IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

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Nashvillians Gather for Annual Community Night

Hope Buckner
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Nashvillians Gather for Annual Community Night

Hosted by Belmont’s Office of Community Relations, Community Night provides an opportunity for members of the Nashville community to attend a night of Bruin basketball and family festivities

Each year, the Curb Event Center comes to life as more than two thousand members of the Nashville community find their way into its seats to cheer for the Belmont Bruins. The tradition, known as Community Night, provides an opportunity for neighbors and friends to attend a basketball game, eat dinner and participate in a variety of family-friendly events for free.

Joyce Searcy, director of Belmont’s Office of Community Relations, said the event has become a significant staple on campus. “We are so grateful for our neighbors and fellow Nashvillians,” she said. “This is just one simple way that we can continue to swing open our doors and show our community how much we appreciate their support.”

After a full dinner of hot dogs, chips and sodas, guests were ushered upstairs for the Belmont’s Women’s Basketball team’s game against Eastern Illinois. The Bruins defeated EIU with a final score of 98-57. Immediately after, the Men’s Team took on the men of EIU and came out with the same outcome, defeating the Panthers 99-58.

The men’s basketball game was especially special on Thursday night as Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Byrd earned his 800th career victory making him one of five active – and 12 all-time – NCAA Division I head coaches to reach 800 career victories. The Curb was ablaze with energy as the game ended and Coach earned his well-deserved place in the elite club of 800 wins.

But it wasn’t just basketball that could seen from the bleachers. Drum lines from two local high schools participated in a battle on the court. Going back and forth with their riffs, the students incorporated dance routines and full body choreography throughout their performance.

“This is one event we look forward to all year,” Searcy said. “This year was especially successful as we watched Coach Byrd earn this unique recognition. My team is already excited for what next year will hold.”

Alumnus Newsome Performs During Superbowl Halftime Performance

Hope Buckner
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Alumnus Newsome Performs During Superbowl Halftime Performance

D’Angeleau Newsome, a 2014 Belmont alumnus, recently performed in the featured drumline at the 2019 Superbowl Halftime Performance of Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You.” A percussionist and musical instructor, Newsome was selected to perform alongside Equinox Percussion, a competitive independent group hired outside of Atlanta for the recent show.

While at Belmont, Newsome studied biology with a pre-med emphasis, but he’s been a long-time musician. After a recent move to Kansas City to pursue a master’s degree in biomedical sciences, Newsome said he wasn’t sure he’d find himself performing before a crowd again – especially a crowd of 80,000+. “My goal is to attend medical school at Kansas City University in the Fall,” he said. “So I never thought I’d have the chance to keep performing. The idea of doing so at the Superbowl was a no-brainer! It’s easily the coolest, most exhilarating experience I’ve had to date.”

After getting over the sheer volume of eyes that would watch his performance both in the stadium and at home, Newsome said he was able to take a moment and reflect on the entirety of the experience. “I was able to think about the roster of instructors, peers and students through the years that have inspired me and fueled my passion for music and music education,” he said. “I am honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to represent them all on such an immense stage.”

 

Garrett, Science Students Judge Local Middle School Science Fair

Hope Buckner
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Garrett, Science Students Judge Local Middle School Science Fair

For the second year in a row, Dr. Danielle Garrett, assistant professor of chemistry education, was invited to judge the Donelson Christian Academy (DCA) 6th – 8th grade science fair. Belmont undergraduate students Christopher Hansen (chemistry & French double major), Alex Ficarro (neuroscience major), Deviyani Bajpai (neuroscience major), D Newsome (computer science major) and Clancy Lyles (economics major) assisted  Garrett as judges. More than 80 projects were on display featuring a variety of topics that included both the physical and biological sciences.

“I was so glad to be invited back again to help judge the DCA science fair,” Garrett said.  “Across the board, the projects this year were extremely creative.”

Garrett and Belmont students split the judging responsibilities, with 2 people in charge of determining which projects placed for each grade. After judging was complete, they chose the award for Best in Show. “The Belmont students who volunteered hours of their time to help with the science fair were amazing,” Garrett said.  “It was wonderful to see how excited and enthusiastic they were about making a positive contribution to the DCA school community.”

