The president and board of trustees of the College Commission of SACS presented the Distinguished Service Award to Jim Stamper (Education) at the annual meeting on Dec. 5 in Orlando, Fla. Dr. Stamper was recognized for being a member of a record 40 committee visits to all the 13 southern states and for chairing 28 of those visiting committees. Further, his SACS committee service on the Criteria and Reports Committee and on the Principles Revision Committee was recognized. Some 4,200 delegates were present at the annual meeting.
Stamper Honored with Distinguished SACS Award
Giordano Publishes Book Chapter
Pete Giordano (Psychological Science) has published a book chapter with colleague Elizabeth Yost Hammer at Xavier University in New Orleans. The book chapter is titled “Making the Case for Active Learning” and appears in the edited book (William Buskist & Victor Benassi, Eds.) Effective College and University Teaching: Strategies and Tactics for the New Professoriate (Sage Publications).
Curb College, Student Activities, Program Board Debut Christmas Concert
Matt Wertz and Ben Rector brought the Christmas spirit to Belmont University on Dec. 7 by performing an assortment of holiday jingles and popular originals.
Wertz played tunes featured on his freshly released holiday album entitled “Snow Globe.” Rector revealed a never heard, yet to be demoed, intimate acoustic song to the sold out crowd in the Massey Performing Arts Center. Dave Barnes made a surprise appearance during the evening, joining Wertz and Rector in Christmas Carols. Andrew Ripp also jumped on stage, accompanying Rector in a groovy rendition of “Silent Night.”
The show was a success, a proper introduction to the holiday season and quite possibly the first of an ongoing holiday concert tradition brought to us by the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, Student Activities, and Student Activities Program Board.
Beta Gamma Sigma Inducts New Members
Belmont’s Beta Gamma Sigma chapter held its induction ceremony on Nov. 21. To qualify for membership, business students must earn the distinction of “the Best in Business” during their academic careers, and this year’s inductees were from the School of Business Administration, Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and Massey Graduate School of Business.
The 41 new members are John J. Aiello, Nyk L. Allen, Lacey D. Askew, Anthony D. Bates, Gretchen B. Bates, Haley N. Black, Caleb M. Bone, Kaileigh N. Bullard, Jaclyn C. Carney, Christine R. Davis, Jordan A. Doherty, Chelsea R. Doyscher, Jordan M. Duncan, Anne E. Fogerty, Jennifer Paige Fossett, Shirah E. Foy, Ayesha F. Ghaffar, Eric R. Glenn, Janet L. Hardin, Kenzie L. Hruby, David Reid Huffman, Jr., Cristina I. Ingram, Michelle J. Keil, Erica Nicole Kesse, George E. Livingston, Courtney L. Lutz, Janelle M. Mabee, Rachel E. McNabb, Ester Mellado, Raul A. Moriel, Kathryn Allen Neal, Laura E. Pack, Charles Durham Pettigrew, Drew Poulos, Kyara L. Rafferty, Brandon C. Silby, Jennifer L. Stevens, Melodie J. Vander Zouwen, Taryn Varner, Kimberly K. Wright and Brittany K. Zimmer.
These new members join an expanding worldwide network of more than 650,000 outstanding business professionals who have earned recognition through lifetime membership in Beta Gamma Sigma.
Students ranking in the upper 10 percent of their junior and senior class and upper 20 percent of their graduating master’s class at schools accredited by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) are eligible for this invitation.
Student Musicians, Sodexo Support Troops
Sodexo and two campus musicians kicked off the men’s basketball first conference home game with Tailgating for the Troops Thursday night (Dec. 1). The event included games, donation stations for care package items and a troop letter writing station.
“We are honored to be able to support our troops in such a special way, especially so close to the holiday season. We know how hard this time can be for our soldiers and their families to be away from home, so we want to bring home to them,” said junior Clark Buckner, the event coordinator.
Belmont student musicians Cameron Bedell and Emily Reid became involved with the benefit event when they were asked to record a new version of Dave Barnes’ hit song, “God Gave Me You.” A number of Belmont students also became involved in producing a video to go with the recording that features individuals and groups on campus holding signs of thanks that read “commitment” and “dedication,” among others; the video debuted during the Tailgating event and has been receiving numerous hits online.
