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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Pharmacy Students Compete in ACCP Clinical Pharmacy Challenge

Staff Writer
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Pharmacy Students Compete in ACCP Clinical Pharmacy Challenge

Three Belmont University College of Pharmacy students recently competed at the The American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Clinical Pharmacy Challenge. The challenge is a team-based competition where teams of three students compete against teams from other schools and Colleges of Pharmacy. The competition features teams answering questions in a quiz bowl format.

A total of 112 teams from across the country and a variety of institutions competed in this event’s event. The Belmont University College of Pharmacy team consisted of Nate Berger, Olivia Pardue and Kevin Nofi, all of whom are in their fourth year of pharmacy school. The team made it to the third round of the competition.

Musical Theatre Students Perform with Broadway Star Kristin Chenoweth

Hope Buckner
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Musical Theatre Students Perform with Broadway Star Kristin Chenoweth

A group of Belmont Musical Theatre students saw their dreams on the stage come to life on Friday, September 28 when they had the chance to perform two songs with Broadway star and award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth at the Nashville Symphony. Instructor of Musical Theatre Jo Lynn Burks was approached with this opportunity by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Chenoweth’s conductor and a personal friend. She and her team were interested in including a group of students in their upcoming Nashville performance.

Together, the group performance two faith-based songs — “Reasons for Hope” and “Upon This Rock.” It’s these types of unique, professional opportunities that afford students with the chance to truly experience what their careers might look like after they graduate from Belmont. “When students move beyond campus and are working in professional situations, they will encounter things very similar to this project,” Burks said. “They have had to learn music in a very short period of time, rehearse for singing with a full orchestra, and they are getting the chance to work with an artist who is the absolute best in our business.”

Belmont musical theatre student and performance participant Christian Sandelin said the experience to perform with Chenoweth is exactly as he expected it to be — a once in a lifetime opportunity. “Her energy is infectious, her faith emanates from her and you can see the joy she gets from performing in her eyes,” he said. “To be able to take the stage and interact with her, not as background singers, but as co-performers, was indescribable.”

But the group’s interactions with Chenoweth didn’t stop with their time on stage. “After the encore, she came backstage with tears in her eyes and said that the magic our group had just created on stage is the reason she performs,” Sandelin said.

Amongthe countless lessons he picked up from being on stage with a legend, Sandelin said the greatest takeaway was the way Chenoweth continues to promote her beliefs and ideals in her life, even as a Broadway star. “This experience showed how one can show their vulnerability and life through their performances. That is ultimately what makes a performance moving.”

Summer Student Researchers Present their Work

Staff Writer
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Summer Student Researchers Present their Work

Taking a very hands-on approach, Belmont’s College of Science and Mathematics recognizes the benefit of active learning and research in training future scientists and mathematicians. Studies have demonstrated that conducting research has many benefits for undergraduate students including learning new laboratory techniques, developing more effective communication skills, deepening understanding of the field, learning about a variety of work environments and exploring countless areas of emphasis.

Because of these benefits and more, the College promotes two programs that provide students with opportunities to complete research throughout the summer months – Summer Scholar Communities (SSC) and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURFs).

SSC students receive course credit while SURFs students receive a stipend for their participation. Both groups of student researchers conduct original research as part of a team, guided by a faculty mentor. Throughout the summer, these groups meet to share their challenges and successes. At the end of the summer session, student researchers prepare poster presentations that summarize their project design, data and conclusions. These posters are shared with the Belmont community after classes resume in the fall. This event allows the student researchers to hone their communication skills while providing a forum for scientific discussion and highlighting the research opportunities available.

Most recently, on Friday, September 14, students displayed their posters in the Janet Ayers Academic Center on topics related to biology, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics, pharmacy, physics and psychology.

 

Entrepreneurship Professor Gonzalez Mentioned in Politico Magazine

Staff Writer
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Entrepreneurship Professor Gonzalez Mentioned in Politico Magazine

In a recent article about the growth of women entrepreneurs in Nashville, Politico Magazine writer Ethan Epstein consulted with Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management Dr. Jose Gonzalez.

The article, titled “How Women Are Making Nashville Hum,” features stories from several female entrepreneurs in the Nashville area. Gonzalez commented on the entrepreneurial spirit of Nashville and how easy it is to get connected to resources and other business start-ups.

Gonzalez also notes Nashville’s creative side as a benefit to all entrepreneurs throughout the city.

