Belmont faculty, staff and students along with alumni and community members attended Courageous Conversations, an event hosted by the Edward C. Kennedy Center for Business Ethics on Nov. 2.
The event was an informal conversation between Rev. Edwin Arrison—development officer for the Desmond & Leah Tutu Foundation and a board of advisor for Belmont’s Center for Business Ethics— Rev. John Hilley, a member of the Tutu Foundation’s U.S. Advisory Committee.
“When Rev. Arrison started making his plans to come to the U.S. one of the first people he reached out to was John,” Director of the Center for Business Ethics Boyd Smith said. “He started the introductory process which is what has brought us here today. Everything they are going to talk about is at the core of moral and ethical foundation. Whether it’s in business or in life.”
Arrison shared images and stories of his mentor and friend, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, affectionately referred to as ‘The Arch.’ Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his humanitarian work helping to heal the nation of South Africa after the apartheid system was dismantled. From 1948 to the early 1990s, South Africa was under a system that legally institutionalized racism and established racially discriminate separation between the South African peoples.
“(Tutu) was certainly one of those who was able to hold things together, things that are seemingly irreconcilable,” Arrison said. “There’s a word called ubuntu that he loved to use. ‘A person is a person because of other people, or I am because you are.’ It’s about recognizing the humanity of the other person.”
Rev. Edwin Arrison shared stories and images of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Photo by Sam Simpkins
Among the stories and photos Arrison and Hilley reflected on was an image of the Arch visiting the white Dutch Reform Church in Cape Town, the same church known for giving theological justification in favor of apartheid or apartness. Arrison explained how the pro-apartheid message from the Dutch Reform Church was particularly detrimental for anti-apartheid efforts because “with that kind of fundamental position as the foundation, everything else had to be tested against that.”
Arrison suggested the Arch’s unique leadership style of humility and joyfulness attributed to his profound impact.
“At some point in the early nineties, someone spoke on behalf of the Dutch Reform Church and apologized,” Arrison recounted. “Desmond Tutu was the one who got up and said, ‘If someone apologizes, I will say I accept your apology.’ He was willing to say, with all his gravitas, ‘I accept your apology. You are my brother. You are my sister.’”
Desmond Tutu was the first black African archbishop in Cape Town and held the position from 1986 until 1996. He died on Dec. 26, 2021. The Arch’s hope and healing legacy continues through the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation.
The event concluded with Arrison sharing insights and advice. He also attended a luncheon with campus leaders and spoke in Dean Darrell Gwaltney’s senior capstone class in the College of Theology during his visit.
Five years in the making, one of Belmont’s student research groups has made groundbreaking progress on a new device that can detect heavy metal contamination in substances. The project significantly progressed in the summer of 2021 with the help of three rising sophomores and one rising junior as a part of SURFS (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) at Belmont. These summer programs allow students who are at all parts of their undergraduate journey to get involved in research.
Dr. Thomas Spence, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, helped facilitate the experience. “We have problems with lead in urban environments because we’ve put lead in gasoline for so many years. The instruments we routinely as chemists to test that sort of thing are extremely sensitive but also very expensive. Over the past decade, there’s been this sudden availability of hobbyist-level electronics that we didn’t have access to in the sciences forever, which could enable really inexpensive devices to be developed. So that’s where the idea came from- we could use one of these relatively inexpensive devices to build an instrument that would allow us to detect lead using an electrochemical system.” With Spence’s background in laser spectroscopy, electrochemistry was all new to him. “I was learning a lot of it right alongside my students,” he said.
The students themselves learned a multitude of valuable skills, such as taking quality notes for future students and interpreting notes from past researchers. “While you’re a student, you’re usually working on a project that got started when you got there and will continue on after you leave,” said Dr. Spence. “Part of it is learning how to take good notes- not for yourself, but for that lab and allowing the project to move forward, even if you go on to bigger and better things.”
In SURFS, students develop a multitude of critical thinking skills that will set them up for the rest of their Belmont career. “It was the summer after our freshman year, so we had very limited lab experience,” explained Liz Joiner, a current junior biology major. “The first few weeks it was our professors teaching us all about it. Then we were kind of on our own.” She laughed. “It was very humbling to see these two very smart professors admit that they don’t know some things. But really when you’re doing research no one knows what they’re doing for the most part. You’re just kind of learning as you go, which is really cool.”
