A Christian university where anything is possible.

Due to allergies, Anna Belle Skidmore a senior education major, is required to eat a gluten- free diet while also being a long-distance runner. “I was needing something to eat that was gluten-free, would work with my active running lifestyle, but would also taste good,” said Anna Belle. “So we started experimenting with different ways to flavor granola. Every time we took our favorite flavors and turned them into new granola recipes, we said, ‘We Granola’d it!’ So that became our tagline!”

Growing up in an orphanage in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, Donken Andre, junior, thought his calling in life was to be a pastor. However, after arriving at Lipscomb and experiencing its unique blend of spiritual, leadership and missional programming, he realized that goal was just too small for God’s work. Now he is working toward launching a foundation to advocate for the people in Haiti through business education as well as ministry. Today he wants to help the young men and women in Haiti break out of the poverty cycle through leadership both inside—and outside—the church.

Austin Smith (’06), Hermitage, Tennessee, opened the original Party Fowl full-service restaurant on 8th Avenue in downtown Nashville with co-owner Nick Jacobson in 2014. Its success launched them into the forefront of the Nashville Hot Chicken craze and led to the opening of five additional locations in Donelson, Cool Springs, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, and most recently, Destin, Florida.

Aaron Hardy, junior civil engineering major from Parkersburg, West Virginia, learned a lot about building a firm foundation for structures in his civil engineering materials class, but after a class contest to design a new formula for concrete to make it as strong as possible, he developed a curiosity about what science “grounded” the building codes and best practices for civil engineers.

With her trend-setting wardrobe, multi-colored fingernails and big earrings, master’s degree holder E.R. Brown doesn’t look like the stereotypical image of an archeology professor. Nor does she match society’s image of the dashing 1930s Egyptologist in a pith helmet, and certainly not the image of Indiana Jones, a film character who was absolutely not practicing archaeology, says Brown.

Mike Nawrocki (MFA '19) was part of a team that had a fairly bold idea: teaching kids Biblical values by having them converse with talking vegetables. Nawrocki works one-on-one with animation students to create his most recent animated series, The Dead Sea Squirrels, while also teaching screenwriting, voice-over acting, and career creativity as a visiting professor at the George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts.

Luke Snyder ('23), a senior studying music composition at Lipscomb University joins a select group of musicians this past fall after being chosen as one of five finalists for the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Award in the Emerging Division for Film/Media Scoring. Snyder's accomplishments as a student include taking first and second place in Lipscomb's 5 Minute Film Competition, winning the Amy Grant Scholarship, making it to the top 100 in the Cue Tube "Spring" scoring festival, and winning Lipscomb's annual prize for outstanding composition.

What began as a thesis film project for Tiffani Alexander when she was a student pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Creative Media at Lipscomb was applauded at two film festivals this summer and will be released to the public by next summer as the pilot of a multi-episode series. Alexander is leading the project in the roles of creator, director, co-editor and co-producer.

Although pursuing a degree in engineering, Plunkett’s passion for sharing sports with others never waned. While fully engaged in her mechanical engineering studies, Plunkett also honed her sports broadcasting skills by working for Lipscomb Athletics in various roles for its ESPN+ productions. After graduation, she joins the ESPN NEXT program as a production assistant.

When Ian Reitmaier enrolled in a programming class his senior year of high school he had little idea that class would spark a passion that would guide his college decision and career choice. While at Lipscomb, Reitmaier had the opportunity to create an application for Nissan USA in one of his classes. In 2022, Reitmaier graduated from Lipscomb University with a Bachelor of Science degree in software engineering, valuable real-world experience and a job as an application developer.