Several Belmont alumni and the family of former Media Studies Chair Thom
Storey are hosting a golf tournament on Friday, October 4 at Gaylord Springs
Golf Links to raise money for a scholarship named in his memory.
Storey passed away in 2018, three years after he was diagnosed with cancer. The scholarship allows his legacy to continue by providing financial assistance to future journalists who want to study at Belmont.
Storey was hired in 1985 to start a mass communications program, which eventually grew into a major with now hundreds of graduates. For several years, he was chair of the Media Studies Department and adviser of the campus newspaper, The Vision. During his tenure, Storey received Belmont’s Chaney Distinguished Professor Award for superior teaching and was named Journalism Educator of the Year by the Southeast Journalism Conference.
Belmont alumna and one of the event organizers Michelle Williams said Storey earned the nickname “Linko” in college. “He was the ‘missing link’ to what became a group of life-long friends,” she said. “To many alumni, Storey was the link to some of their best memories at Belmont and to their future careers. So became the name of the tournament – Links for Linko.”
The Executive Learning Networks at Belmont University will present the Next Level Conference on November 20 at 1 p.m. in the Frist Lecture Hall and Janet Ayers Conference Center.
The Next Level Conference was developed in response to the rising
need to explore, discuss and support women in business and leadership roles.
This half-day conference, open to all business executives, will feature keynote
speaker Betsy Myers and two 1-hour long workshop sessions, covering a wide
range of relevant leadership topics.
Belmont’s Director of External Relations & Executive Learning Networks Jill Robinson said the conference’s mission is to educate, advocate and promote women in business, women in leadership and women forging and strengthening their careers.
“Executive Learning Networks is honored to curate and present a conference focusing pointedly on women in the workplace. In 2013, Executive Learning Networks created the offshoot ‘Coffee Connect’ network specifically for supporting the women in our member organizations; this year’s inaugural conference is a culmination of the desire to bring this conversation to the broader Middle Tennessee business community,” she said. “As we celebrate executive women in business and encourage diversity in leadership, we invite both women and men to join us for an exciting day of learning and collaboration.”
Keynote speaker Betsy Myers is currently the founding director of the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University. A leadership expert, author and advocate, she speaks at conferences and workshops around the world on the changing nature of leadership. Her book, “Take the Lead: Motivate, Inspire, and Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Everyone Around You,” continues to be the basis of her work as her experience spans the corporate, political and higher education arena.
Keynote Speaker Betsy Myers
As executive director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Myers focused the center’s teaching and research around personal leadership. Senior adviser to two U.S. presidents, she was most recently the chief operating officer of the Obama Presidential Campaign and chair of Women for Obama. During the Clinton Administration, she spent several years at the U.S. Small Business Administration in posts that included director of the Office of Women’s Business Ownership. She then moved to the White House as President Clinton’s senior adviser on women’s issues and director of the Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach.
The conference schedule includes two breakout sessions. Attendees may choose from a number of engaging sessions, led by some of Nashville’s leading women in business. Breakout options include the following and many more.
Beyond Diversity and Inclusion: The contextualization of authenticity, age, class, gender, immigration status and race. Led by Juliana Ospina Cano of Conexión Américas.
Finding Common Ground: Using the language of food to bridge cultures, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds. Led by Maneet Chauhan, recognized chef, author and TV personality .
Demystifying Diversity & Inclusion. Led by Janessa Cox-Irvin, AllianceBerstein’s head of diversity & inclusion.
The Courage to Lead with Soul: Authentic, Transformational Leadership. Led by Dr. Susan H. West, chief of staff and vice president in the Office of the President at Belmont University.
Invisible Barriers in Navigating your Career. Led by Karen Thompson, assistant vice president in the Marketing and Corporate Affairs Group at HCA Healthcare.
“Please don’t interrupt. I was talking.” A look at gender bias in the workforce. Led by Robin Everhart, senior vice president, chief human resources & transformation officer of Louisiana-Pacific Corporation.
Tickets are available for the full afternoon conference—including the Betsy Myers Keynote and two breakout sessions with a number of impressive session leaders—at an early bird or regular rate (early bird deadline is October 11; use discount code: NXTLVL10). The Betsy Myers Keynote Session & Reception is also available as a stand-alone ticket. Note: The early bird code will expire on Oct. 11 and only works with the conference and NOT the stand-alone Betsy Keynote ticket.Register and Purchase all tickets here.
Along with the Belmont University Executive Learning
Networks, Next Level is sponsored by First Tennessee Bank, the Belmont
University Alumni Association and 3D Technology.
Paige Parrucci, a sophomore songwriting major at Belmont University, cried tears of joys when she received the news that her song “Rectify” had been selected for the Fall Season Promo Commercial for CBS’s “F.B.I.”
Parrucci said, “It felt like the hard work was paying off. It’s so difficult to break through in this industry, and this felt like a step in the right direction for me.”
She recorded the song in December 2018 with distribution company and studio, In the Groove, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Parrucci also recently had placements on ABC’s soap opera “General Hospital.”
