Tennessee Voices for Children honored Belmont’s Alpha Sigma Tau with its Volunteer of the Year award on Sept. 20. For three years the sorority has provided volunteers to support Tennessee Voices for Children’s fundraising efforts. Alpha Sigma Tau President Kailey Pearce accepted the award on behalf of the sorority.
During the ceremony, Tennessee Voices for Children honored organizations and people who have made a tremendous positive impact on Children’s Mental Health Initiatives. Tipper Gore organized the non-profit organization in 1990 as a statewide coalition of individuals, agencies and organizations working together as a Steering Council to promote children’s health and education services.
TVC has progressed to become a statewide and national source of referral, support and advocacy for families and the systems that serve them. TVC works collaboratively with parents, professionals, state and federal officials, policy makers as well as Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Department of Education and Department of Children’s Services to ensure that services provided to children and families in Tennessee are family-driven, community-based and culturally and linguistically competent.
Belmont team wins top prize at event co-hosted by U.S. Department of State; Flagship project Spring Back Recycling gains momentum
Students from Belmont University were named the 2012 World Cup champions this evening in an international entrepreneurship competition in Washington, D.C., beating out the national champions of 37 other countries with a flawless presentation and annual report on their 14 community outreach projects. The Belmont team was formerly known as Belmont SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) until SIFE Worldwide announced its new name, Enactus, this week. Enactus is a community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world.
Belmont President Bob Fisher said, “A National Championship is a big deal—even when it’s the second one in three years—but a World Championship is huge! I couldn’t be more proud of our faculty leadership and especially these absolutely amazing students!!!”
Alvin Rohrs, president and CEO of Enactus Worldwide, said, “I feel great pride for what the Belmont team did… The only thing better than their presentation and their projects this year is how they’ve shown the character they have in how they relate to everyone else. I think that speaks a lot about the University and the caliber of these leaders.”
Once a year, the national champion Enactus teams from around world meet at the Enactus World Cup where they present the results of their community outreach projects to a prestigious group of international business leaders. Through a written annual report and live audio visual presentation, teams are evaluated based on how successful they were at using business concepts to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. The 2012 Enactus World Cup was held Sun., Sept. 30-Tues., Oct. 2 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., and the event was co-hosted by the U.S. Department of State.
Enactus members Brennon Mobley and Eric Taft celebrate.
Belmont won its opening round Monday and was one of 16 semi-finalists to compete on Tuesday afternoon; the Belmont team was named the World Cup champion at approximately 4:50 p.m. Central. Other top four competitors included India (HR College of Commerce and Economics), Zimbabwe (Midlands State University) and second place finishers Egypt (French University).
This is the second time in three years that Belmont’s team has won the national championship, placing the group as the No. 1 team out of nearly 600 teams in the U.S. The 2012 World Cup provided a showcase of the impact that Enactus teams are achieving around the world and brought together an international network of more than 3,000 student, academic and business leaders from more than 39 countries.
During the 2011-12 academic year, Belmont SIFE, now Belmont Enactus, focused on 14 projects to benefit the local and global communities. They addressed issues including job skills training, small business development and environmental sustainability. The students spent 2,442 volunteer hours developing and completing their projects. In addition, the 42 team members are involved in many other organizations and represent a variety of majors across campus.
Fifteen students from Belmont University College of Pharmacy volunteered Sept. 29 to administer flu vaccine to children of the Vanderbilt Pediatric Clinics and their parents. The event was set up in a disaster drill format, with dozens of Vanderbilt faculty and staff serving in various roles. The immunizations were logged into a Vanderbilt database for future use.
Belmont student volunteers included: Kelly Maguigan, Shaneika Walker, Erica Wass, Hozan Hussain, Young Oh, Baogi Liang, Myong Yoo, Lisa Tackett, Jennifer Corder, Whitney Dulin, Cody Hall, Melissa Holloway, Pamela Wong, Gena Curl and Mandy Newman. The students were able to administer vaccine to adults, adolescents and children – a new experience for several of them. Virtually all of the more than 500 plus vaccinations were administered by student pharmacists from Belmont and Lipscomb universities.
It began with a cough around the time of Nashville’s 2010 historic flood. For the next two years, doctors poked and prodded Investigations & Special Initiatives Major Renee Albracht. Treatment for allergies, asthma and a stomach bug proved unsuccessful until she saw a hematologist and spent a week in the hospital in June.
