The Best Buddies Chapter at Belmont University hosted an event on Oct. 22 to welcome new members. Best Buddies is an international organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships between persons with and without disabilities. This is the second year for the Belmont Chapter. Best Buddies officers, Cait Walker (President, sport science major) and Azad Karim (Membership Coordinator, biology major) with faculty advisor, education Department Chair Sally Barton-Arwood, welcomed our newest Belmont and community buddies at Centennial Park. The group participated in the annual Buddy Walk sponsored by the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee.
Littlejohn to Present at Confucius Institute Lecture Series
Director Asian Studies Program and philosophy Professor Ronnie Littlejohn will present a lecture on Nov. 14 at the University of South Flordia Confucius Institute Lecture Series. His talk will explore the topic of Daoism and Sustainability. Daoism or Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao, which is everything that exists, the origin of everything. Littlejohn’s presentation introduces themes from the classical Daoist texts and then turns to little known sectarian religious texts and beliefs of Daoism which give evidence of the great importance of the environment.
Speech and Debate Team Has Impressive Showing at Berea College
The Speech and Debate team succeeded their best ever showing at the University of Alabama on Oct. 22 with an ever showing at Berea College in Bera, Ky. Top national teams such as Western Kentucky, Eastern Michigan and George Mason, were in attendance. The Belmont Speech and Debate team came in 3rd place overall. Awards were as follows:
First half of tournament
Eric Schoen
– Dramatic Interpretation, 1st place
– Informative Speaking, 6th place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 5th place
Nicole Bright
– Prose Interpretation, Semi-Finalist
– Poetry Interpretation, 2nd place
– Programmed Oral Interpretation, 3rd place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 3rd place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 2nd place
Katie Callaway
– Duo Interpretation, 5th & 3rd place (partners listed above)
Matthew Roberts
– After Dinner Speaking, 5th place
– Extemporaneous Speaking, 3rd place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 4th place
Team Awards
– “Small School” division – 1st place
– Overall Team – 3rd place
Second half of the tournament
Eric Schoen
– Dramatic Interpretation, 1st place
– Informative Speaking, 3rd place
– Impromptu Speaking, 4th place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 3rd place
Nicole Bright
– Prose Interpretation, 6th place
– Programmed Oral Interpretation, 1st place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 4th place
– Poetry Interpretation, 1st place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 2nd place
Katie Callaway
– Duo Interpretation, 4th & 3rd place (partners listed above)
Matthew Roberts
– After Dinner Speaking, 2nd place
– Impromptu Speaking, 6th place
– Rhetorical Criticism, 6th place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 4th place
Team Awards
– “Small School” division, 1st place
– Overall Team, 3rd place
SMACS Receives Award from American Chemical Society
The Belmont University chapter of Student Members of the American Chemical Society was recently notified that they have been selected to receive a Commendable Award for the 2010-11 activities of their local chapter at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego, CA in March 2012. Lists of the award winning chapters will be published in Chemical & Engineering News and in inChemistry, the student member magazine. The Belmont chapter also received a Commendable Award at the ACS National Meeting in March 2011. Chemistry Associate Professors Alison Moore and Rachel Rigsby are the faculty advisors of the chapter.
COBA Students Bring Home Awards in International Business Competition
Belmont had four representatives, Ayesha Gaffar, Jordan Holt, Patrick Hurt and Rami Nofal, from the College of Business Administration compete in the Eighth Annual CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research) Case Challenge in late October. Mixed in with students from universities across America and abroad, the students formed new teams and competed against each other by analyzing and presenting an international business case to judges.
Ayesha Ghaffar’s team won their preliminary round competition of five teams and competed in the final round to place third, out of fifteen, in the competition overall. Two other Belmont students were awarded individual awards in the preliminary round among their five teams. Jordan Holt was named “Best Presenter” and Patrick Hurt was named “Best Q&A.”
Belmont was the only university with two students recognized for individual awards.
Brueggemann Lectures on God’s Justice for the Poor
Belmont University welcomed noted author and speaker Walter Brueggemann to campus on Oct. 23 for a convocation lecture titled, “God’s Justice for the Poor.”
An expert on bringing the insights of the Old Testament to bear on contemporary issues of economic justice, nationalism and militarism through his 75 books, Brueggemann spent the hour engaging students in a discussion on the economic structure of society in Biblical times between the ideals under Pharaoh and the neighborly structure seen in Deuteronomy.
He advocated for a “mixed system” society – one that combines strategies from the capitalistic approach and the neighbor friendly one.