“Science fairs are so important because even though kids that age don’t really know what they want to be, they get to have a taste of what scientific research is actually like. Taking science out of the classroom allows kids to understand that science isn’t just something to be learned, but discovered,” Ficarro said.

When asked about their overall experience with the science fair Newsome said, “Having the opportunity to be a science fair judge this week was a very perceptual experience for me. Until this, I was on the student side of the science fair, the one having a project graded, hoping it was good enough for whoever judged it. It was very cool to be on the other side for once. It was really refreshing to take a step back from college sciences to see how 6th-8th Graders take an interest in their projects.”

Hanson shared a similar view. “The science fair was eye opening,” he said. “I never really participated in an event like this while I was a grade school student – I think it really fosters appreciation for scientific discovery. After reading all the posters I found that the projects themselves have so many tacit lessons. Of course, science itself, alongside spelling and grammar, but I think it also teaches critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity – skills that are not taught directly in the classroom.”

Voight Serves as Invited Faculty Member at Annual Scandinavian Congress

Hope Buckner
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Voight Serves as Invited Faculty Member at Annual Scandinavian Congress

Dr, Mike Voight, professor in Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, was recently an invited faculty member at the Annual Scandinavian Congress of Medicine & Science in Sports. The aim of this Congress is to create contact between physiotherapists working in sports and physical activity, provide training, share knowledge and create working relationships with other professionals with the same interest.

Held in Copenhagen from January 30 to February 2, Congress was hosted by the Danish Society of Sports Physical Therapy and Danish Association of Sports Medicine. More than 800 specialists from sports medicine connected to consider conclusions and assumptions to advance education for medical, sports, treatment, rheumatology, orthopaedics, prevention, anti-doping and general sport medicine and sports injury subjects.

Prior to the Congress, Voight served as a peer-reviewer of abstracts submitted for presentation. Over 200 abstracts were reviewed and ultimately chosen for inclusion. Throughout the event, Voight served as one of the jury to select the best poster presentation and oral presentation given.

Hawley, Lake, Burns Participate in Science and Humanities Symposium

April Hefner
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Hawley, Lake, Burns Participate in Science and Humanities Symposium

Associate Professor of Physics Dr. Scott Hawley, Vice President for Spiritual Development Dr. Todd Lake and Provost Dr. Thomas Burns recently participated in the Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) North American Colloquium held last weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida. The North American Colloquium is an event of the Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities project funded by Templeton Religion Trust and The Blankemeyer Foundation.

The Colloquium was designed to bring together Bridging the Two Cultures (BTC) faculty and their senior academic officers. Hawley, Burns and Lake met with faculty, provosts, spiritual directors and student life directors from private Christian universities around the United States and Canada to discuss ways to integrate the discussion of science, faith and humanities topics in all aspects of university life.

Hawley was previously selected to participate in the Bridging the Two Cultures project for summer 2018 and 2019 on the research topic of “Christian Responses to the Ascendency of Artificial Intelligence.” His work involves collaborating with University of Oxford faculty and other Christian scholars from around the world to address challenges and opportunities posed by the increasing prevalence and power of Machine Learning (ML) systems and their impact on society. His scholarship to date, supported by the grant, produced two peer-reviewed publications which, while still in press, have already received favorable attention by international A.I. experts. The grant has also impacted Hawley’s classroom.

“My project for this grant, ‘Christian Responses to the Ascendancy of Artificial Intelligence,’ has spilled over greatly into the new course I’ve been teaching this semester, PHY2895.02, Machine Learning and Neural Networks.  This is a ‘gen-ed course which received BellCore approval because of the deep integration of ethics in the curriculum. This embedded ethics curriculum is on the cutting edge of computer science education.”

Hawley’s grant also supports Belmont efforts to integrate faith, science and the humanities studies on campus, including sponsoring the launch of a Science and Religion Club at Belmont. The student organization, in partnership with the colleges of Theology and Christian Ministry and Sciences and Mathematics, will host a campus visit by theologian-of-technology Brent Waters, March 19-20. In addition, the grant has enabled a number of events on and off campus, and Bunch Library has been able to add a number of books related to the integration of faith, science, technology and ethics in the past year.