“I found out it was Hodgkin’s stage four, and I was elated to have an answer,” Albracht said through a smile.
Speaking about cancer with laughter, Albracht credits her great strength and resilience to the support of her coworkers.
“It has been a challenge because I am independent,” she said. “I quickly had to learn how to depend on other people and let them take care of me. I see this as my ministry. I have learned a lot about what’s important and what matters in life.”
The night before Albracht had her hair cut, Campus Security Major Mike Pruitt handed his clippers to her. She cut Pruitt’s hair as well as her dad’s hair into a low buzz, and the men then razor shaved their heads bald.
“It was in support of her and what she is going through to give her strength. Renee had a ball,” Pruitt said. Several other officers also shaved their heads bald, including Chief of Campus Security Terry White, who has kept up his cut since the summer. “The next day she said that it meant a lot, and it was a lot easier seeing everyone else looking like that.”
Yale University Professor Stephen L. Carter, author of this year’s First Year Seminar common book, Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy, reflected on the nature of civility and politics during an address last night in the Curb Event Center. Carter laid the groundwork for his speech with a definition from his book: “Civility is the sum of the many sacrifices we are called to make for the sake of living together.”
Author Stephen Carter addresses the crowd in the Curb Event Center.
He went on to describe how politics aren’t less civil than in the 19th century, but rather modern citizens are simply exposed to much more political talk and action due to lengthier campaign seasons, round-the-clock media coverage and the radical and uncompromising nature currently seen among political parties.
Carter said, “The reason hot button issues are so divisive is because both sides have a point. We may choose a side, but that doesn’t mean the other side has nothing intelligent to say.”
Carter pointed to noted historian Richard Hofstadter’s views on reactionary politics, noting they had three key aspects: a dismissal of opposing views, an appeal to emotion and blame. The political process that supports that approach leads down a dangerous path, Carter argued, creating a constant reinforcement of similar ideas and an inability to rationally examine complex issues.
“If we spend all our time with those who agree with us, those who disagree with us seem stranger and stranger… Then we don’t exercise our argumentative muscles because why argue with people we believe are stupid or evil? Part of the complexity civility demands of us—because remember that civility is a sacrifice—is realizing the other fellow may have a point.”
Carter closed the First Year Seminar lecture by advocating for civility in daily life. “If we can’t make politics more civil, then we should at least make our interactions with one another more civil. One of the important things in how we look at each other is if we can see the spark of God in one another.”
Stephen L. Carter is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale, where he has taught for almost 30years. He is the author of seven acclaimed works of nonfiction. At Yale, Carter teaches courses on law and religion, intellectual property, contracts, professional responsibility, lying and secrets, and the ethics of warfare. He has received eight honorary degrees and published five novels, in addition to dozens of articles in law reviews, and many op-ed columns in the nation’s leading newspapers. He appears frequently on radio and television. Born in Washington, D.C., Carter was educated in the public schools of Washington, New York City, and Ithaca, New York. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford in 1976, graduating with Honors and Distinction. In 1979, he received his law degree from Yale, where he was a Notes Editor of the Yale Law Journal. Following law school, he served as a law clerk for Judge Spottswood W. Robinson, III, of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and then to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court of the United States.
What began as a botany class project has blossomed into an outdoor museum that puts Belmont on a regional map for its diverse landscaping. The University hosted a ceremony on Sunday for the Nashville Tree Foundation to designate Belmont as among eight new tree arboretums.
“Each of the properties has met the stringent requirements to be recognized an arboretum which include 75 or more named and labeled specimens or as few as 25 in unique, natural or wayside areas and a subsequent inspection by a professional forester,” said foundation President Pat Wallace.
The purpose of establishing arboretums is to increase environmental awareness, provide a learning experience, encourage the creation of arboretums and enhance the image of Nashville for visitors and travelers. Tree arboretums are considered prestigious because they signify a commitment of landowners to maintain and protect their landscape diversity, which is significant in the botanical community.
