Earlier this week, Belmont announced the list of students recognized on the Dean’s List for the Spring 2020 semester. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours (exclusive of audit and pass/fail courses this semester) and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C (inclusive of audit, pass/fail courses and zero-credit courses).
Approximately 53 percent of Belmont’s 6,313 undergraduate students qualified for the Spring 2020 Dean’s List.
Belmont Provost Dr. Thomas Burns said, “This achievement for the spring semester indicates that these students have placed a high priority on their work at Belmont and have invested time and energy in their studies. It is our strong belief that consistent application in this manner will reap great benefits, which will equip them for a lifetime of learning and growing.”
Dr. Jason Lovvorn, associate professor of English, was recently named to the editorial board of College Teaching. A Taylor & Francis publication in its 68th year, College Teaching is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to teaching and learning issues in undergraduate and graduate pedagogy.
Professor of Entrepreneurship Dr. Mark Schenkel was recently consulted as an expert, lending his thoughts and opinions to WalletHub’s article on the Best Credit Cards.
In the article, Schenkel discusses the health of the credit card industry, tips for people trying to find credit cards that best suit their needs, establishing a systematic approach in using credit cards and more. Read the full article here.
Rising senior Liam Searcy has spent the last year or more exploring the ideas of commitment and what it would look like to bring an audience along on that exploration through song. The musical theater major, actor and composer poured his heart and soul into composing his first song cycle, “Commitment,” which was scheduled to premiere at 54 Below in New York City on May 8. Due to COVID-19 closures, the show has been postponed for January 8, 2021.
For non-theatergoers, a song cycle is like a concept album for musical theater where many individual perspectives on one concept are showcased (See “Edges” by Pasek and Paul or “Songs for a New World” by Jason Robert Brown). The topic is introduced at the beginning of the night and the many characters come in with different situations and individual stories to dive into the conversation around the topic.
Through his involvement with Nashville’s professional theater company Studio Tenn, Searcy had the opportunity to do a reading of his song cycle, which ultimately led to work-shopping the show and later having it premiere at 54 below in New York City. He will also be performing “Commitment” at the Everblue Arts Festival in his hometown of Fairhope, Alabama this July.
While his show centers on the topic of commitment through a collection of individual story songs “exploring a term we all have different definitions for,” Searcy also learned firsthand what commitment to a project looks like through producing the first two performances and readings all on his own – fundraising, promotion, writing and all – while balancing school and performing in many other professional productions around Nashville. He later joined forces with Elyn Collier to produce the show’s New York City performance.
Searcy’s commitment to getting the show up and running paid off, as he met his fundraising goals through house concerts during Belmont’s spring break, just before the coronavirus would have made them impossible. “It’s a big endeavor, but I knew I’d be able to do it. I’m really thankful to God for the passion and drive He has instilled in me,” he said. “Fundraising would be so much harder right now, and it was God’s timing that I got it all done before the world started shutting down. The show is more alive than ever.”
Searcy and fellow Belmont student and arranger Daniel Fiamengo started work-shopping the show and writing songs in February of 2018, and they realized their songs were all relationship-centered. The workshops were called “Reasons,” hosted at Nashville’s Studio Tenn and directed by Matt Logan. Searcy explained, “A few months after that workshop, I just thought ‘nothing is working; I need to find a reason for people to sit through these songs and enjoy them. They are enjoying them, but they don’t know why they are there. The topic is not introduced and then concluded.’”
Taking a step back, Searcy realized commitment is a term addressed in each of the songs. He explained that in the dictionary, “commitment” has two definitions – one meaning an act of devotion to someone and another meaning an engagement that restricts freedom. Searcy used the tension between those definitions to produce the latest version of the show. On the day the show was supposed to premiere at 54 Below, Searcy posted a video to his Instagram of one of the show’s songs, “Beautiful People,” which explores commitment…or lack thereof. “I’m committed to the easy lie; That we will wake up satisfied.”
Searcy was able to recruit several Belmont alumni living and working as professionals in New York to join the show, including Deonté L. Warren (Genie in “Aladdin”), Katie Ladner (“Wicked,” “Sunset Boulevard”), Ben Laxton (“Book of Mormon”), Andrea Laxton (“Ghost” National Tour) and Abby Docherty, among others.