At times, they also learned the importance of patience in the midst of setbacks and undesirable results. “We did so many of the same things over and over,” said current junior biology major Autumn Grimsley. “At one point it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere… and then we did!”
By the end of their program, the prototype was fully functional and at a fraction of the cost most devices of that kind are listed at, pricing less than $200. Lydia Haworth, a current junior chemistry student, said it could “work to detect heavy metals in a variety of samples- such as lead, copper, iron, or mercury.” Using three electrodes that stick into it, the device can measure the amounts of substances that are stripping on and off of it. “It gives us some data into a computer, and we can then chart that data and see what peaks arise as well as a graph that says where this specific metal is,” she explained.
Each student was able to select a different test material with real-world application, such as soil, water, lipstick, or medicine. At the end of the program, students amongst all of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships topics- such as chemistry, biology, physics and psychology- present their results. “Finishing SURFS is really satisfying, especially when you look at the poster and see all the work we did for 6-8 weeks,” said senior biology major Jolene Mach. “To be able to do this type of research in this short of a time span is crazy. We hit the ground running.”
For two students, their experience doing research at Belmont inspired them to shift their career aspirations and continue with scientific research beyond the undergraduate level. “I was surprised how much I would like it,” admitted Mach, who will be continuing the research next semester. “I was originally pre-med, and then I signed up for SURFS, got the chance to do research, and while I was in the lab I realized this is what I want to do. I completely switched from medical school to a Ph.D. in biochemistry.”
“We were all strangers before we started working on this project and now looking back, I feel like we’ve kind of grown closer as like people,” Grimsley reflected. “In doing research, you get a lot more than just lab skills. You get life skills and you also make deep personal relationships. If you have an opportunity to do research as an undergraduate, go for it- because you’ll get so much more out of it than you would think.”
Interested in the College of Sciences & Mathematics? Apply today!
Over fall break, Professor of Physics and Belmont Data Collaborative Senior Fellow Scott H. Hawley attended the San Francisco launch event of “unicorn” startup Stability AI which recently received a $1 billion evaluation. CEO Emad Mostaque’s plan to create “AI by the people, for the people” and “democratize AI” by removing barriers to accessibility to significant computing resources has been making waves around the world, including Belmont University.
Stability made an Open Source release of their text-to-image generative model “Stable Diffusion” in August to great fanfare, not only due to the model’s capabilities but because of the way it was made accessible to everyone for free. Machine Learning (ML) guru Andrew Ng said, “the open way that Stable Diffusion’s image generation model was released — allowing users to run it on their own machines, not just via API — has made it a landmark event for AI.” The landmark launch event was attended by such luminaries as Google co-founder Sergey Brin, former head of Tesla AI Andrej Karpathy, Peter Wang (CEO of Anaconda), and several VC firms such as Stability investors Coatue and Lightspeed.
Hawley’s collaboration began in May with the audio group within Stability known as Harmonai. In Harmonai, Hawley found kindred souls who are dedicated to providing musicians, producers and audio engineers powerful creative tools for making “pro” musical audio that is often overlooked by the mainstream ML research community: high sample rates, low noise and multi-channel output.
Harmonai core members in attendance, left to right: Hawley, CJ Carr (half of AI-music duo dadabots), and Harmonai Director Zach Evans.
“The connection with Harmonai came at the same time that [Belmont Audio Engineering Technology professor] Joe Baldridge and I began working on a new way to help musicians get paid,” said Hawley. “It was a great fit between the needs Joe and I had (for computing resources) and Belmont’s opportunity to provide well-sourced training data for the machine learning systems that could help power a new generation of AI-powered royalty-tracking software.” In doing so, Hawley and Baldridge have been driving the conversation forward at Belmont about data usage rights and informed consent. “I teach a course called Deep Learning and AI Ethics (DLAIE),” Hawley continued, “so I have a great opportunity to lead by example in helping Belmont to develop and implement policies of best practices in data ethics.”
