Economics major/math minor Hillary Cheruiyot spent the summer interning at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, African Business Initiative Department. Cheruiyot worked on issues that affect trade in Sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. The internship was through The Washington Center and Hillary was placed in the Global Trade and Regional integration program. This placement combined his interests in Economics and global policies, especially those relating to Africa (and homeland of Kenya). The Washington Center program brings together U.S. and international students and the students receive nine hours of credit for their experiences.
Stewart Co-Directs Career Workshop
Dr. Sarah Ann Stewart, assistant professor in the Math & Computer Science department, served as the co-director of the 2009 Career Mentoring Workshop held in Norton, Massachusetts. The three-day workshop targets women pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics and seeks to better prepare these women for the job search and their future careers. Information sessions and mentoring opportunities formed the majority of the time at the workshop. In addition to helping with the organization of the workshop, Stewart led a session titled, “The Job Search: An Overview.”
Norton Published in Forum
A Belmont public relations major is published in the current issue of Forum, a national newsletter published three times per year by the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Sarah Norton, a Belmont honors student and the president of the Belmont chapter of PRSSA, wrote “Social Media: Client Outreach or Company Advertisement?” She emphasizes the responsible use of social media platforms such as blogs and Twitter. The Fall 2009 issue of the newsletter is available on the PRSSA home page at www.prssa.org. PRSSA is a pre-professional public relations co-curricular organization with more than 9,600 members in 284 universities across the country.
Alumni Performing with Jonny Lang
Two Belmont alumni, Dwan Hill (2008) and Akil Thompson (2001), are currently on the road performing with Jonny Lang, who will be in concert next Friday night, Sept. 18, at the Ryman. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.
Belmont Chancellor, Former President Dr. Herbert C. Gabhart Passes Away
‘Heart and soul’ of Belmont leaves 50-year legacy of leadership
Dr. Herbert C. Gabhart, 95, chancellor and retired president of Belmont University, passed away early this morning in Nashville. Dr. Gabhart served Belmont University for 50 years, leading as president of Belmont College from 1959-1982 and inspiring the campus as chancellor for the past 26 years.
“On behalf of the entire Belmont University community, I want to express my sincere condolences to the Gabhart family,” said Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher. “Dr. Gabhart represented the heart and soul of Belmont for the past 50 years, and we will miss him deeply. However, his legacy of love for this institution and the people here will live on. We all recognize that Belmont’s successes today come from standing atop his shoulders and building on all that he first achieved. His words, his life and his vision will continue to inspire and guide Belmont into the future.”
Dr. Gabhart served as president of Belmont College from 1959 until he retired in 1982 and began his term as chancellor of Belmont, a position he held for 27 years. During his tenure as president, Belmont experienced phenomenal growth in enrollment and physical space. When he arrived at Belmont College in 1959, the school’s enrollment was 360 students. When he retired as president in 1982, Belmont’s student population had grown by 500 percent to more than 2,000. He oversaw a budget increase from $480,000 to $8 million, and the campus also saw physical expansion with the addition of nine new buildings, including the Massey Performing Arts Center, Wheeler Humanities building, Hitch Science building, the library, and more. Belmont also expanded academically by adding many majors and degrees, including music, nursing, business and more.
Dedicating 50 years of his life and career to Belmont University, Dr. Gabhart’s fingerprints are evident across the campus, including in the Gabhart Student Center named in his honor. Under his leadership, Belmont forged numerous relationships with community leaders—including Jack C. Massey and the Maddox family—that brought the institution to new heights. Dr. Gabhart also guided the college through significant challenges in its early history as a four-year institution, including a fire that destroyed an academic building and several periods of financial strain.
Upon his retirement as president of Belmont in 1983, Dr. Gabhart said, “Every day I live I will say a good word and do a good deed for Belmont,” a promise he more than fulfilled. In a 1999 email to campus, Dr. Gabhart congratulated the Belmont community on its growth and reflected on his 40 years of service at that time: “The university is on the shores of the unknown future, of an ocean of unseen miracles. With vision, courage and faith, the impossible can become possible. It will therefore sail on and on, pursuing an upward course.”
