked hard to be where you are today,” he said.
Family and friends filled the Collins Alumni Auditorium for the ceremony, which was sponsored by Walmart Stores Inc.
In his welcome of the students, Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry related a story about the university’s founder David Lipscomb working together with Catholic nuns to clean the homes of the sick during an epidemic in Nashville in the 1800’s.
“As Lipscomb students, you have a great legacy of doing good for others in your past,” he told the Class of 2014. He urged the students upon graduation to take “a sense of love for people, compassion and an interest in serving people” out into the pharmacy field.
The ceremony also included comments by Max D. Ray, dean emeritus of the College of Pharmacy at Western University in California. Now in retirement, he serves as part-time professor of pharmaceutical services at the University of Tennessee.
Ray noted that the word “profession” comes from the root word “to profess,” and urged the student pharmacists to find something about pharmacy that they can profess each day.
“I’ve had 52 years to wear a white coat,” Ray said. “Still after all this time, when I put on my white coat I think for a second, ‘Max Ray, you are professing pharmacy. Everything I do today will be something bigger than I am.’”
The white coat ceremony was followed by a luncheon in Allen Arena for the new students and their families.
In response to the growing need for highly qualified pharmacists throughout the nation, Lipscomb University announced in September 2006 that it would create the third pharmacy college in the state, the first in Middle Tennessee.
The Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy emphasizes commitment to a Christian life of service and ideals as it prepares students to enter a service profession built on compassion and commitment to those who have healthcare needs.
QuestWeek, Aug. 17-22
Lipscomb University’s annual new student orientation – QuestWeek – began Tuesday, Aug. 17, and continued through the weekend, providing hundreds of new students opportunities to learn not just about campus and academic life, but also to enjoy the city of Nashville through field trips to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, cosmic bowling and to service organizations all over town on Community Involvement Day.
At the QuestWeek Freshman Olympics, freshmen and transfer students participated in 12 events, including the Bucket Race, the Dizzy Bat Game, the three-legged race and more. QuestWeek DewFest brought music, a huge slip-n’-slide and plenty of Mountain Dew.
Besides pure fun, QuestWeek also brings more serious activities such as the campus resource fair, when students took time to learn about the various campus services and student life opportunities such as social clubs, missions opportunities, student publications, the counseling center, the Serving and Learning Together program, the Career Development Center and global learning.
At Community Involvement Day, hundreds of new students are introduced to Lipscomb's strong tradition of community service by scattering throughout the city to volunteer at 13 nonprofit organizations, such as Radnor Lake, Ronald McDonald House, local churches and community centers.
Initium, Aug. 22
Upper classmen and faculty got a chance to welcome the newcomers on Sunday, Aug. 22, with a special candle-lighting ceremony at 8 p.m. in Collins Alumni Auditorium called Initium. This formal induction into the academic community became a Lipscomb tradition just four years ago. The night before classes start, freshmen and transfer students gather to hear messages from faculty and Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry. Faculty light the candles of the new students, and as a symbol of the fresh start for every student, each receives a small slate tile – or a blank slate – as a memento.
First Day We Pray
Each year on the first day of school volunteers staff the McCaleb Mission Center for 24 hours of prayer to bless the coming school year. Each faculty, staff and student is prayed for by name during the 24-hour period. Anyone was free to stop by the McCaleb Mission Center in the Ezell Center beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 23, and join in the marathon prayer. Prayers ended at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 24, just in time for The Gathering, the first chapel service of the year.