Stability’s CEO Emad Mostaque funded Hawley’s research travel throughout the UK this past summer, allowing Hawley to participate in the CogX AI festival to speak at a panel on “AI and Human Rights” at Queen’s University in Belfast. He also traveled with Belmont Honors Program’s two-week residency in Belfast, Ireland, as well as an extended stay with members of the Musical Acoustics research group at the University of Edinburgh. Along the way, Hawley spent time with researchers at DeepMind, Cambridge University and the Intelligent Sound Engineering group at Queen Mary University in London. At the end of the summer, Hawley was offered the role of Technical Fellow with Stability so that his contribution to Harmonai’s efforts could continue. “While I’m teaching I mostly just write support code, libraries such as aeiou (‘audio engineering input/output utilities’),” Hawley explained.
These efforts were recently showcased in a video by “ML-ops” powerhouse Weights and Biases (“WandB”), who interviewed Evans and Hawley to talk about Harmonai’s new open-source release, “Dance Diffusion”, and other efforts at Harmonai. Dance Diffusion (DD) is a generative audio model trained on large datasets donated by artists such as Jonathan Mann and archives such as Google’s MAESTRO dataset of piano tunes. DD represents a first step toward a new way of producing sophisticated generative musical audio pieces. The research for Dance Diffusion has relied heavily on WandB’s tracking and efficiency tools, the same ones that Hawley uses in his work with Belmont students.
Still from Weights and Biases interview video. Credit: Morgan McGuire, Weights and Biases.
“I’m a huge fan of WandB and have found it essential to work such as the journal paper that Belmont senior physics and AET double-major Grant Morgan had published in February in JASA Express Letters,” said Hawley. When WandB heard that Hawley uses their services in his courses, they sent “swag” to the whole DLAIE class, a few of whom are shown below:
“Deep Learning and AI Ethics” class members Caleb Koch, Jaxon Cannon, Amanda Kane, and Claire Winogrodzki.
Hawley has always been involved in Open Source. As he said, “scientific computing is all open source.” His pre-Belmont career of doing supercomputing simulations of black holes was all built with open-source systems. His background has served well in collaborating with High-Performance Computing researchers in Stability – several of whom also come from the world of physics. “Even apart from the HPC world which tends to be physics heavy, there’s a huge cross-over between data science and physics – such as Belmont’s own Director of the Data Science Program, Dr. Christina Davis, who comes from the field of computational astrophysics,” he said. “Even the main creator of the Stable Diffusion (image generation) algorithm, Robin Rombach, has his undergrad degree in physics, and the class of generative models that are domaining the research scene now are all inspired by physics! There’s never been a better time to major in physics at Belmont!”
This collaboration will benefit the Belmont community in the following ways:
Hands-on AI Art and Design Workshop: On Nov. 28, Watkins of College of Art and Design will host a Stable Diffusion event, in which artist Katie “@KaliYuga” May, Stability AI Education Specialist, will conduct a hands-on workshop on incorporating text-to-image models into artistic and design workflows. Participants will work on their own creations during this workshop. Laptops are required. RSVP via BruinLink. Seats are limited. This event is co-sponsored by the Belmont Data Collaborative and the College of Sciences and Mathematics.
Cloud computing company CoreWeave has begun providing GPU compute to Belmont students in the DLAIE course. Hawley explains, “This is thanks to Stability supported organization EleutherAI, who heard of my students’ plight and offered to donate some of their CoreWeave allocation for the rest of our semester! Thanks, CoreWeave and Eleuther!”
Hawley hosts a regular online AI-audio seminar series attended by students, faculty, hobbyists, DJs and producers from all over the world, including Nashville: “Harmonai Hangouts” occurs Tuesdays at noon Central on the Harmonai Play Discord Server. See Harmonai.org for more information.
The benefits of the collaboration have not been one-sided: The 3D data visualization methods that Hawley developed for teaching his classes have proved invaluable for Harmonai’s research efforts into diffusion models, specifically the way the audio is encoded in multidimensional spaces known as “embeddings” and the reconstructed audio that results from them. Harmonai Director Zach Evans said, “We would know nothing about how good these reconstructions are, nor the beauty of the latent space, if it weren’t for [Hawley’s] visualization utilities.” He also claimed that the embedding clouds were his favorite part of all of his research.
