One of more than 300 chapters nationally, the Belmont Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America received two national awards at the 2012 PRSSA National Conference, held Oct. 12-16 in San Francisco. Belmont students brought home four national student awards.
Belmont PRSSA received the Outstanding Regional Conference Award for the PRSSA Region 5 Conference held on campus March 30 and 31, attracting 125 students from 14 chapters in several states. The award specifically recognizes the overall benefit the conference gives to PRSSA members. The Chapter was commended for planning and executing a conference with speakers including public relations professionals from the Dallas Cowboys, HGTV, Cracker Barrel, Cision, IBM and Bonnaroo.
The Chapter also received a fourth PRSSA Star Chapter Award, presented annually since 2009 to recognize a handful of chapters meeting 10 criteria of excellence including ethics advocacy, chapter development and community service.
Endowed scholarship created to honor longtime University Photographer
Michael Krouskop
University Photographer Michael Krouskop, a Belmont employee for more than 11 years, passed away Saturday evening at Vanderbilt University Medical Center following a 10-month battle with T-cell lymphoma. A memorial service to celebrate Michael’s life was held Wednesday morning, October 17, at Belmont University’s Troutt Theater.
Greg Pillon, the director of communications at Belmont and Michael’s supervisor, said, “We were truly blessed to have a talent like Michael Krouskop as part of our Belmont family. Michael was an amazing artist whose photos captured the untold stories of our students and university accomplishments. Michael loved Belmont, and we loved him. His legacy will live on forever in our hearts through his amazing images he has left us.”
As Michael noted on his website, “I love challenges, and more than that, I love capturing a story with my photography.” During his 51 years, Michael captured countless stories through his camera lens and translated them in a way that only a photographer of immense talent could do. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Michael began his career as a TV news photographer in Charleston, South Carolina, winning an Emmy Award and the Dupont-Columbia Award. He was also named the Best News Photographer in the Southeastern United States by the National Association for Professional Journalists.
Tired of focusing on images of “crime and disaster,” Michael transitioned his work into the motion picture industry, bringing his journalistic style to shoot behind-the-scene videos for MGM, HBO Films and ABC television. He worked on several music videos, documentaries and short films as a cinematographer, lighting designer and as a still photographer. He then focused on still photography garnering a client list that included Microsoft Learning, McDonalds Corporation, HCA, the U.S. Army and AT&T, among others. His photographs were featured in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, People, Harper’s Bazaar, Southern Living and many other publications. He was also nominated for a 2004 Dove Award for his photography work on The Fisk Jubilee Singers CD In Bright Mansions.
Since 2001, Michael served as the University Photographer for Belmont University while also conducting his own successful wedding photography business. The consummate visual storyteller, Michael won numerous awards during his time at Belmont for photography that appeared in the University’s Circle magazine and annual President’s Report.
As a wedding and commercial photographer, Michael’s work was equally appreciated, drawing consistent rave reviews from his clients. One bride noted, “Michael was the ideal wedding photographer and a true artist behind the lens,” while another client commented, “his professionalism, patience, flexibility and talent cannot be matched.”
John Michael Krouskop was born to Eralynn and John Krouskop in Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 29, 1960. He is survived by his mother Eralynn Wolken, son Jacob Krouskop, sisters Cindy Jones and Heidi Steklis, mother of his son Chelsea Kloepfel, and step daughter Mira Kloepfel. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or to an endowed scholarship in Michael’s name at Belmont University. Contact the Office of Development for more information.
Alumna Brenna Mader was named Miss Tennessee USA on Oct 6. She represented Davidson County in the competition. The pageant, which was held at Austin Peay State University’s Music and Mass Communications Theater, opened with a choreographed dance number featuring all the contestants. Over the course of the evening, the contestants were narrowed down to 15 semi finalists, and then to five for the final competition. In the final round, the women were scored on their swimwear and evening wear. Each category made up 50 percent of their score.
Mader graduated with her Bachelors of Science in journalism in the spring of 2009. Having won the Miss Tennessee USA competition, she will represent the state of Tennessee in the Miss USA pageant.
Coordinator of Instrumental Studies Joel Treybig and trumpet students Anthony Baird, Kevin Griffin, and Elias Salazar will be a part of the Gaylord Opryland Tree Lighting Ceremony on Nov. 15. This is the 30th year for the event. Their performance will be in collaboration with Vanderbilt trumpeters.