Belmont University was at the top of Parrucci’s list during her college search due to the strong songwriting program. She said she has fallen in love with the program, professors and her classmates. “Every songwriting class feels like a mini family, full of laughter and love. It’s wild to think that I’m able to experience a classroom setting like that,” explained Parrucci.
When
she was 8 years old, Parrucci began playing piano and has been in love with
music ever since. Performing has been a passion of hers for a long time, but
her love lies primarily in the writing process. She began songwriting in middle
school but has always known a career music was the only one she’d be happy
pursuing. Parrucci says her interest in the film and TV side of songwriting
developed more recently within the past two years.
Next up for Parrucci is a new EP currently in the works as well as continuing to write and record for In the Groove Studio. She hopes for more placements in the future and is thankful for the support she continues to receive from family and friends.
Austin Lanning, a sophomore at Belmont University, recently released his debut book, “Temporary Infinity.” Lanning is an entertainment industry and religious studies double major from Waco, Texas. His book illustrates the human walk with Christ and with others through the lens of mental illness.
The book tells a fictional narrative about a young man with family and mental health issues looking for fulfillment in life in part one, shares Lanning’s testimony in part two and includes journal entries of expression from Lanning’s high school experience in part three. “Temporary Infinity” has been released at Barnes and Nobles, Garden Publishing Co. and Amazon.
As a freshman in high school, Lanning began writing this story but nearly gave up. With the support and encouragement of two friends, he decided to continue writing. Throughout high school, Lanning began to use the creation of this book as an outlet to express his feelings and emotions into something he could control. “I’ve always written. I grew up a very lonely kid, and writing was a way to create a new life when I was unsatisfied with my own,” he explained.
Lanning put in a lot of work to get the book finished, starting with the fictional narrative only. “When it was over, I looked at what I had done and wasn’t satisfied. I felt that I was hiding behind this story. That’s not the example I wanted to set,” he said. “So I began to write down my own story. I had put some of my journals online whenever I was discouraged and a couple of them made it into the American Library of Poetry. But, I would frequently get texts or messages that my raw emotion had helped someone else, and I thought, ‘if God can use my broken life and create beauty from it, why am I not letting him?’ So, I put those in the book two and used notes from myself to tie it all together.”
Lanning says he made this book for others. He hopes that people will be shown Christ through his book and given hope at rock bottom. With a desire to use his book for good, Lanning is donating 70 percent of the profits from book sales to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).
“Life has given me so much and I just want to give back because I don’t deserve to be here, but God saw something in me and I hope to bring young guys and girls to see that in themselves,” Lanning said. “I’m just going to be obedient to what God says and see what He can do with it now that it’s out. If it lets one person know that they hold worth and are loved, then it was worth it.”
In the future, Lanning hopes to attend graduate school outside of Barcelona, Spain while working with refugees.
In the Janet Ayers Chapel on Monday, Dr. Kevin Cosby delivered a message titled “Thunder or Angels” to Belmont students and visitors.
Cosby has been the senior pastor of St. Stephen’s Church, the largest African American church in the state of Kentucky, for the past 40 years. He is also the author of five books and has served as the president of Simmons College in Louisville, Kentucky, the nation’s 107th historically black college, for the past 14 years.
“Whenever we are living a life of service and not a life of selfishness, there will always be two voices in your head. One is the voice of thunder, and one is the voice of angels. Whatever voice we listen to will determine whether or not we will truly serve humanity,” Cosby shared.
He spoke about the choice presented to Jesus when he was given the opportunity to escape death and flee to Athens or stay to be crucified in Jerusalem to sacrifice himself. By staying in Jerusalem and facing crucifixion, Jesus saved humanity.
Dr. Kevin Cosby in Chapel at Belmont
“We think that our faith only makes sense when we come to church and when we go to chapel. The fact of the matter is that our faith is so real that it is interwoven into the very fabric of life. At the root of our faith is this idea that in order for something to live, something has to die,” Cosby explained.
Cosby said he was only able to be standing there that day because somebody died and urged the audience to always remember someone died for them. “I would not be here if Rosa Parks was not willing to die. I would not be here if Martin Luther King Jr. had not died. They died so I would have the right to be here.”
“Thunder or Angels” brought to light the disparities the African American community has faced and are still facing today with the reminder that Christians are called to give up their lives to serve others.
Cosby declared, “Everyone must make a decision. Will I be willing to stay in Jerusalem? Will you consume your life or will you contribute your life?”
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Dr. Christi Williams was one of approximately 20 individuals throughout the United States who were invited by the organization Pet Partners to attend a professional summit in San Antonio, TX this past month. Pet Partners is a nonprofit organization that registers handlers of various species to serve as volunteer pet therapy teams.
Pet teams provide animal-assisted-interventions for a wide variety of needs, including patients in healthcare facilities, kids with reading disabilities, students around exam times as well as adults and children in courtrooms, in crisis situations, etc. All of this work is done with the intent to help reduce stress and anxiety and improve human health and well-being through the human-animal bond.
The summit was held to gather various professionals who are using animal-assisted-interventions within their industry with the goal of helping to improve the usability of animals at a professional level. Williams was invited for her experience of training and working with her therapy dog, Layla, as a volunteer team in various healthcare settings at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as well as for her research publications on the benefits of animal-assisted-interventions.