Sample 3D embeddings diagram from a piece of music by Harmonai collaborator Shadow Wanderer, in Hawley’s recently released “Destructo” code notebook for visualizing and manipulating audio embeddings. Image credit: Scott H. Hawley
“This is about great people getting a chance to work together with people who have admired each other for quite a while, and to share everything,” Hawley said. “Stability CEO Emad Mostaque wants to make more people happy by giving things away- ‘AI by the people for the people.’ It’s an amazing opportunity for collaboration.”
Ames is a highly accomplished conductor, accompanist and performer who has performed and guest conducted in more than half a dozen countries. He is nationally renowned for his distinguished reputation as a well-respected composer and arranger, and his music has been premiered by a vast array of associations and televised concerts and shows.
Requiem for Colour is a labor of love that developed from an idea more than a decade ago. This one-night only feature performance will revisit the conflicts and successes of the Black race through a requiem- a mass for the dead.
“What resulted is a musical, literary, and visual journey that begins in West Africa and ends in present-day North America,” Ames said. “Requiem for Colour will honor the lives and legacies of enslaved blacks from 1619 to 1865, and our contemporary Black martyrs who offered themselves as a sacrifice for equality and freedom.”
The logo of the requiem is inspired by the symbol for Sankofa, an African word from the Akan tribe in the West African country of Ghana. Sankofa means “to return and get it.” It depicts the importance of learning from the past. Ames’ work serves as a lesson and celebration of Black “colourfulness” by honoring the challenges and triumphs of the Black American journey and highlighting vibrant and varied musical styles from Spirituals to Rap and the genres that lie in between.
Joining Ames in the requiem’s debut is accomplished soprano recitalist and an opera performer NaGuanda Nobles who has performed with the Pittsburgh Opera, Atlanta Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Dayton Opera. Tenor Rodrick Dixon who has performed at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, among his many accomplishments, will also join Ames on the Fisher Center stage. Dixon has a talent for crossover genres performing in major opera houses throughout the world and on Broadway.
Seasoned performer Roshaunda Rosa-Orta who currently serves as the Director of Student Transitions and Community Engagement at Vanderbilt University will orate excerpts from slave biographies and select poems, speeches and scripture.
“In a time when history is being erased and rewritten, it is essential to share accurate information about the past,” Rosa-Orta said. “One of the best ways to share that information is through art. Art unites human beings and allows us to understand our experiences in beautiful ways. It is an honor to serve as the griot of this piece, using spoken words to elevate the stunning music.”
Ames will conduct the Belmont University Oratorio and orchestra which is comprised of over 450 students. A display of visual imagery and descriptive narration will coincide with the musical movements to create an immersive experience for the audience.
“This requiem will provide an aesthetic experience celebrating West African culture before traveling the perilous journey across the Atlantic, recounting slavery and sharecropping in the South, revisiting Civil Rights of the 60s, and reckoning with our current societal vices of racism and injustice,” Ames said.
Registration is required but Requiem for Colour is free to the public. To register for a ticket, visit the Requiem for Colour webpage.
Hope did indeed abound as Belmont University hosted its inaugural Hope Summit October 24-26. The three-day event focused on making hope real in participants’ lives, work and communities. The central theme of the week – unleashing creativity and innovation so that regions can thrive—was inspired by the University’s strategic visioning process for 2030.
The event offered the opportunity for the Belmont community to lean in and experience Pathway 2 of its Strategic Trajectory: Data-Informed Social Innovation to Help Regions Thrive.
“It’s easy to spend time learning about how best to nurture your community, but the Belmont community is interested in developing tangible hope,” said Dr. Josh Yates, executive director of the Belmont Innovation Labs and one of the main architects of this year’s Summit. “Social innovation means creative problem-solving and pursuing opportunities to generate social good. The Hope Summit helps us discover ways we can rethink some of these ideas for the betterment of our own region.”
Unleashing Creativity and Innovation
Monday’s opening session began with a discussion between University President Dr. Greg Jones and Dr. Kim Tan, co-founder of the Transformational Business Network (TBN). Tan’s approach to social impact seeks ways to design and build profitable, scalable business that addresses a wide array of social issues including conservation, human trafficking, housing and more.
President Greg Jones hosts a discussion with leading voices in the social innovation sphere with Kim Tan, Co-Founder of Transformational Business Network during the Hope Summit at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 24, 2022.