Collier served as Searcy’s co-producer, and arranger Tyler Williams worked to make the songs perfect on paper. Tony Matula stepped in to design the show’s poster. The artwork illustrates some of the journeys the show takes, spelling out words like “sacrifice,” or “dangerous.” “You can see the ideas like ‘different than expected’ or ‘a daily choice’ reflected,” Searcy explained. “Commitment is a sacrifice. Commitment is blindsiding. It’s the discovery that a daily choice is what can make a commitment in a relationship last and be beautiful.”
Searcy said he chose musical theater major specifically at Belmont for the unique things the program offers. “Belmont is sending people to Broadway through the program and allowing us to work out in the industry,” he said. “Belmont has an environment close to that of the industry where we don’t feel closed off from the world, but it still has a Christian perspective and is being taught through a Christian worldview.”
Searcy credits Belmont for offering him the connections and auditions that landed him jobs in professional theaters around Nashville like Studio Tenn and Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre. Those theater jobs, at least 11 in his three years at Belmont, allowed Searcy to explore his passion for composing and to jump at opportunities to pursue more outside work. He spent the spring semester receiving credit for a composition internship with Pete Peterson and has also been working on several other musicals of his own.
“I’ve had a jam-packed schedule for two and a half years, but it’s been really rewarding for me as an artist. It’s been a really great opportunity my teachers have set me up with,” Searcy explained. “People like my vocal coach Nancy Allen who is always at my readings, and all of my teachers—David Shamburger, Erica Aubrey, Jo Lynn Burks—they’re always in my court and really helping me out.”
With “Commitment,” Searcy hopes to build a college following. Through 54 Below, the songs become legitimized. Searcy explained, “If it can be sung in Broadway’s ‘Living Room,’ which is the nickname for 54 Below, then it can be sung anywhere. I’ll have videos posted online and the sheet music for sale, hoping that colleges all around the states will hear my music and sing it in their seminars; teachers will teach it to their students. That’s a big thing for this first step.”
Looking forward, Searcy hopes to focus on his deepest passion, composing, but plans to continue acting on stage and in film. With more shows in the works, he hopes to use the footprint created with “Commitment” to step into a place in New York after he graduates.
Selected from 446 applications, Belmont law student Ally Hicks is one of 35 selected students who will serve in the 2020 class of the prestigious Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellowship.
Each summer, Equal Justice Works partners with Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to support law students who want to give back to rural communities across the United States and its territories. Student Fellows spend eight to ten weeks during the summer exploring a career in civil legal aid, by providing direct legal services and building capacity at the organizations where they serve. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Student Fellows will work remotely this year to support the efforts of their host organization.
Hicks will be hosted by Kentucky Legal Aid, where she will help the organization implement its Eviction Diversion Project, an initiative aimed at reducing homelessness in rural, economically-depressed areas by connecting individuals facing or at-risk of eviction with civil legal services.
“Through the Rural Summer Legal Corps, Ally will have the opportunity to explore a career in public interest law while helping Kentucky Legal Aid to increase access to safe, affordable housing for all people,” said Aoife Delargy Lowe, director of law school engagement and advocacy at Equal Justice Works. “We are grateful to Belmont Law for supporting her passion for public service.”
Hicks said she believes that lawyers have the potential to be a tremendous force for good. “Acting as a Rural Summer Legal Corps Student Fellow at Kentucky Legal Aid allows me to serve a community that desperately needs legal assistance but is often ignored by the legal community due to lack of financial resources and availability of information,” she explained. “Through this experience, I hope to spread the Christian values of charity and selflessness that Belmont Law embodies and prove that everyone is deserving of help, regardless of their current situation.”
Following the completion of 300 hours of service in the program, participants earn a $5,000 stipend. You can find additional information about the program here.
In an email to students earlier today, Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher offered new details on the University’s plans for classes for the Fall 2020 semester. Fisher announced May 12 that Belmont’s intent was to return to on campus learning, though he made clear it would involve “many conditions,” noting, “For us to be successful in our return we will have to do some things very differently to minimize the risk to ourselves and each other.”
Today’s communication, which can be found in its entirety on Belmont’s COVID-19 Response website, shedded additional light on changes that will be implemented this fall as a means to provide the safest possible return to learning:
Our “Return to Learn” team—led by our Provost, Dr. Thomas Burns, and VP for Institutional Effectiveness, Dr. Paula Gill—has made remarkable progress in outlining several options from which our students can choose how to approach fall learning.