Silverman Published in The Strad & StrumBowing.Com

Hope Buckner
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Silverman Published in The Strad & StrumBowing.Com

Belmont Adjunct Commercial Strings Instructor Tracy Silverman recently wrote an article that was featured in the world’s foremost classical string magazine, The Strad, published in London. The article, originally titled “Evolved or Endangered: Survival of the Fiddle-ist” appears in the October 2018 issue and discusses the importance of incorporating popular idioms on strings.

Silverman has also just published The Strum Bowing Method: How to Groove on Strings, an innovative method he’s been teaching at Belmont and in clinics all over the world for the last 15 years. It is now available on J.W. Pepper, Shar Music and at StrumBowing.com.

Silverman also recently appeared at Walt Disney Concert Hall as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel playing John Adams’ “The Dharma at Big Sur”, a concerto for electric violin. He will be performing it again on Oct 5 & 6 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Simmons’ Nashville Period Project Collects More than 200,000 Products for Metro Students

Hope Buckner
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Dr. Simmons’ Nashville Period Project Collects More than 200,000 Products for Metro Students

Associate Professor of Management Information Systems Dr. Lakisha Simmons read about period poverty in a national magazine, prompting her to ask several of her friends who work in Nashville schools about the issue. That conversation sparked a much larger discussion surrounding the significant challenge that some girls in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) have accessing essential products.

After more research, Simmons learned that 43% of the students in MNPS are economically disadvantaged, and there are 11 middle and high schools on the district’s priority list. Throughout these schools, girls are missing upwards of a week of school each month because they do not have access to period protection products. That was all Simmons needed to hear — and The Nashville Period Project was born.

“I couldn’t sit back and do nothing knowing there are girls are missing school or class because of something out of their control,” she said. “I come from humble beginnings, but luckily my family was always able to provide what I needed. Period protection is a necessity. We may not all agree on the solution, but I wanted to do my part to help.”

Through her nonprofit, The Achiever Academy, Simmons set out to host a collection throughout the month of September and invited Nashvillians to get involved by donating period products to Metro students. Together, in just four weeks, the group collected more than 200,000 items.

With approximately 2,900 females at these 11 priority schools, Simmons is happy to be able to provide products for 2-3 monthly cycles, but she’s not done. “We will continue to raise awareness and facilitate donations for the girls most in need throughout our city,” she said. “These are our neighbors who need our help. Our work is not done.”

Bunch Library Faculty Volunteer for Hands on Nashville Day

April Hefner
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Bunch Library Faculty Volunteer for Hands on Nashville Day

HONDayChuck Hodgin, Lina Sheahan and Nicole Fox, three members of the Bunch Library faculty, volunteered on Sat., Sept. 22, at Norman Binkley Elementary School as part of Hands on Nashville Day. They spent the morning washing the interior windows of the school in an effort to help the custodial staff.

Other volunteers planted trees, mulched the playground and washed the cafeteria tables. Hands on Nashville Day is a yearly day of service that mobilizes more than 1,500 volunteers to support Metro Nashville Public Schools throughout the city.

Alumna Ruvane Featured in Billboard

April Hefner
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Alumna Ruvane Featured in Billboard

Music business graduate Katie Ruvane is making a name for herself already in the industry with a release this week of her debut EP and a feature story on Billboard.com. After graduating in December, Ruvane launched her own company to consolidate all of herbooking, production and management under one self-run entity. Billboard praised her music, noting, “Take notice: versatile and elegant, Ruvane’s voice flows beautifully through her acoustic-electric soundbeds. It’s feathery in the upper register, hazy and world-weary down low.”

Ruvane is an indie singer-songwriter originally from small town, New Jersey, who moved to Nashville four years ago. She has just returned to Nashville after her first summer on the road,  opening up for  songwriter Angie Aparo at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta,  warming up the crowd for master slide-guitarist Jack Broadbent at The Sellersville Theater in Pennsylvania and performing intimate house shows all along the east coast. The EP, “Part I” of her debut album “The Lines,” released this week with two subsequent parts to follow this fall.

‘CMA Country Christmas’ Comes to the Curb

April Hefner
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‘CMA Country Christmas’ Comes to the Curb

Students get in the holiday spirit with opportunities to work, attend TV taping

The Curb Event Center was beyond transformed Thursday night, as anyone entering the entertainment and athletic arena would easily believe they’d been transported to the center of Santa’s village at the North Pole. Twinkling lights, 20-foot Christmas trees, an array of wrapped packages and musical legends decked in their holiday finest all adorned the stage for the taping of the annual “CMA Country Christmas” event. Nearly 3,000 fans-including numerous Belmont students and employees–were able to enjoy live performances from host Reba McEntire, Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Brett Eldredge, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Martina McBride, Old Dominion, Brad Paisley, Lindsey Stirling, The Isaacs, Dustin Lynch, Brett Young and Dan & Shay.

Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith on stage at 'CMA Country Christmas'A number of students participated behind-the-scenes in the making of the event, working hand-in-hand all week with the production team. Junior Katie Kuhnash, a music business major from Centerville, Ohio, noted that this experience will help expand her professional network. “As PAs/runners, our main duty is to perform any task that the producers do not have time to  complete, anything we can do to make their lives easier and make sure everything runs flawlessly.”

Senior commercial music major David Cistrunk hopes to one day be a Christian singer/songwriter/worship leader, and the Detroit native appreciated how being behind-the-scenes of this event gave him new insights on his future career. He spent time this week “assisting with load in and stage setup and assisting the production coordinator with planning day to day activities, as well as the prop maker with getting everything needed for building set pieces. I believe that being a production assistant teaches you to appreciate all the work that goes into making a production successful. It also teaches you great work place etiquette, while learning how it truly takes a team to make a successful production.”

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher with show host Reba McEntire
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher with show host Reba McEntire

For junior entertainment industry studies major Dominique Detwiler, who hails from Buffalo, New York, her future plans aren’t set as she loves live production (serving on staff for Showcase Series this year) as well as music supervision/licensing, noting she might someday enjoy building soundtracks for films. She call her experience being backstage assisting with the event was “surreal,” one she anticipates will impact her work at Belmont and beyond. “My everyday duties change by the hour and are based on whatever is needed in the office and around the arena. This can range from hanging up signs to signing out credentials, to picking up crew members from the airports to picking up crew dinners. Anything and everything that needs doing, I do… I am so excited to take the things I have learned throughout this experience and apply them to our section of the Belmont community. I hope to introduce an elevated level of professionalism to the Showcase experience with all I have learned this week!”

Approximately 60 students served as production assistants, talent escorts or seat fillers for this event. The “CMA Country Christmas” show will air nationally on ABC during the holiday season.

Mental Health Counseling Program Hosts Conference on Capitalism and Mental Health

April Hefner
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Mental Health Counseling Program Hosts Conference on Capitalism and Mental Health

Approximately 50 students, faculty, professional counselors, social workers and clergy participated recently in a conference hosted by Belmont’s graduate Mental Health Counseling program on the topic “The Erosion of Psychological, Social, and Interpersonal Health in the Age of Contemporary Capitalism.”

The conversation was led by Dr. Bruce Rogers-Vaughn, an associate professor of the practice of pastoral theology and counseling at Vanderbilt Divinity School who brings 30 years of experience in clinical pastoral psychotherapy to his teaching and research. Dr. Rogers-Vaughn is also president/co-founder of the Pastoral Center for Healing in Nashville, where he continues his clinical practice.

Rogers-Vaughn pointed to a number of changes in American society that occurred in the 1980s, particularly the rise of neoliberalism and its impact on culture the past 40 years. He noted how in 1983, 90 percent of media was owned by 50 companies while in 2018, 90 percent is held by a mere five companies, a figure that may decline even more as Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox is anticipated to be complete next year. In addition, Americans are experience more credit card debt percentage-wise that ever before in recorded history. Plus, significant gaps between the “haves and have nots” exist and are expanding.

“Since 2015, the richest one percent has owned more wealth than the rest of the planet,” he said. “In fact, eight men–and they are all men–now own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world. Why should psychotherapists care? Because economic inequality is an intense marker of social well being.”

Dr. Rogers-Vaughn went on to discuss how the current phase of capitalism is negatively impacting clients’ social, interpersonal, and psychological health through a form of human distress, one he calls the “third order suffering.” In small groups attendees were able to examine how they see secularization and postmodernity impacting clients. The all day session also suggested solutions, providing details on how counselors can offer help and care to those needing assistance.

Dr. Janet Hicks, professor and director of Belmont’s mental health counseling program, said, “This conference gave counselors a new perspective on systemic societal problems and explained so many of the mental health issues our clients are facing. Since income inequity is at an all time high, counselors also learned some new avenues where advocacy is needed. It was one of the most thought provoking conferences I have ever attended.”

Rogers-Vaughn is associate professor of the practice of pastoral theology and counseling at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He brings 30 years of experience in clinical pastoral psychotherapy to his teaching and research and is president/co-founder of the Pastoral Center for Healing in Nashville, where he continues his clinical practice.

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