Photo by Sam Simpkins
This type of work provides a more dignifying experience to those in need by offering independence, the ability to provide for their families and the freedom to choose. His faith guides his business practices while welcoming people of all or no faiths. “We’re faith-based without being faith-biased,” he said. “The stronger your center, the more you can embrace the edges,” he said. “Being faith-based is important because it is the well from which we draw, but we should be interacting with people of other faiths and no faiths to provide the opportunity for others to see our faith in action and ask questions.”
Tan shared countless stories illustrating creativity and social innovation that supports human flourishing. When looking for entrepreneurs to support, he seeks strong character above all. “Be teachable, have humility to learn and be confident enough to move aside as your business grows to bring in new people.”
Today, TBN is in six countries and mentors and funds hundreds of businesses.
Creativity and Storytelling
Monday’s afternoon session featured a conversation with Rick Rekedal, former DreamWorks executive and senior fellow for storytelling at Belmont, and Hall of Fame songwriter Tom Douglas.
A few years ago, Douglas delivered his induction speech to the Hall of Fame as a reply to a letter he received from a struggling songwriter. That letter—a story intended for a single person—went on to inspire the movie Love, Tom, a documentary on Douglas’ life. The session, which featured commentary from Rekedal—peppered between clips of the documentary and some of Douglas’s songs—focused on the importance of storytelling in all disciplines.
An imaginative conversation around creativity and storytelling featuring: Rick Rekedal, Former Chief Creative for DreamWorks Animation & CEO of StoryCrate and Tom Douglas, Hall of Fame Songwriter. during the Hope Summit at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 24, 2022.
Photo by Sam Simpkins
Rekedal shared that understanding the felt needs of an audience can make storytelling truly transformative. Whether it’s a 30-second YouTube clip or a $100 million television show, he asks all storytellers seeking to craft their message the same three questions: What do we stand for? How do we want to stand for it? Who is it for?
“Getting to the heart of what we stand for is fundamental when we start to become storytellers,” he said. “We must know what we’re about. As we consider massive social problems that require massive efforts to address, we start with reaching one other person. Our ‘pebble’ can be the avalanche of change.”
Between Rekedal’s words, Douglas’s heartfelt stories provided clarity of the duo’s narrative vector: Every person touched by Belmont is touched by story that is changing the world, which activates them to share their stories even further.
Champions of Hope
The evening concluded with the Champions of Hope Gala, an event celebrating individuals and organizations who are making hope real in our lives, work and communities. During the gala, Former Tennessee Governor and First Lady Bill and Crissy Haslam were presented with the inaugural Rick Byrd Character Award. Named in honor of retired legendary Belmont men’s basketball coach Rick Byrd, the award will be presented annually to community members who demonstrate a steadfast commitment to principled performance in their field.
The Importance of Leadership and Friendship
Friendship is a lynchpin to human flourishing, illustrated during Tuesday’s session by two pairs of unlikely friends: a politician and a doctor; a songwriter and a coach.
Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Frist College of Medicine Interim Dean Dr. Anderson Spickard became fast friends though a small group at church. Both in prominent leadership roles in their own sectors, they found common ground through their life experiences. “The downside to being in leadership — no matter what your role is — you don’t get the best feedback,” Haslam said. “Relationships like the one I share with Anderson matter because you are surrounded by people who can help you take a step back by calling out when you’re not your best self. When you have a history with people, you know things about them and can recognize things about them that others can’t.
Dr. Greg Jones speaks with Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Interim Dean of the Frist College of Medicine Dr. Anderson Spickard during Hope Summit at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 25, 2022.
Photo by Sam Simpkins
Humanity was created to be in relationship with others, and friendship is an integral part of human flourishing. A friend keeps the other’s mind intellectually curious and heart soft; friends call out the beautiful and the ugly; friends love through peaks and valleys.
Their friendship has woven together the personal and vocational. From victorious successes and unimaginable loss, the two have walked shoulder-to-shoulder through life’s profoundly human moments. After the Spickards lost their son Lucas to cancer last year, the Haslams provided sustaining friendship. “Our beloved friends had both character and capacity when we needed them,” said Spickard. “We never felt like we were overstressing them. The internal compass and resource of dear brothers in Christ make you feel as if they’ve gone through it before, and if not, at least they’re going through it with you.”
