May 2022 senior class leaves mark with new arch

Office of Public Relations & Communications | 04/28/2022

The Lipscomb community has a new icon on campus thanks to the May 2022 senior class. 

Led by Grace Davis, senior class president, and Grant Hitchcock, SGA president, this year’s senior class decided to leave a lasting reminder of their time on campus by commissioning an arch for students and visitors alike to enjoy.

The steel arch bears the name Lipscomb and serves as an iconic entryway to campus as it is located on the south corner of campus at the intersection of Granny White Pike and Shackleford Road. The Lipscomb arch was designed and built by students in Lipscomb’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering. The arch was funded with gifts from members of the senior class. 

“I grew up near a university campus that had an arch that was a focal point of that campus,” explained Davis. “It was a place where graduates had their pictures made and alumni would go and meet there. So, we thought it would be nice for Lipscomb to have such a place. The spot where we have selected for this arch is a perfect location because so many people come to Lipscomb this way and you can see the bell tower through it.”

The arch was officially dedicated during a ceremony on April 28. 

This is the first physical gift that has been given by a graduating class since 2012. But the idea of class gifts is not new. 

Perhaps the most recognizable historic senior gift was the Brewer Bell Tower, still standing today just outside Shamblin Theatre. The David Lipscomb College class of 1935 decided to donate funds toward the amount needed to construct a bell tower that would call future students to both class and worship.  

Total cost of construction was $450. The tower was dedicated on April 11, 1935 and named for Charles R. Brewer (1890-1971), best remembered as a Bible professor, but who also taught English literature, Greek, French and Latin. 

While not sizable or visible today, certainly the most remembered student gift was the $5.13 in pennies that students dropped into the hands of a surprised Willard Collins during the June 1978 commencement ceremony, his first as Lipscomb president. The money went into the Student Loyalty Fund and the graduation stunt was copied by other graduating classes through the years.

Today’s metal arch adds a sophisticated touch to one corner of campus, but it is apparently not the first senior-donated arch the Lipscomb campus has boasted. An entry arch once located on the south end of Lipscomb's semicircular driveway on the Granny White Pike side, near the current steam plant and Sewell Hall. It had a sign stating, “From the Class of 1930.”