Lipscomb turns 125 years old on Oct. 5
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
For more than a century Lipscomb University and Lipscomb Academy have been impacting lives.
On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Lipscomb will reach a significant milestone — its 125th anniversary.
From its beginnings on Oct. 5, 1891, as Nashville Bible School with nine students and three faculty members, Lipscomb University has grown today to nearly 4,600 university students, 266 full-time faculty and a college preparatory academy with 1,300 preK-12 students; is classified as a Carnegie Doctoral University; is ranked among the top-tier of national universities by U.S. News; and offers 141 fields of undergraduate study, 28 master’s degrees and three doctoral degrees among other academic offerings.
On that first day 125 years ago, the planning and dreaming of Nashville preacher David Lipscomb and his friend, James A. Harding, culminated with the opening of that school originally located in a rented house at 104 Fillmore Street, near the present-day General Hospital.
Lipscomb had a dream for what the future of education could be like. In the summer and fall of 1889, a 58-year-old Lipscomb had a dream. He spent long evenings at his Avalon farm along the then-country road, Granny White Pike, with his friend Harding dreaming of a different kind of school for the city of Nashville.
Both men were graduates of Christian colleges and preachers. So when dreaming together on the porch of Lipscomb’s home (which still stands today on the Lipscomb campus) on those nights long ago, they reflected on their own experiences.
David Lipscomb was a product of Franklin College, a manual labor school emphasizing agriculture. But the Bible was an integral part of the curriculum, and faculty taught traditional subjects. James A. Harding graduated from Bethany College, a liberal arts college, which taught the Bible as part of a broader curriculum. Neither school was a seminary. These ideas weren’t popular with the Restoration Movement of that day. This was an unusual approach to education, and it was a concept that stayed alive in Lipscomb’s mind.
With the onset of the Civil War, Franklin College closed its doors. Lipscomb and others made several efforts to raise money to reopen the school. But the days that followed the war were tough financially, and the school never reopened.
The idea did not die. Lipscomb was determined to develop a school in Nashville that would integrate Christian faith and practice with academic excellence.
And so, in 1891 the men took a bold move forward and stepped out in faith to establish Nashville Bible School. They were men ahead of their time … innovators in education. They did not want the institution to be a seminary, but rather an exceptional educational institution, which helps its students to explore and form their faith. As Harding boldly declared when the school opened, “We aspire to stand in the front ranks of the great educational institutions of the world.”
From its early days, the school has been a leader in education. From its very beginning, the institution admitted men and women, which was unusual at that time, and added a medical doctor to its faculty to teach sciences in only its second year of existence. Primary and secondary education was also offered as part of the institution, also a unique idea that remains so even today. This became the foundation for Lipscomb Academy, the institution’s college-preparatory preK-12 school.
David Lipscomb dreamed about innovative approaches to education. His vision and pioneer spirit continues to be reflected in the essence of the university today.
“It’s not easy to be a pioneer,” said L. Randolph Lowry, Lipscomb’s 17th president. “It can often be a lonely journey with roadblocks and pitfalls along the way. But we believe it’s essential.
“It’s like Albert Einstein once said, ‘The person (or in our case the institution) who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person (institution) who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.’ If we don’t seek new things, we’ll never find them.”
Today, 85 percent of the nation’s college students are non-traditional in some way. They are older, working adults or ethnic minorities. This fall, Lipscomb University achieved another significant milestone. For the first time in Lipscomb history, nearly one-fourth — 22 percent — of the student body, including undergraduate and graduate students, come from a diverse background including different countries, races and ethnicities. This year’s student body comes from 49 states (including Puerto Rico) and 47 countries, and represents 32 religious preferences.
“We are committed to expanding the opportunity for a Lipscomb education to traditional and non-traditional students from all backgrounds,” Lowry said. “Increasing access and affordability is a way to achieve that goal and respond to community education needs.”
Among the innovative approaches to higher education that Lipscomb University has not only developed but led the way in are competency-based education, a Yellow Ribbon Program, a First Generation program and the Lipscomb LIFE program. All of these are modern-day outgrowths of the vision and innovation set into motion by David Lipscomb and James A. Harding on Oct. 5, 1891.
Throughout the 2016-17 academic year, a variety of events will take place to commemorate the anniversary. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, Founder’s Day chapel will celebrate the anniversary. On Oct. 5, a special 125th anniversary website will launch that will include historical information, videos and other memorabilia that will continue to grow throughout the year. The site will be located at 125.lipscomb.edu.