Dr. Greg Jones speaks with Coach Rick Byrd and Vince Gill during Hope Summit at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 25, 2022.
Photo by Sam Simpkins
Country music legend Vince Gill and former Belmont Men’s Basketball Coach Rick Byrd became friends on a golf course in the 1980s. Rick spotted Vince across the green and walked up to introduce himself. More than 35 years later, the two can finish each other’s sentences, with witty banter and uncountable memories.
Afternoon sessions followed the conversations with topics that included “Impact Investing: Measuring the ‘S” in ESG” featuring Kim Tan and Edward Bryan, and “Health Disparities: A Collective Approach to Hypertension in Nashville” sponsored by the Belmont Data Collaborative.
A Day To Dream
Wednesday was a culminating Day to Dream for the entire Belmont community, beginning with a showcase of social innovation projects, followed by an address from President Greg Jones recapping the week’s events. “I am grateful to all of you for the work you do day in and day out. Belmont provides a warm and welcoming environment for all who encounter our campus, and it’s all because of each of you,” he noted.
Session attendees exited The Fisher Center to find that Belmont campus had been transformed into a fall festival complete with a zip line, pumpkin patch, carnival rides, and activities for community members of all ages. Into the evening, trick-or-treaters lined up to collect candy from decorated tables from campus divisions, clubs, and organizations.
A Day to Dream: Fall Festival to finish up the Hope Summit at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 25, 2022. Photo by Sam Simpkins
A Day to Dream concluded with a Writers Round a night of songs and stories featuring some of Music City’s most creative songwriters–Allen Shamblin, Emily Falvey (’18), Cameron Bedell (’12) and Luke Laird, who have written for many artists including Carrie Underwood, Carly Pearce, Jimmie Allen, Tiera Kennedy, Steve Moakler, Boys Like Girls, Ingrid Michaelson, Keith Urban and more.
Songwriters Allen Shamblin, Emily Falvey (Belmont ’18), Cameron Bedell (Belmont ’12) and Luke Laird perform during a writers’s round
At the end of Hope Summit at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 26, 2022.
Photo by Sam Simpkins
God-Sized Dreams
“Our aspirations for the next decade are limited only by our imagination,” said President Greg Jones. “We want to be a university that aspires to big dreams–dreams that can transform lives.”
The Hope Summit aimed to inspire the Belmont community to be agents of hope and help cultivate the sense of well-being and flourishing for all people.
The Jack C. Massey College of Business presented its 4th annual Next Level Women’s Conference on Oct. 26. The event was attended by Belmont students, faculty and staff, along with business leaders from all over Middle Tennessee seeking to manifest their dreams while navigating and expanding their careers.
Jill Robinson, assistant dean of external relations & strategic partnerships for the Jack C. Massey College of Business welcomed guests and noted, “The Next Level Conference is a concept formed by a group of women who came together with a desire to advocate for women in business, help them build relationships and discover the ‘next level’ in their careers. This is an opportunity for you all to have conversations and connect with people that you have not met in our community.”
Nashville Youth Poet Laureate Sheerea Yu
Acknowledging the Massey College’s 50 years of business education and with an ode to ‘Generations of Excellence’, Robinson added, “Jack Massey was known for his entrepreneurial spirit, bringing people together and really encouraging us to go deep and to learn – not only from each other, and from our professors but from our community, and today is just another example of how we live that out.”
Sheerea Yu, University School of Nashville senior and 2022 Nashville Youth Poet Laureate, opened the conference with a written piece inspired by her experiences as a Chinese American woman.
Sheri Salata, Next Level Conference 2022 Keynote Speaker
Keynote speaker Sheri Salata is the founder and CEO of Salata + Co, a personal development company, and author of best-selling memoir, The Beautiful No: And Other Tales of Trial, Transcendence and Transformation, an Amazon Editor’s Choice Best Memoir and Apple Must Listen audio book. The former president of Harpo Studios and co-president of the Oprah Winfrey Network served as the executive producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show until its sunset in 2011.