The summit included physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, educators, researchers, child-life specialists, volunteer coordinators and representatives from police departments, insurance companies and various hospitals throughout the United States.
For more information about animal-assisted-interventions or how to get involved, please visit petpartners.org.
On Sept. 22, Belmont Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) students volunteered at the annual Sara Walker Run to honor the life of 2003 Belmont DPT alumna Sara Pigg Walker. The Sara Walker Run is a fundraising event to raise money for various missions supported through the Sara Walker Foundation that are intended to help spread Walker’s message of hope to others through Jesus Christ.
This year marked the 10th Sara Walker Run. The first Run occurred in April 2011 when Walker’s ‘Belmont PT family’ sought to find a way to raise funds for medical expenses to help her and her family when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Due to its huge success, and in an effort to continue to honor her, the annual Sara Walker Run continues today and serves as the Sara Walker Foundation’s main fundraising event.
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Dr. Christi Williams shares Walker’s story with all incoming Belmont DPT students, encouraging them to help spread Walker’s message to others by participating in the event and/or volunteering to help with the Kids for Kids Fun Run, which is organized and run by Belmont DPT students.
There were 83 Belmont DPT students in attendance this year, which sets a record for the program. Third-year student, Lauren Addison, served as the student leader and event coordinator for the student volunteers who designed various fun activities for the kids to participate in during the run. The kids were divided into three age groups and were given a wrist band that coordinated with their teammates. Each team was led by a group of Belmont DPT students while the other students created obstacles involving pool noodles, silly string, water balloons and more. Following the race, Walker’s father Jody (Papa) Pigg, with the help of student volunteers, led the kids in an interactive and fun worship service.
To learn more about Walker’s story and the mission of the Sara Walker Foundation, click here. You can also purchase a copy of Walker’s book, The Light Shines Through – A Story of Hope in the Midst of Suffering, which can be found on Amazon. All proceeds from the book go to Walker’s two children for their college fund.
Dr. Christian Williams, director of Belmont’s public health program, was chosen as chair for the Program Committee and chair of the Public Health Academics Section for the Tennessee Public Health Association (TPHA), one of the nation’s largest affiliates of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Two Belmont public health majors were also appointed to leadership positions by their peers. Jaylen Palmer was selected as co-chair of the Student Section and Lillian Adamson was chosen as the Middle Tennessee representative for the Student Section.
TPHA is the state’s official professional organization for those engaged or interested in public health and is endorsed by the administration of the Tennessee Department of Health. Through TPHA, professionals and students who represent diverse service areas have opportunities to meet and share ideas in an effort to maintain high standards of quality in all aspects of public health.
Freshman Katie Flemming, who is majoring in worship leadership with a concentration in music, signed a music management and brand development agreement with Damien Wong-Ken, who has 20+ years of experience working with some of Christian music’s top artists from labels such as Capitol Music Group, Warner Records, Gotee Records, Integrity Music and Provident Music Group.
Flemming is no stranger to the music industry – recording music and shooting videos in L.A., New York and Nashville for almost a decade. But since enrolling at Belmont, she has picked up the pace to gain more experience and really focus on developing her sound and brand.
Wong-Ken said,“Nashville’s an amazing place, and talent is everywhere you turn. Sometimes you meet someone, and you just click… Katie is obviously really talented, but there is so much more to her story than her voice. We’re excited to take the steps in letting her story, as it also unfolds, be told through her music.”
Dean of Belmont’s College of Pharmacy Dr. David Gregory
joined 120 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) members on
Capitol Hill on September 11 for a direct advocacy push. The group personally
urged their congressional representatives to support legislation that helps
pharmacists meet critical patient care needs.
This year’s Legislative Day visits — 159 in all — emphasized
the importance of face-to-face interactions with Congress in shaping policies
that affect the pharmacy profession.
“It was an honor to work with our congressional
representatives on key issues involving pharmacy and pharmacy education.” Said Gregory.
“Belmont College of Pharmacy strives to be a leader in the field and working
with our government officials and professional organizations is part of the
process.”
Accompanying Gregory, other Legislative Day delegation
members from Tennessee included Casey White from Cookeville Regional Medical
Center, Micah Cost from the Tennessee Pharmacists Association, Cyrine Haidar from
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Executive Director of Pharmacy
Operations at Vanderbilt University Hospital and Adult Clinics Mark Sullivan.
Pharmacy reps with Senator Marsha Blackburn
ASHP President Kathleen Pawlicki said during a kickoff
meeting before the group headed to the Hill, “By putting a human face to the
issues, you help your legislators and their aides gain a better understanding
and a deeper appreciation for how the policies that they are considering really
impact our patients and the organizations that we all work in.”
The group visited the offices of Sens. Lamar Alexander and
Marsha Blackburn and Reps. Jim Cooper, Mark E. Green, David Kustoff and John
Rose. The team discussed current challenges and the key issues of rising drug
costs, patient access to pharmacy services, drug shortages and treatment of
opioid addiction.