Reid, who was born in Canada, said, “Being given an opportunity to give back to a cause so foreign from your personal upbringing is humbling on many levels. It makes me feel… a bit more connected to something that I really will never comprehend because of my nationality. What troops do … is one of the most honorable and selfless things a person can do, and if I can spend a day doing something that I love to contribute to something much greater than myself, I am humbled by the opportunity to do it.”
Bedell was interested in the project because of working with the coordinators before and a special family connection he has to the troops, he said. “I have a brother-in-law serving our country right now, and I know that something even this small would brighten his days,” Bedell said.
Click here to view additional photos from the Tailgating for the Troops event.
CNBC Quotes Cornwall on Studying Entrepreneurship
Dr. Jeff Cornwall, director of Belmont’s Center for Entrepreneurship, is featured in the CNBC article “Want To Be An Entrepreneur? Go To School” on the increasing number of people studying bootstrapping, cash flow management and social capital.
“A lot of these kids have been raised not to get a corporate job and retire and win the gold watch, but to be self-reliant and make it on their own. They are independent minded and they think nothing of entrepreneurship being a career path,” Cornwall told CNBC.
Click here to read the article in its entirety.
Executive Education Assists with Young Leaders Council Luncheon
Belmont University’s Center for Executive Education sponsored a table at the Young Leaders Council Luncheon on Nov. 16 at the downtown Hilton.
Tennessee Commissioner of Finance and Administration Mark Emkes spoke on behalf of the Massey Business School as part of the university’s sponsorship of Young Leaders Council. Dean Pat Raines gave opening announcements and introduced Emkes.
Jill Robinson, director of executive learning and marketing, serves on the Young Leaders Council Board of Directors.
Songwriting Major Creates Hyundai Commercials
Belmont sophomore songwriting major Jessica Frech recently was asked to create two commercials for Hyundai for holiday and non-holiday themed ads projected to air December through February. Frech was approached by the corporation because of her recent social media efforts to market her songs through the use of a weekly YouTube “Song Challenge” competition.
After seeing one of Frech’s weekly videos titled, “The People of Wal-Mart,” Hyundai become interested in the songwriter and used the video to present to their corporate office.
To keep the work consistent with what she was already doing, Hyundai allowed Frech to control the writing of the songs, come up with the ideas, shoot and edit them. Both commercials and the radio jingle were recorded and edited in Frech’s home.
Frech said working with Hyundai was a great experience that allowed her to learn what she’s interested in doing and show parts of herself through the commercials. “They gave me the freedom to write the song and the script for the commercials which allowed me to be myself and bring out my best work.”
Click here to see more of Frech’s work, including the two Hyundai commercials.
Greeks Raise Money through Teeter-Tottering Event
In October, the brothers of Alpha Tau Omega partnered with the sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau to present a teeter-tottering fundraising event to support Blood Water Mission.
The see-saw was placed outside the Bell Tower for two days while members of both organizations participated in the game to raise money.
The groups partner every year. Previously they have sat and slept outside for 48 hours for an event known as Couch Potato. AST’s New Member Education Emily Robins said the groups wanted to do something other than Couch Potato because they wanted participate in an event that could raise more awareness than sitting for two days.
Robins’s said her favorite part of the event was getting to know the new members from ATO while getting to see her new members become a part of something great. “I loved seeing my girls participate in something that the whole campus caught wind of, it gave them a chance to show their presence on campus and to let the student body know that we are here to make a difference,” Robins said.
The organizations collectively raised more than $800 for Blood Water Mission.
Greeks Hold Tournament to Raise Money for Edgehill Christmas
Belmont’s Kappa Alpha Theta and Alpha Tau Omega will host “Playing for Christmas,” a 3-on-3 basketball tournament on Dec. 3. All proceeds will go towards the Edgehill Center to provide 300 local children with gifts this holiday season.
Money will be raised through team sign-ups as well as raffles with prizes such as CMA Country Christmas tickets, a Hasselbeck jersey and many others.
The double elimination tournament will be held in the Sports Science Center with games lasting 20 minutes each. The championship game will occur at half-time of the Belmont women’s basketball game.
Event coordinators Joni Jamerson and Katie Wilkerson of Kappa Alpha Theta said they are excited about hosting the event on campus with ATO. Other Belmont Greeks have been welcoming to Theta, they said, and the fraternity wants to continue developing strong relationships with other chapters.