Alumnus Receives MusicRow’s Independent Artist of the Year Award

Staff Writer
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Alumnus Receives MusicRow’s Independent Artist of the Year Award

Belmont alumnus and up-and-coming country music artist, CJ Solar, was recently awarded the Independent Artist of the Year award from MusicRow. The award was presented to him at the 17th annual MusicRow Country Radio Meet & Greet and CountryBreakout Awards ceremony. Solar hit No. 15 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout chart with his songs “Airplane” and, more recently, “American Girls.”

After winning the award, Solar took part in two days of media and radio interviews at the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. Recently, he opened for Gary Allen as well as headlined his own show in Oklahoma.

Solar graduated from Belmont in 2014 with a degree in songwriting and has seen one of his songs become a No. 1. radio single. He co-wrote the song “Up Down” which featured country music artists Morgan Allen and, fellow Belmont alumni, Florida Georgia Line.

Alumnus Ryan Hurd Featured by People Magazine

Staff Writer
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Alumnus Ryan Hurd Featured by People Magazine

Singer-songwriter and Belmont alumnus, Ryan Hurd, has found success writing several No. 1 hit singles. But the songwriter is now looking toward new horizons by becoming an artist and performer himself.

In a recent article published by People.com, Hurd discusses his transition from being the writer behind the songs to putting his name first on songs as the performer. Past No. 1 hits Hurd has written on include Tim McGraw’s “Last Turn Home,” which Hurd co-wrote with his now wife Maren Morris. Hurd has also written songs that have been recorded by hit country artists such as Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton and more.

In addition to writing songs, Hurd has toured with wife Morris, Thomas Rhett and fellow alumni Florida Georgia Line. He is now headlining his own tour that includes a sold out show in Nashville. In the article, Hurd discusses what it’s like making music with his wife, recording his own music and his biggest musical influences.

Hurd graduated from Belmont with a degree in sociology and soon after graduation began to pursue a career in songwriting.

Best Buddies Members Participate in Ambassador Leadership Training

Hope Buckner
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Best Buddies Members Participate in Ambassador Leadership Training

On Saturday, February 16, members of Belmont’s student organization Best Buddies participated in an all-day ambassador leadership training. Best Buddies is an organization that creates opportunities for one-on-one friendships between Belmont students and community members with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). During the ambassador leadership training, members spent the day focused on advocacy. They wrote and practiced giving speeches with the goal of empowering people with and without IDDs to be leaders and agents of change in their schools, communities and workplaces.

If you are interested in hearing these speeches, join Best Buddies on Wednesday, March 6 from 10 – 10:50 (JAAC 1034) for their annual Spread the Word to End the Word convocation.

Flynn Publishes “My Family”

Hope Buckner
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Flynn Publishes “My Family”

David Flynn, adjunct professor in English and Asian Studies, had a book of poetry published in February by cyberwit, an Indian publisher. 

My Family contains photographs and poems about his parents and extended family who lived in the Jackson, Tennessee area. Dr. Flynn has had more than 175 poems, plus more than 50 short stories and narrative essays, published in selective literary magazines.

Searcy Selected to Participate in Harvard Business School Leadership Program

Staff Writer
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Searcy Selected to Participate in Harvard Business School Leadership Program

Belmont University Director of Community Relations Joyce Searcy was recently named among the 2019 Class of Nashville Young American Leaders. The Young American Leaders program recognizes leaders in non-profit, government and business from 12 different across the U.S. Searcy was among the 10 selected from the Middle Tennessee area.

The Nashville Class of Young American Leaders was announced by Dr. Scott T. Massey, chairman and CEO of Global Action Platform, the local partner of the Young American Leaders and Mitch Weiss, co-director of the Young American Leaders Program and senior lecturer in entrepreneurial management at Harvard Business School.

The Young American Leaders program comes from Harvard Business School’s project on concerns and hope with U.S. competitiveness. The selected leaders will go to Harvard this June and take part in a case study workshop focused on urban and rural collaborations and strategies for economic prosperity. The program was established to develop leaders that are able to understand understand, develop and further collaborations aimed at growth.

Belmont alumnus and board of trust member Harry Allen is also featured among the 10 leaders selected from Middle Tennessee.

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