“Jesus thought neighbors related to neighbors related to neighbors could be transformative,” Brueggemann said.
The lecture ended with audience participation as students stood around the room and engaged in a dialogue surrounding the assigned questions regarding the state of the economy and the applicability of these ideals to the system we live in.
Brueggemann’s lecture tied in with the University’s 2011-2012 theme of Wealth and Poverty. This academic year, many academic lectures and programs explore the origins and effects of wealth and poverty as well as the social and ethical implications of each.
Belmont University Named a College of Distinction
Belmont University was again selected for the Colleges of Distinction, a website and college guide profiling more than 220 of America’s best bets in h
igher education. Belmont has been included on the list since 2007. Based on the opinions of guidance counselors, educators and admissions professionals, Colleges of Distinction honors colleges that excel in four areas of undergraduate education: student engagement in the educational process, great teaching, vibrant learning communities and successful outcomes.
Aside from the academic experience offered at the institutions selected, Colleges of Distinction are also chosen based on their first year program and experimental components of the curriculum. The organization believes institutions should be judged on what they are doing now and the development of their strategic plan, instead of their prestige historically.
Belmont will be profiled on the Colleges of Distinction Web site and in the official Colleges of Distinction guidebook. The selected Colleges of Distinction schools are found all across the United States.
History Honor Society Inducts New Members
On Oct. 19, the History Department held initiation ceremonies at the Belmont Mansion for Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society. Inductees included Mary Lyn Albritton, Cody Cain, Matt Craft, Seth Granda, Kyle Moyer, Stephanie Downing, Abby Henry, David Suell and Chris Goodwin. Amanda Buckner, Steven Gallo, and Sydney Smith also met the requirements for 
membership this year but could not attend. The faculty advisor for the group, Dr. Cynthia Bisson, presided over the ceremonies.
The initiation ceremony was followed by a guest lecture from Dr. William Caferro, a leading economic historian of the medieval period in Europe, and the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. Professor Caferro offered an engrossing look into his research on the Italian City States at the time of the Black Death, specifically the problem of wages across different social groups during the period. His research suggests a challenge to the prevailing view that wages increased as a result of the Black Death (fewer people means a higher demand for labor), opening up some fascinating questions for understanding how markets worked during the 14th century. His talk was entitled “Petrarch’s War and the Meaning of Wages at the Time of the Black Death” and was included in this year’s larger campus theme of Wealth and Poverty.
Student-Athletes Rank High on NCAA Report
Belmont University student-athletes received high marks in the 2011 Graduation Success Rate Report released Tuesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Annually among the national standard bearers in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate report – which measures eligibility and retention – Belmont University also ranks among the nation’s best in Graduation Success Rate.
The two-pronged report contained both Federal graduation rates, which are based solely on freshman scholarship student-athletes enrolling between 2001 and 2004, and a Graduation Success Rate that takes into account transfers in and out of the institution for the same time period. Both surveys are based on the student-athletes having six years to graduate from the time of their initial enrollment.
Five Belmont programs – men’s basketball, men’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s golf and women’s tennis – not only ranked among the nation’s best and paced the Atlantic Sun Conference in GSR within their respective sports, but had perfect scores of 100 for the reported cohort. Belmont Baseball also ranked first in the conference in GSR, with a score of 90. Read more.
Freedom of Speech Week Explores Social Media
Communication Studies Assistant Professor Jason Stahl, Media Studies Associate Professor Sybril Bennett and Public Relations Instructor Kevin Trowbridge sat on a panel in the Massey Boardroom on Oct. 21 to explore the theme “Public Voice & Social Media” as part of Free Speech Week at Belmont.
They discussed social media’s changing importance in the way society communicates, how new responsibilities accompany new channels and tools, social media expansion, privacy freedoms and the place of social media in the classroom.
Bennett talked about the fears of privacy associated with social media and the direction of the future. She emphasized the importance of being “intentional and responsible” with your online brand since “you want to be the one who manages and facilitates it.”
The discussion ended with students’ questions regarding multitasking in the classroom and the role social media can play in enhancing the student experience. Trowbridge said he believes social media has a role in the classroom but content must be engaging because of its nature and the brevity of messages. Students and professors have to “step up their game and actually engage your audience, whether it’s online or face to face,” he said.
Lambda Pi Eta, the Communication Studies Department and the National Communication Association sponsored the week, which also included a viewing of “The King’s Speech.” The final event is a keynote address on “Public Voice in Public Institutions” by Chalsea Millner of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library at 10 a.m. Oct. 31 in the Massey Boardroom.
