Drs. Jeremy Fyke and Nathan Webb, faculty in Corporate Communication and Communication Studies, recently presented at the Central States Communication Association Annual Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Fyke gave a presentation titled, “Seeing Difference Differently: Using Images to Unpack Perspectives.” Webb gave a presentation titled, “Teaching Intercultural Communication with TED Talks.”
Law students Paul Madden, Ben Riggs, Richard Swor, Jake Beggin, Emmie Futrell and Sarah Sims represented Belmont College of Law in Washington, D.C. at the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition April 5-7. Belmont’s team beat or out-ranked teams from Syracuse, Mercer, Brooklyn, Liberty, Barry, Capital, Case Western and Northwestern universities.
Belmont Law placed 19th out of 182 teams from 108 ABA approved law schools throughout the nation.
Masters of Music Composition alumnus Aaron Hoke Doenges (’09) has an interactive music installment called “Wade [Music for River and People]” on exhibition on the Pedestrian Bridge downtown. The exhibit is composed from live data about the Cumberland, Harpeth and Richland rivers from the United States Geological Survey website that has been translated into music.
As people move across the bridge, the musical elements are altered to reflect the impact pedestrians have on local waterways. The larger the audience, the greater the changes in the music will be.
Wade [Music for River and People] will be installed until April 29 on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in downtown Nashville and is free and open to the public. The project is funded in part by the Metro Arts: Nashville Office of Art & Culture.
Doenges will also be speaking at the River Talk, hosted by the Cumberland River Compact, on April 26 from noon to 1 p.m. at the Bridge Building.
Bridges to Belmont recently hosted the Empowher Networking Dinner for women in the Univeristy’s program. A play on the words “empower” and “her,” the Empowher dinner provided college women the opportunity to network with educators, leaders and professionals from the surrounding area as they plan for their futures. The event’s keynote speaker was Taj George.
Empowher was hosted by Director of the Bridges to Belmont program Dr. Mary Clark who said, “I decided to host this event because I believe it is important for young women and men to have the opportunity to meet professionals in their chosen career fields.”
This dinner was the sister to the “Men About Business” mentoring and networking dinner hosted in February. Clark noted, “Separating the collegiate participants by gender is important, because it creates a safe space for each to be themselves. There is something to be said about being in a room of your peers that allows college students to find comfort and camaraderie, which only breeds more confidence when it comes to making life decisions. Each dinner was profound in how it engaged the audience, and I firmly believe that the separation by gender was important and impactful on multiple levels.”
At the event, participants were introduced to students from both Belmont and other local institutions. Importantly, they were connected to peers and professionals with similar career aspirations. “The conversations that were had at each table and with our keynote speaker were authentic as it relates to trials, tribulations and triumphs that women often encounter, and I think that was essential for the collegiate women to hear,” Clark said.
Each year, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville celebrates a Nashville resident for their inspiring leadership and patronage of the arts with its Martha Rivers Ingram Arts Visionary Award. This year, the deserving honoree is Belmont University President Dr. Bob Fisher, a long-time Nashville business leader and arts supporter.
Fisher’s friends, family, and colleagues from his many business endeavors as well as his community and arts leadership activities will gather at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Wed., May 2, at 5:30 p.m. to honor his significant volunteer and community support work.
“Given that Nashville has one of the most vibrant creative arts communities in the world, this recognition is especially sweet and humbling,” said Fisher. “My wife Judy and my colleagues at Belmont University have inspired my activities over the past two decades, and they are really the ones who have earned this award. We are sincerely grateful.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased to honor Dr. Fisher with this prestigious award,” said Jill McMillan, executive director of the Arts & Business Council. “He has had a transformative impact on cultural landscape of Greater Nashville, and is the perfect choice for this year’s Ingram Arts Visionary Award.”
Previous Ingram Arts Visionary Award winners include: Earl Swensson, Denny Bottorf, Walter Knestrick, Steve & Jay Turner, and Shirley Zeitlin.
Attendees and supporters are invited to make a donation in honor of Bob Fisher to the Arts & Business Council, which works to cultivate Nashville’s creative community. For more information about the event, call (615) 460-8274. Corporate sponsors of this event include Earl Swensson Associates and Cumberland Trust.
On Fri., April 6, Belmont alumnus and Grammy Award-winner Brad Paisley prepped for the hometown show of his current Weekend Warrior World Tour with a special pre-show sound check with approximately 200 students from the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. The students were invited to Bridgestone Arena where Paisley hosted them for a few songs during sound check and then offered career advice and conducted a Q&A session. The students were also able to attend the evening’s performance.
Freshman music business major Jacklyn Figueiredo noted what an amazing opportunity it was for her and her peers to get such a behind-the-scenes tour as well as remarked how much she enjoyed hearing about Paisley’s own time on Belmont’s campus. “His experience was very relatable to everyone’s current Belmont experience. It was awesome to see how he utilized all the tools he learned at Belmont. He said he invited Belmont students to Bridgestone because he wanted to see the new faces of the music industry, and I think that really motivated a lot of students.”