Faculty and students from the Belmont University School of Occupational Therapy recently presented a workshop for community volunteers on providing safe transportation and door-through-door support to elder citizens. Working in collaboration with the Greater Nashville Council on Aging, Debra Gibbs, Teresa Plummer and six second-year students in the Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program conducted the workshop at the North Nashville Police Precinct. About 25 local volunteers attended. Student presenters included Brittni Thompson, Carrie Beth Henson, LaRae Murray, Danielle Paulsen, Rebecca Lynn and Kelly Dennison.
Caroline Blackwell leads a convocation lecture on poverty.
Belmont held a “Unity Through Service Week” coordinating with the campus theme, E Pluribus Unum, to offer convocations and volunteer opportunities to students. Tim Stewart, director of service learning, and student Gabrielle Hampton were the driving forces behind the week.
The week began with an opening convocation on Sept. 17 featuring Caroline Blackwell, executive director of the Metro Human Relations Commission. Later in the day, students and faculty had a “mix-it-up” luncheon in the cafeteria. As they entered the cafeteria, they each drew a colored card from the bowl, and sat at tables coordinating with their color. At each event, the first 40 students to arrive received a single ticket, which could be exchanged for a single free meal from one of the food trucks on during the Unity Rally on Sept. 23.
“The crowds started small, and grew as the week went on. Some of the later events were very heavily attended,” he said. One of the most well attended events of the entire week was the one concerning homelessness. “There were about 80 students that came to homelessness program and that was great to see.”
Another one of the most successful events of the week was a field day held for adults with disabilities. Several Belmont athletes came to volunteer for the event.
Belmont senior Tom Haarlander is paving his road to success through three entrepreneurship ventures that provide medical supplies, manufacture them in China and import the products into Europe and the United States. Although he expects to gross nearly $6 million between his three companies this year, the University gave him an unprecedented opportunity Wednesday to practice his pitch before venturing to trade shows to promote teeth-whitening cold wave lasers, anti-aging facial probes and medical optical lamps.
“[The Center for Entrepreneurship] brings stability to what you are doing. I can put my foot to the gas and run all over, but if I don’t have a solid foundation, it will fall apart,” Haarlander said.
Forty-two businesses participated in Belmont’s first-ever Entrepreneurship Village held Wednesday morning under white tents surrounding the Bell Tower. Thirteen alumni returned to Belmont for the village, including Erin O. Anderson, owner of artist management company Olivia Management.
“The best thing [about the village] is getting to know students at Belmont and getting to encourage them,” said Anderson (’06). “I tell them, ‘You may not be sure what you want to do, but you can do it on your own.’ It’s been fun to encourage students to start their own businesses.”
The village featured companies of various industries including smart phone applications, graphic design, videography, photography, music publishing, construction, vintage jewelry, custom apparel printing and textbooks. The purpose of the event was to display the innovation, creativity and success of Belmont’s entrepreneurship students and alumni.
Kevin Trowbridge, instructor of public relations, delivered the keynote speech for the Cleveland Media Association’s 6th annual Fall Conference on Oct. 5, in Cleveland, Tenn. He was one of two inaugural speakers for the event when it first began five years ago. This year’s presentation, titled “Social Shift: Escalating Expectations for Today’s Media Landscape,” examined the emerging implications of social media for organizations and the mass media industry. The association is comprised of public relations, advertising and communication professionals—including journalists—in Southeast Tennessee.
Biology Professor Steve Murphree was invited by Belmont Masters in Education graduate Gretchen Pitts to speak at Kirkpatrick Full Option Elementary School. Murphree presented an Insect Program to two groups of 125 children, Pre-K through fourth grade, on Oct. 4. Pitts was a former student in Murphree’s Elementary Science Methods class.
Assistant Professor of English Gary L. McDowel, has an essay forthcoming—an excerpt from a memoir-in-progress—in The Baltimore Review. He also has poems forthcoming in the following literary journals: Southern Indiana Review, The Chattahoochee Review, South Dakota Review, Grist, Catch Up, Anti- and Ghost Town. Recent poetry and prose has appeared in The Tusculum Review, Sou’wester, RHINO, Burnside Review, and Diode. His new manuscript of poems has recently been a finalist for several awards, including the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award, the Alice James Books’ Beatrice Hawley Award, the Open Competition in the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry and the University of Akron Poetry Series.
Belmont PRSSA received the Outstanding Regional Conference Award for the PRSSA Region 5 Conference held on campus March 30 and 31, attracting 125 students from 14 chapters in several states. The award specifically recognizes the overall benefit the conference gives to PRSSA members. The Chapter was commended for planning and executing a conference with speakers including public relations professionals from the Dallas Cowboys, HGTV, Cracker Barrel, Cision, IBM and Bonnaroo.