One option will be for students to return to Belmont for on-campus classes that may have a mix of in-person and online features. This approach will allow us to manage the number of students physically together in the classroom at any given time. We are also planning to stagger start and end times for classes as another measure of density control. For students who are not comfortable or able to come back to the physical campus in the fall but wish to begin or continue pursuing a Belmont education, there will be options to enroll in a semester of fully remote learning. More details about both of these options are forthcoming, but for now we want you to knowthat we’re seeking to accommodate as many different needs as possible.
Another important component of the Return to Learning plan is to shorten the Academic Calendar for Fall. The adjustment has us still beginning classes on August 19, but completing final exams by Friday, November 20 so everyone is home for the winter break before Thanksgiving. To allow this, we will hold classes on Labor Day, cancel Fall Break and make other adjustments to class duration and the amount of outside-of-class engagement to ensure we are delivering the full content of course work. All of this is being done to minimize student travel in the fall.
These decisions were made (and future decisions will be assessed) with the goal of continuing to offer you the opportunity to “Be Belmont” – and be AT Belmont – while minimizing risk to students, faculty and staff. Toward that end, we will also implement changes that include modified processes for campus dining, new residence life protocols and enhanced health services offerings, among others.
I’ve often said that Belmont is “a small town in a big city.” Our commitment is to do our very best to make Belmont the safest small town in the United States. Please be looking for more information soon about our return plans.
Dean of Belmont’s College of Pharmacy Dr. David Gregory offered his knowledge and writing skills to two chapters in the latest title published by the American Pharmacists Association called “Sports Pharmacy: Performance Enhancing Drugs, and the Athlete.”
Gregory joined other authors from the University of Mississippi: Pharmacologist Dr. Marvin Wilson, Athletic Director and Physical Therapist Dr. Shannon R. Singletary, and Pharmacy Law Professor Dr. Erin R. Holmes. Gregory wrote Chapter 7: Therapeutic Uses of Performance Enhancing Drugs and co-authored Chapter 3: Prohibited Substances and Their Actions with Wilson.
The book provides a comprehensive compilation of information in a single location on performance-enhancing substances by United States collegiate, amateur and professional athletes. The pharmacology of all classes of performance-enhancing drugs is discussed, as well as any data that support their use, covering a wide range of laws, policies and regulations concerning the use of substances by athletes.
With the breadth of topics covered, Sports Pharmacy is the most complete text available on performance-enhancing drugs. No other title comes close to the comprehensive nature of the topics discussed in this groundbreaking resource.
Global Labor Organization (GLO) Fellow and Belmont Associate Professor of Economics Colin Cannonier was appointed GLO Country Lead for St. Kitts and Nevis (a dual-island nation between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea), where he is a frequent advisor to the government.
In 2019, Cannonier delivered a prestigious lecture as the featured speaker at the Annual Prime Minister’s Independence Lecture Series. His research focus is in applied economics with emphasis in health, labor, education and how those intersect with public policy and economic development.
Cannonier has authored several peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals such as Economics of Education Review, Journal of Labor Research, Review of Economics of the Household and Journal of Demographic Economics.
Alumna Patrice Jégou, who graduated from Belmont in 2000 with her Master of Music degree in Classical Vocal Performance, recently won the 2020 Independent Music Award for Best A Cappella Song for “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,” featuring 10-time Grammy winners Take 6.
The winning track, “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,” is from Jégou’s latest album, “If It Ain’t Love.”The music video has more than 40k views on YouTube, and Jégou’s recent guest performance of this piece with Take 6 at the world-famous Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City was a true crowd-pleaser. Jégou, along with Mark Kibble and Alvin Chea from Take 6, also won this category last year for the track “Lover Come Back to Me,” arranged by Kibble.
Jégou is currently working on a new album of inspirational music that features collaborations with Mark Kibble and Khristian Dentley from Take 6; renowned Nashville-based pianist Pat Coil (keyboardist for Michael MacDonald), and Dr. Wayne Bucknor (Professor of Piano at Oakwood University).
