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Lipscomb dedicates amphitheater to past president Steve Flatt

Janel Shoun | 

Lipscomb University honored past President Steve Flatt Friday, Nov. 7, with the dedication of the Steve & Patsi Flatt Amphitheater, one of the newest facilities on campus.

Flatt, who served as Lipscomb president for eight years prior to current President L. Randolph Lowry’s arrival in 2005, said he and his wife Patsi were “humbled beyond expression at this tribute to our time here.”

Flatt said that after he was told about the honor he came down to the Bennett Campus Center to see the outdoor amphitheater that sits just off Bison Square. “I thought, as university presidents always do, why didn’t I think of that?” he joked.

During the Friday afternoon dedication ceremony, the Lipscomb Jazz Ensemble, including Flatt’s son Lee performed “When the Saints Go Marching In,” and various Lipscomb board members and alumni shared memories of the Flatts and their selfless service to Lipscomb and the community.

J. D. Elliott, vice chairman of the Lipscomb Board of Trustees, outlined Flatt’s accomplishments during his term at Lipscomb, including dividing the academic program into five colleges; establishing the master’s of business administration, master’s of divinity and bachelor’s of nursing programs; and moving Lipscomb into the NCAA and constructing Allen Arena.

Lowry praised Flatt’s tireless efforts to ensure that Tennessee Hope scholarships, created during his tenure at Lipscomb, would be available not only for Lipscomb students but for all private university students as well as public university students. This year Lipscomb has 622 students on campus who have benefited from the Hope scholarships.

These same students have benefited from the amphitheater, which has “quickly become a center of attention and a center of activity on campus,” said Joe Ivey, Lipscomb’s senior vice president of advancement during the ceremony.

The Steve & Patsi Flatt Amphitheater sits on the south side of the Bennett Campus Center and serves as an outdoor entry into the lower level of the campus center, which includes numerous student service offices and hang-out spots.