Stephen Owens spoke at a Belmont Chapel on Friday, Feb. 6, telling about his journey from resentment to forgiveness as his mother sat on death row for playing a major role in the murder of his father.
When Owens returned from church one morning as a 12-year-old boy, he found his father lying in the kitchen floor. Soon after, he testified against his mother, left the court room to live with his aunt and would not see his mother again for more than 20 years.
During this time, Owens went on to graduate college, get married, become a teacher and live a resentful life toward his mother. A series of life events followed that led Owens to understand God’s plan for his relationship with the woman he had grown to hate.
When Owens and his wife made the move from Memphis to Nashville, he could not find a job. After working an odd-job, he accepted a position teaching in prison, which Owens said was the first thing that began to change his heart. Later, he accepted a job teaching in Gallatin, and the headmaster referred him to a position at Christ Presbyterian Academy. Once there, a co-worker recognized his name and said that Owens’s mother had been a part of his prison Bible ministry for 15 years. It was then that Owens recognized the path God had led him down, and he began to seek God’s plan for forgiveness.
Belmont University invites alumni, friends and family to attend Homecoming 2015 Feb. 26-28 for a variety of special events. The celebration, centered on the theme “Destination Belmont,” will feature the first Bruin Spirit Walk, two basketball games, a campus-wide canned food drive supporting Second Harvest Food Bank, a homecoming concert and a pep rally and bonfire. For a complete list of all Belmont Homecoming 2015 events and an opportunity to register, click 
With a mission to promote and celebrate cultural awareness on Belmont’s campus, the University’s Black Student Association (BSA) has announced a series of campus-wide events to celebrate Black History Month. This year’s theme is Renewal: Roots, Renaissance, Rights and the week’s festivities are planned as a way to explore and celebrate all aspects of black culture.
Associate Professor of Dance and Director of the Dance Minor Program Debbie Belue recently presented a workshop entitled “Smart Moves: Building Brainpower with Dance” at Vanderbilt University’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy. The workshop focused on learning, creativity and intelligence as processes of a whole body experience. Participants were introduced to specific movement sequences that serve to organize the body and brain in preparation for learning and creative problem solving.
She said the greatest thing she has learned since the game’s start would be something that mentor and Belmont entrepreneurship professor Jeff Cornwall has said many times. For a start-up to be successful, “it takes a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck.” Moriah says that couldn’t be more true for The Escape Game Nashville. The couple feels luck to be part of the venture, but the road since then has been a lot of hard work for the duo and the rest of their team.
Associate Professor of Economics and Music Business Jennifer Fowler was recently quoted in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s “Extra Credit,” the bank’s online newsletter designed to assist teachers in economic and personal finance topics and teaching strategies. Fowler discussed Nashville’s growing tourism and music tourism industries.
Curb College Career Development Specialist Tish Stewart was nominated by one of Belmont’s entertainment industry partners to join SOURCE Nashville and was accepted. SOURCE is a nonprofit, invitation-only organization unifying female executives from all facets of the Nashville Music Industry.
Rachel Hacker graduated from Belmont in 1998 with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration, majoring in finance. Upon graduation, Hacker moved to Knoxville, Tennessee and helped start McBrearty Capital Managment. The firm, with an original goal of $25 million in investments, is now celebrating its 15th year of helping clients grow their assets and managing $150 million.