“I have three heartfelt beliefs that inform my language, how I operate my life, inform my dreams, my next steps and how I feel about myself,” she said. “There has never been a better time to be you. There have never been more possibilities for someone like you. There has never been an opportunity like there is now for an integrated life.”
– SHERI SALATA
Salata walked event attendees through what she described as “The Devine Feminine,” outlining ways in which women in leadership can live their lives in accordance with their highest values. She encouraged attendees to commit to integrity, challenge their limiting beliefs, make a good friend of change and manage their lives and careers like CEO’s.
The keynote address was followed by interactive panel sessions including “Making Friends as an Adult: Building Connections in a Hybrid World” with moderator Leah Glover Hayes, Vice Chair of Programs and Women’s Leadership with Nashville CABLE, and panelists Veronica Marable Johnson, Donzaleigh Powell, Shannen Stewart and Joy Sutton, along with “Stepping into New Seasons of Life” with moderator Jill Robinson and panelists Whitney Allred, Perri duGard Owens, and Kathy Whalen.
Breakout sessions included “Calligraphy, Connections and Courage: A Pep Talk on Creativity” with author and Belmont Professor Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, “Leveraging your Assets: How to Be More Fulfilled at Work and in Life” led by Missy Acosta, Vice President, Brand Strategy for Delta Dental and “The Power of Self-Advocacy in the Workplace” led by Carla Worthey-Sewell, PhD, Head of Talent Management for Amazon International Consumer, Americas, among others.
The 2022 Next Level Women’s Conference was sponsored by First Horizon Bank and Amazon.
The Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC) connects entrepreneurs to critical resources to start and grow businesses. Each year the EC’s NEXT Awards recognizes entrepreneurs in Nashville for their innovative and transformative work.
Seven Belmont alumni were finalists in their categories at this year’s NEXT Awards, and two were announced as winners at the event held at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Monday, October 24.
Four alumni were finalists in the Music, Sports and Entertainment category including:
Channing Moreland ’16 and Makenzie Stokel ‘16, founders of EVA
Trevor Hinesley ‘12, co-founder and CTO of Soundstripe
Hinesley took home the award for Soundstripe which provides a vast library of music “by creators, for creators”.
“We were humbled to be recognized with so many other amazing Nashville businesses this year,” Hinesley said. “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to create a business here with my best friends. It means a lot to us that others recognize the work our amazing team is doing at Soundstripe.”
Two Belmont graduates were finalists in the Products, Services and Retail category:
Walker won the award for Walker Brothers, a specialty kombucha brewery that he started with his brother Luke.
Ryan Reisdorf ‘19, founder of Placemat, was a finalist in the Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction category. Reisdorf is one of Belmont’s 2022 Entrepreneurs-in- Residence.
“We are so thrilled to see how our alumni entrepreneurs are pursuing their passions, growing their ventures, and supporting the Nashville community in so many ways,” Executive Director of the Cone Center Elizabeth Gortmaker said.
Belmont College of Law produced top rankings on the July 2022 Uniform Bar Exam, based on bar passage results released by the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners. According to exam statistics, first-time takers passed at a rate of 86.60 percent.
“A sustained level of success requires hard work and dedication,” Belmont Law Dean Alberto Gonzales said. “I am proud of our graduates and the support they received from our faculty and staff, as well as from Belmont University and its leadership.”
97 Belmont Law graduates took the Tennessee bar exam, for the first time, in July, with 84 successfully passing. Despite the disruption caused by COVID, the law graduates demonstrated a strong bar passage rate by finishing among the top tier of law schools in the state of Tennessee. These graduates are now licensed and practicing in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Tennessee. With California being the final state to report results, the College of Law expects Belmont’s first-time pass rate to increase once scores are released in November.
Belmont College of Law held an investiture ceremony for Professor Jeffrey Usman on Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the Randall and Sadie Baskin Center. The ceremony honored Usman for his dedicated service and commitment as a professor.
Prior to his confirmation as a Tennessee Court of Appeals judge, Usman served as one of the founding faculty members in the Belmont College of Law. He is now the 95th judge to serve since the Court of Appeals was created with a broad range of jurisdiction in 1925.
Among the list of the distinguished guests to leave remarks were State of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and presiding Judge of the Middle Division of the Tennessee Court of Appeals Frank G. Clement, Jr.