He is survived by his wife Dr. Norma Baker Gabhart, daughters Betty Fay Gabhart Smith (Nashville) and Jo Ellen Gabhart Aleshire (Pittsburgh, PA); four grandchildren Jennie Lee Aleshire (New Orleans), Jonathan Daniel Aleshire (Elon, NC), William Timothy Smith, and Matthew Conway Smith (both of Nashville); and his sister, Helen Louise Gabhart Hayden (Evansville, IN). He is also survived by two sons-in-law, James Randolph Smith and Daniel O. Aleshire, and nieces and nephews: Robert Alan Hayden (Hilton Head, SC), Daniel Riley Hayden (Evansville, IN), Charles M. Ashburn (Westminster, MD), Bill Ashburn (Ft. Wayne, IN) and Becky Ashburn Clark (San Diego, CA).
Dr. Herbert Conway Gabhart was born on August 19, 1914 in Morganfield, Ky., and was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Helen Ashburn Gabhart (1999), his eldest daughter, Diana Ruth Gabhart (1994), and two siblings, Elizabeth Lorene Gabhart and William Royal Gabhart.
Prior to coming to Belmont, Dr. Gabhart served pastorates at First Baptist Church, Williamsburg, KY and McClean Baptist Church, Memphis, TN. Dr. Gabhart was past president of the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools and the chairman of the Affiliated Independent Colleges of Tennessee. He also served on the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and was a long-time member of the Nashville Kiwanis Club, the Chamber of Commerce and Belmont Heights Baptist Church and a current member of First Baptist Church Nashville. In addition to being honored as a Distinguished Alumni of Carson-Newman College, Dr. Gabhart was also honored in 1985 with the prestigious Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews and received the Ralph Brunson Spiritual Aims Award, a lifetime achievement honor, from the Kiwanis Club in 1996. He received a B.S. from Carson Newman College and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. After serving as a church pastor for several years, Dr. Gabhart accepted the job of president of Belmont in 1959. In addition to his 50 years of service and leadership at Belmont, Dr. Gabhart also authored more than 16 books.
Dr. Gabhart’s grandchildren will serve as pallbearers, and honorary pallbearers will include members of the Dynamo class of Belmont Heights Baptist Church, members of the Sojourners class of First Baptist Church, the greater Belmont University family, Downtown Kiwanis and the Palaver Club of Nashville.
The family will receive visitors Saturday from 2-5 p.m. at Belmont University’s Gordon E. Inman Center (fourth floor). A memorial service will be conducted at the First Baptist Church Nashville on Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by a private family burial. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, sympathy be expressed by donations to the Herbert C. Gabhart Scholarship Fund at Belmont University.
Eighth Annual Humanities Symposium Tackles Theme of ‘Nature and the Human Spirit’
Featured lecturers to include Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver
Belmont University announced today the theme and program schedule for its Eighth Annual Humanities Symposium, which this year will feature talks by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver. Centered on the concept “Nature and the Human Spirit,” this year’s Humanities Symposium occurs Sept. 13-21 and parallels the overall university 2009-10 academic concentration on “A Paradise Lost? Environment, Ecology and Sustainability.”
The Humanities Symposium seeks to fulfill the classical definition of what a symposium should be: a gathering of friends for the purpose of intellectually stimulating conversation on a matter important to humanity, time and place. More than 25 academic lectures and special events will be held during this year’s eight-day symposium, including Oliver’s appearances, student readings, nature walks, art exhibits and the viewing and discussion of Sean Penn-directed film Into the Wild.
Dr. Annette Sisson, professor in Belmont’s English department and an organizer of this year’s event, said, “This year’s topic is very timely and highly relevant as it addresses the environment, ecology and sustainability, which raises the question of how humanity and nature relate to one another. But it also encourages us to explore how human beings can live more fully and richly when they have a keen awareness of their own place within the natural order of things… Mary Oliver has devoted her entire career to writing poetry and essays about this very topic, so her contribution to this year’s symposium will be a tremendous highlight of the program. However, once other writers and scholars learned that she would be participating, they were eager to sign on—so our symposium this year has more range, depth and texture than ever before.”
Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver, the celebrated author of more than a dozen books of poetry and prose, will conduct a reading open to the public on Thurs., Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at Belmont Heights Baptist Church. With her lyrical connection to the natural world, Oliver’s poetry has firmly established her in the highest realm of American poets. In addition to her 1984 Pulitzer, she has been honored with the National Book Award for Poetry and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, among others. She is renowned for her evocative and precise imagery, which brings nature into clear focus, transforming the everyday world into a place of magic and discovery. As poet Stanley Kunitz writes, “Mary Oliver’s poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing. Her special gift is to connect us with our sources in the natural world, its beauties and terrors and mysteries and consolations.”
Gospel Music Singer CeCe Winans Inspires Students
Gospel singer CeCe Winans was interviewed by Belmont’s Harry Chapman Wednesday for the first “Insider’s View” of the fall semester in an appearance sponsored by the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and the Office of Spiritual Development. Winans–a former Belmont trustee who has won numerous Grammy, Dove and Soul Train awards, among others–discussed her successful career as a Gospel artist and offered words of wisdom to a room packed with students.
Coming from a very large family consisting of seven older brothers and two younger sisters, singing was a part of life in the Winans household. CeCe started her career singing with older brother Bebe, and the two had enormous success in the gospel music industry.
Winans accredits her success to her strong faith and says she felt the call of God early on in her life. “The foundation of my life and career has been staying faithful to the Word of God and faithful to God and his plan for my life. You know everything is going to be all right if you stay focused on him,” she said.
Winans sought to inspire the younger generation in the audience, noting that it is often easy in life to get so busy doing “good stuff” that people often leave the “great stuff” out. She discussed the importance of surrounding yourself with good people who will keep you grounded and always remembering to be true to who you are. “If it comes from the heart, it is going to touch the heart,” said Winans. “Celebrate the great things about yourself and believe in yourself.”
The idea for Winans Always Sisters Forever Brothers conference, which was held in the Curb Event Center in July, emerged from the idea of wanting to pour into the lives of the younger generation and encourage young people to include God in everyday life. She is also reuniting with her brother Bebe for the first time in 15 years for a new album that will be available Oct. 6.
–Story reported by Aileen Wark
Men’s Golf Earns National Academic Honors
The Belmont men’s golf team finished the 2008-2009 school year with one of the top team grade point averages (GPA) in the nation as the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced its team academic awards on Tuesday. The Bruins were named a GCAA All-Academic Team after posting a team GPA of 3.517 for the 2008-2009 school year. This is the first time that Belmont has received this honor. In addition, BU earned the President’s Special Recognition Award from the GCAA, which indicated that they were among only seven NCAA Division I programs (Belmont, Detroit Mercy, East Carolina, ETSU, Georgia Tech, Rice, and Seton Hall) that had team GPAs of over 3.50. Click here to read the full story.
Bullington Appears on ‘History Detectives’
Dr. Judy Bullington, chair of the art department, appeared on the PBS show “History Detectives” last week, offering her insights on artist Thelma Johnson Streat. Bullington published the only scholarly article to date that focuses solely on the work of this African-American artist, who worked with the well known Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera, on the Pan American Unity mural in San Francisco. Bullington is teaching a course this semester on African-American Art History. Click here to view the episode of “History Detectives.”
Dr. Marcia McDonald Appointed Provost at Belmont
Dr. Marcia McDonald has been named the new provost of Belmont University, effective immediately. McDonald, a Belmont faculty member for 29 years, has also held positions as associate provost for seven years and as interim provost this summer.
In the role of provost, McDonald will act as the university’s chief academic officer, providing visionary direction and serving the academic mission of the University. Reporting to the President and serving in his absence as the chief executive officer, the Provost has broad responsibilities for the planning, development and administration of Belmont’s academic programs and student services.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Dr. McDonald has served Belmont in a variety of positions over the course of many years and has demonstrated her deep respect for the faculty, students and staff of Belmont. Her record of campus leadership and her long-term commitment to Belmont’s mission and vision give her a unique understanding of what makes this university so special.”
McDonald said, “It is a distinct honor to be named Provost at this university that I have loved and had the privilege to serve for almost three decades. I am excited about the opportunity to work with President Fisher, the faculty, staff, students and senior leadership as we continue to build a university known for the quality of its academic programs, the vitality of its campus community and the productive lives of its graduates.”