Belmont’s tree identification project began in 2006 with students in Associate Professor Darlene Panvini’s botany class identifying tree species and taking samples on the main quad. Since then, 45 students have worked on the project and cataloged trees on most of main campus. While engaged in this project, students learned about plant morphology, how to use a taxonomic key, techniques of drying and mounting specimens, and the ecological importance of herbaria. They have covered most of main campus and this semester trekked to Hillside and Kennedy Hall.
On behalf of Belmont University and the College of Law, Belmont President Bob Fisher presented Gary Haugen with the Champions of Justice Award Wednesday.
The Belmont University College of Law presented its second Champions for Justice Award Wednesday to Gary Haugen, the president and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM), an organization which secures justice for victims of slavery and sexual exploitation. The award is presented to a person who exemplifies Belmont’s mission to uphold Jesus as the Christ and the measure for all things, and has lived this out by engaging and transforming the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.
After accepting the award from Belmont President Bob Fisher and College of Law Dean Jeff Kinsler, Haugen gave a brief lecture and led a question-and-answer session in a room filled with a cross section of campus, including College of Law students, faculty and staff as well as Belmont IJM chapter members. “I can’t think of a more extraordinary opportunity than to shape and develop your own law school,” he said. “I am grateful to be here to be a part of it.”
Haugen then focused his remarks on encouraging the law students to do something he rarely witnesses among his friends who are attorneys: “I would like to urge you to enjoy your life, to relentlessly and uncompromisingly enjoy your life.”
Noting that such joy is possible but not inevitable, he asked the students to ponder what forces can destroy joy, including fear, exhaustion and lack of purpose. “Make your work in the law connect to things that matter to the satisfaction of your own soul,” Haugen said. “There are places in the world where people die if the lawyers don’t show up. In such desperate places, it turns out that lawyers desperately matter.”
With breath-taking landscaping featuring a formal rose garden reminiscent of the 1853 grand Belmont Plantation summer home of Adelicia Acklen, Belmont University is the host site for the TENARKY District Fall Convention and Rose Show on Oct. 5-7.
The TENARKY District of the American Rose Society is comprised of 10 local societies in Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas and Kentucky. Rose garden enthusiasts throughout the region will travel to Nashville with their blossoms in coolers in hopes of having their roses named “Queen of the Show.” Upon arrival, exhibitors groom their roses and display them in individual vases for the rose show. At least 30 area exhibitors displaying several hundred roses, including hybrid teas, floribundas, minifloras, miniatures, easy-care shrub roses and old garden roses, are expected to compete in the show.
“We are grateful for the warm hospitality that Belmont has given to the TENARKY District Convention and Rose Show,” said TENARKY District Director Sam Jones, of Nashville. “We look forward to an exciting weekend filled with beautiful roses and people who love them. We hope many in the community will come and enjoy the varieties, designs and fragrances, and perhaps begin growing them. Contrary to what people often believe, ‘roses are easy to grow, elegant, and beautiful,’ according to Nashville Rose Society Master Rosarian, Cecil Ward.”
David Powell, a retired adjunct English instructor, has published his first book, Teacher Let the Monkeys Out. While at Belmont, Powell taught first and third year writing courses. Prior to that, he spent 33 years teaching in Ohio public schools.
The book is a product of 17 years of research, writing, and 44 years of teaching experience. Some of the earlier chapters were written in the mid-1990s, yet remain “freshly relevant,” as Powell states in the preface.
“(The book) should appeal to anyone interested in our schools and the growing angst that teachers face due to teaching to standards and other pressures often beyond their control,” he said.
It is part reflection and part analysis of the four and half decades he spent as an educator. He said the issues facing our education are far to large and complex for a single individual to fully comprehend and fix but offers up his advice and awareness. Click here for more information about Powell and his book..
The Belmont Master of Sport Administration (MSA) Program recently held its annual Etiquette Dinner for all incoming graduate sport administration students. This dinner is a great way for MSA students to learn valuable professional skills and etiquette techniques as they begin internship and job placement opportunities in the Nashville sports community. Angela Chapman, co-director of outreach programs and career counselor with the Career Services Office at Vanderbilt University Law School, was the guest speaker.
Tennessee Voices for Children honored Belmont’s Alpha Sigma Tau with its Volunteer of the Year award on Sept. 20. For three years the sorority has provided volunteers to support Tennessee Voices for Children’s fundraising efforts. Alpha Sigma Tau President Kailey Pearce accepted the award on behalf of the sorority.