“The people of Tennessee and those who avail themselves to the courts of Tennessee are very dependent upon the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals,” Judge Clement said. “I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Jefferey for more than 15 years. I know that he is a man of great integrity, intelligence, has great experience and a wealth of legal knowledge. All of which will serve him well as he faces the challenges that are presented to a judge on the Court of Appeals.”
Although it is an intermediate appellate court, decisions made by the Court of Appeals constitute as the final decision and authority over cases about ninety-four percent of the time.
Additional remarks came from a list of Belmont affiliates including Belmont College of Law professors Amy Moore and Elizabeth Usman, Dean of the Belmont College of Law Alberto R. Gonzales and General Sessions Court Judge of the 20th Judicial District Marcus Floyd.
“I personally cannot think of a better person to serve as an appellate court judge here in Tennessee,” Judge Floyd, who is a former student of Usman, said. “Judge Usman has been so generous with his time in guiding us not only as aspiring lawyers but as young lawyers, and myself as a young judge now.”
The opportunity to declare his oath of office in a space where he can recall holding classes for aspiring lawyers was expressed with overwhelming gratitude as Usman addressed the colleagues, students and family that were in attendance.
Judge Jeffrey Usman speaks at his investiture ceremony with colleagues of past and future, students and family present.
As the son of a coal miner’s daughter and a physician who immigrated to the United States, Usman gave special mention to the values he learned from his parents. “They taught me so many things,” he said. “Hardwork, courage, fairness and a commitment to patriotism. I could not have had better examples. I could not have better teachers than my parents.” Usman was a career law clerk to William C. Koch, Dean of the Nashville School of Law, who also said remarks during the ceremony. Judge Usman expressed deep appreciation for the lessons the former Tennessee Supreme Court justice taught him.
“There are a lot of cynics about the law,” Usman said. “There are people who don’t think it’s possible for a judge to put aside ideology or politics in making decisions. It’s not just possible, I’ve seen it done. The bar has been set very high by Justice Koch. It is something that I will strive for throughout my career on the bench.”
Usman is an avid and knowledgeable legal writer. His published works have been relied upon by other scholars in books, treatises, and law review articles and referenced by a diverse array of persons including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and the Tennessee Attorney General. While a professor at Belmont, he served as a faculty advisor to Belmont’s Law Review and Legal Aid and Criminal Law Societies. A beloved educator, he was a four-time recipient of the Best Professor Award, which is bestowed by Belmont’s law students.
Usman received a framed watercolor print of the Baskin law building that was signed by each member of the faculty as a parting gift.
Members of the public who have made watching “Christmas at Belmont”a longstanding part of the holiday tradition now have the chance to experience the joy of this beloved event live and in-person.
This annual winter performanceis a cherished festivity at Belmont thatfeatures the musical diversity and rich talents of the Belmont School of Music.
Traditionally a televised event, this year tickets are open to the public and go on sale on Friday, October 21 at 10 a.m. CT.The concert will be hosted in the Fisher Center for Performing Arts at Belmont University.
“We are excited to offer ‘Christmas at Belmont’tickets to the public for the first time this year,” Dean of the College of Music and Performing Arts Dr. Stephen Eaves said. “Past productions were presented in campus venues half the size of the Fisher Center, which limited our ability to offer tickets to the public. We are thrilled to offer two live performances of this special Christmas tradition to the people of Nashville in the amazing Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on the Belmont University campus.”
Nearly 600 student musicians will join the School of Music faculty to execute performances that feature traditional carols, classical masterworks, festive Christmas songs and holiday favorites like “Do You Hear What I Hear.” Thirteen student ensembles will perform traditional music as well as a variety of musical genres to include vocal jazz, pop, and bluegrass.
The recorded 2021 “Christmas at Belmont”performance will be broadcasted on Nashville Public Television for those who choose to enjoy the merriment from the comfort of their homes. Check local listings for broadcast times.
There will be two chances to see the performance on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 21 at 10 a.m. CT.Visit the Fisher Center for Performing Arts event page to purchase tickets.
Belmont Physics Professor Attends Launch of “Unicorn” Fellowship Sponsor Stability AI" title="Belmont Physics Professor Attends Launch of “Unicorn” Fellowship Sponsor Stability AI" />