Now in its 18th year, The Independent Music Awards, produced by Music Resource Group, honors the exceptional work by indie creatives from around the globe. The planet’s most diverse music awards program honors artistry and daring rather than streams and social reach and celebrates everything that makes indie music authentic and unique. With the world currently in lock down, The IMAs canceled this year’s live ceremony, and instead announced the year’s best self-released and indie label projects online. View all 18th IMA Winners here.
The winning projects were selected by influential judging panelists including: Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, Robert Smith, Ziggy Marley, KT Tunstall, Dee Snider, Drowning Pool, Roberta Flack, Jaci Velasquez, Coolio, Joshua Bell, Beth Gibbons, Joe Satriani and many more indie creatives, top recording artists and industry influencers.View all 18th IMA Judges here.
“The world needs to hear from independent artists now more than ever. We didn’t want to keep it waiting”, said The Independent Music Awards Executive Director, Martin Folkman. “There’s no telling how long it will be before we can all meet face to face again, so The IMAs reimagined this years’ live award show as an ongoing, online showcase for extraordinary indie artists everywhere. So even if artists can’t travel, they can take a virtual victory lap in front of worldwide audience, and be recognized for excellence.”
Rising junior Halle Huff was recognized as a winner in the 2020 NYCxDesign Awards Student Product Design category, hosted virtually this year by Interior Design magazine and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair on May 18. Now in its fifth year, the NYCxDESIGN Awards honor outstanding top projects and products in categories that span major areas of design.
This year, winners and honorees were chosen from 555 total entries, with 343 products, including those coming to New York City from 24 countries, and 212 projects representing all five boroughs in the mix. In addition to Huff, the five other student winners represented renowned schools such as Pratt, Rhode Island School of Design, SCAD and others. The student category can be viewed beginning at minute-marker 58:19 on Interior Design Magazine’s Facebook video.
Huff said she feels honored to be next to the other five students’ “incredible” designs. “It is a really validating feeling to be recognized among other students from renowned schools like RISD,” she said. “I couldn’t be happier to represent Belmont.”
Huff’s winning piece was an assignment created for Susan Besser’s Design History class where students were directed to create a textile design, furniture piece and a light fixture from an art movement the class studied during the course. Huff’s piece is from The Aesthetic Movement as she was “captivated by the mantra of it – ‘art for art’s sake.’” A movement that really resonated with her, The Aesthetic Movement was a late nineteenth century movement that emphasized bringing art into everyday life.
Huff’s piece “Flaming June 2.0”
“Think of it like the original lifestyle photography where you would see flaming, red-haired beauties, medieval geometric design and Japanese motifs all draped along a chaise in a living room. Aestheticism would become a part of all areas of life – from music and literature to interior design and fashion. At its heart was the desire to create self-expression over moral expectations.” Huff explained. “In a time where we are all confined to our homes, it has allowed us the creative freedom to try something new. We are looking around at our own space in a different light and trying to bring beauty to it.”
Huff said she took to her balcony with a cup of coffee and a notepad for the sketch phase of her design. She began drawing with no particular goal in mind– a page that now looks illegible. It consisted of a coffee table made of geometric peacock heads and a sconce from a smashed Japanese vase. Huff stepped back and looked at it from afar and saw the shape of a woman, which made her remember the famous painting “Flaming June” by Frederic Leighton from the Aesthetic Movement.
“Thus, my wallcovering ‘Flaming June 2.0’ was created,” she explained.
The piece is intended to be an anaglyph, so one could paint over top of it in any color while still having an embossed effect. Huff’s submission was white with some parts dark grey.
Huff would have never entered the competition if it were not for Susan Besser, adjunct instructor in Belmont’s O’More College of Design. “She is a wealth of knowledge and the type of teacher that really cares about the future of her students. I honestly couldn’t have done it without her encouragement,” said Huff. “When working from home in a design major, it’s easy to have doubts when you don’t have others to bounce ideas off of. At O’more we really rely on each other for feedback. Mrs. Susan Besser is someone who I will go to for advice in my professional career. I value her opinion, and any student is lucky to have her!”
Huff said Nashville will always have a special place in her heart, but she dreams of traveling to Morocco after graduation or working for a company that travels around the world. She is currently creating a website to sell her designs, named after her grandmother Cenona. Overall, she said she is excited to see what year three at Belmont has to offer.
A portion of this year’s proceeds from the NYCxDesign Awards will be donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