Junior music business and accounting double major Becca Cress added, “Immediately likable, he sat down on the steps of the stage and started telling us stories of his time at Belmont and how it shaped his life. He was very engaging with his audience and continuously asked the students questions about their impressions of Belmont and how it operates today compared to when he attended it. Before starting his actual soundcheck he declared he wanted to construct ‘Paisley Hall’ – where there were no practice hours and everyone could play music whenever they wanted. The soundcheck itself was awesome!! He is such an incredible guitarist and the band worked really well together. You could tell he’s an experienced artist and has performed in front of large crowds many times.”
It’s quite a month for guitar aficionados as April marks the celebration of International Guitar Month as well as the one-year anniversary of the opening of The Gallery of Iconic Guitars at Belmont, also known as The GIG. International Guitar Month, which began in 1987, is an annual celebration of guitars and guitar products promoted by the Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association (GAMA) and the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) to attract awareness and develop loyalty.
It’s the perfect timing for The GIG, which opened its doors on April 25, 2017 and attracts tourists and musicians alike who seek a sneak peek at historically significant stringed instruments. The GIG is the result of a gift to Belmont University of nearly 500 vintage guitars and supporting endowment—amounting to a total value of approximately $10.5 million—from the estate of the late Steven Kern Shaw. Shaw was a collector, philanthropist and the grandson of Jerome Kern who was one of America’s foremost composers of musical theater and popular music (responsible for such classic songs as “Ol’ Man River,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”).
Steven Kern Shaw family friend George Gruhn (founder of Gruhn Guitars and vintage instrument expert) serves as co-executor of the estate and noted that Mr. Shaw’s will specified his desire that the instruments be donated to an institution capable of properly exhibiting and caring for them, preferably in the Nashville area.
Gruhn noted, “An instrument is not a servant to a musician, but rather a partner. The really great instruments are alive, and they make suggestions. Sometimes you lead them and sometimes they lead you… Belmont University was the natural choice for a permanent home for this collection since it draws students and scholars from around the world and is noted for the excellence of its music programs.”
The collection has a total of nearly 500 unique and irreplaceable instruments with approximately 100 guitars currently on display, from an 1887 Martin 0-28 to a 1989 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 “10 Top.”
The Gallery of Iconic Guitars is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday from 1-5 p.m. Admission is $5, and free for children under 12 as well as Belmont students, faculty and staff. Visit thegigatbelmont.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
When senior Amiyah Davis first came to Belmont, she began looking for a way to acclimate on campus and connect with other students. In 2015, her passion for dance culminated in the formation of Belmont’s 629 Dance Team. She began this team with the vision of creating a diverse community where dancers could learn new styles of dance from a variety of backgrounds. As a result, the dancers all have different dance backgrounds. Some are classically trained ballerinas, and some have never danced at all. 
According to Jessica Christian, current president of 629 Dance, “The 629 Dance Team is a team of diverse students who use their talent to stand against racism and sexism. We have a team that has both male and female, and our goal is to give those who have no voice a voice through dance.”
The team takes their performances very seriously, practicing at least four hours each week, and their hard work is paying off. In January, the team performed alongside Brett Nichols, a young Michael Jackson impersonator, during a Belmont basketball half-time show. This semester, they performed at World Culture Fest, and their ballet signature showcase will occur Fri., April 13. The “Mad World” showcase, set for 7:30 p.m. in Gabhart A&B, will depict the everyday struggles with societal beauty norms and related mental health issues.
The Massey Graduate School of Business is partnering with Young Leaders Council (YLC)for the second year in a row to welcome the 2018 Massey Graduate Alumni/YLC Class. The program provides the opportunity for MBA alumni to participate in a training program for work in nonprofit organizations.
YLC is a Nashville-based nonprofit organization created by the Council of Community Services and the HCA Foundation to address the need to broaen and strengthen Nashville’s volunteer leadership base. They aim to train young professionals to effectively participate on the boards of nonprofit organizations. Since their conception in 1985, more than 2,500 graduates of the training program have serves on the boards of 225 nonprofit agencies in Middle Tennessee.
The YLC program consists of 11 classes covering the fundamentals of nonprofit board training. Upon completion of the program, participants are placed on nonprofit boards to serve one-year internships as a nonvoting member of that board. They will also be members of the YLC alumni program that offers ongoing programming.
“Alums tell me all the time how valuable YLC has been to them, not only in their community service life, but in their professional life also,” said Diane Hayes, executive director of YLC. “Employers encourage their employees to become involved in a leadership position in their community, and YLC offers them that entryway. In addition, it is a great opportunity for them to network with young professionals from companies all over Middle Tennessee and make connections that last for years.”
This year’s class consists of nine alumni from the Jack C. Massey Graduate Schools of Business. The program began earlier this month and will continue until May 24.
This past week the Belmont TVA Investment Club was honored by the Tennessee Valley Authority for achieving a 2017 return of 24.55 percent (versus 21.83 percent for the S&P 500 Index). Lead by Chau Mai and Joshua Dahlberg, the team managed over $500,000 for TVA and generated over $3,300 in prize money for the university by achieving a return in excess of the market index.
