IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

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La Campana Names Belmont Best Academic Institution

Paul Chenoweth
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Nashville’s Hispanic newspaper honored Belmont University on Sept. 15 with its 2011 Crystal Bell Award for Best Academic Institution during a 10th anniversary celebration for La Campana, Spanish for The Bell, at Hickory Hollow Mall.

“In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the newspaper we have chosen several organizations to give special recognition for their efforts throughout these years to reach out and be inclusive with the Hispanic community of Nashville and Middle Tennessee,” said Publisher Ramón L. Cisneros. “Belmont has been important to the Hispanic community for many years. At the beginning of the 2000s, Belmont was very important as a supporter of a program called Hispanic Achievers sponsored by the YMCA. Belmont also has been the main institution in promoting programs like Conexión Américas and Negocio Próspero, programs that help immigrants start businesses in the United States. Belmont also has hosted many Hispanic events through the years.  And Belmont has been very important to our community in terms of promoting arts and cultural events throughout the Fiesta Belmont event every May. During the presidential debate, Belmont was very considerate of including the Hispanic media and ethnic media in general.”

La Campana is a Spanish-language bimonthly newspaper. The newspaper’s board hand selected companies, organizations and individuals to receive Crystal Bell Awards.

University Director of Community Relations Joyce Searcy accepted the award on behalf of Belmont.

“Belmont University strives to be inclusive of all communities in the Nashville area and empower students and neighbors of diverse backgrounds,” Searcy said. “We are honored that La Campana recognizes Belmont’s employees and students for their efforts to engage and transform the world and especially the Hispanic community of Middle Tennessee.”

Belmont Ranks No. 7 in U.S. News List of America’s Best Colleges

Paul Chenoweth
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Belmont lauded as ‘Up and Comer’ and for ‘Strong Commitment to Teaching’

Belmont University landed at No. 7 on U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of America’s Best Colleges. Announced today, Belmont placed in the Top 10 of the Regional Universities-South listing for the third consecutive year and was also lauded for the fourth year in a row as a top “Up-and-Comer,” indicating the university has made “promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty, student life, campus or facilities.” Moreover, Belmont was praised by its peers for its “unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.”

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “I am both humbled and honored to be president of Belmont University. These rankings are meaningful to me because they recognize the immense dedication and talents of Belmont’s faculty, staff, students, administrators and trustees who commit themselves daily to making this institution one of the finest in the country.”

In the Best Regional Universities-South category, Belmont is again the highest-ranked university of the 15 ranked Tennessee institutions and in the top seven of the 127 schools included from the South. On some of the most important indicators used to determine the ranking, Belmont has improved over the previous year in its freshman retention and graduation rates. Other regional institutions in the Top 10 include Rollins College, Elon University, Stetson University, Samford University, The Citadel and James Madison University.

Provost Dr. Thomas Burns added, “Though I have only been part of the Belmont community since January, I have admired the high quality of Belmont’s academic programs and the faculty’s commitment to teaching for many years. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with colleagues who are passionate about engaging Belmont students in transformative learning every day.  Receiving recognition like this from our peers around the country is both a recognition of our commitment to excellence and a measure of the quality of our students, faculty and staff.”

At the start of the semester Belmont reached a record-breaking enrollment number for the eleventh straight year with approximately 6,400 students on campus, representing an eight percent increase since last year. Moreover, the incoming freshmen’s credentials continue to increase in strength with an average ACT score of 26.3 for the Class of 2015. In addition, 33 percent of new freshmen at Belmont were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class, and 61 percent were in the top quarter.

In addition to the Class of 2015, Belmont also welcomed its charter class to the College of Law last month. A total of 130 students are enrolled for the program’s inaugural year, beating projected goals by nearly 30 percent. Moreover, the strength of the initial class has exceeded expectations as well with incoming students holding a median LSAT score of 154.

Apple Expert Speaks to Belmont Students

Paul Chenoweth
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The future of Apple is in televisions with an application store for video games streamed straight to screens, Chartered Financial Analyst Tavis C. McCourt told Belmont University students.

McCourt, of Morgan Keegan, often is featured on CNBC as a top technology analyst and writes stock recommendations for large financial institutions that outsource to investment banks. He shared his thoughts and insights on the future of Apple and the personal and commercial PC/handheld markets during a lecture in the Neely Dining Room on Sept. 9.

“The easy answer to Apple’s success is it makes good products and that is obvious,” McCourt said. He cites the company’s vertical integration, in which it owns and makes its own software, and wealthy customers for Apple’s continued prosperity.

Apple also owns and controls its contacts with media companies and retail stores, avoiding third party companies, which maximizes profits. For instance, the iPhone should retail for $600 but Apple has wireless phone carrier companies subsidize the popular smart phone in exchange for exclusive contracts. Apple also does not profit from iTunes, but the iTunes marketing and retail strategy allows a platform that gives convenience as an incentive for companies and consumers to use Apple hardware, McCourt said.

“This integration of media and hardware allows Apple to by far make the highest profits in the industry,” he said.

Still, the technology company faces threats from Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Samsung. With the departure of former chief executive officer Steve Jobs, Apple will lose top engineers to its competitors.

Freshman Nominated for Glamour’s Woman of the Year Readers’ Choice Award

Paul Chenoweth
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The compassionate work of a Belmont freshman is receiving national recognition.

Two years ago, Kelsey Kinsel of Las Vegas founded Salvation City, a suicide prevention organization that provides resources to teens battling depression.

This month she is one of five finalists selected by Glamour magazine for its 2011 Woman of the Year Readers’ Choice Award. Voting ends Sept. 23 and the winner will be announced at the end of the month. Read articles on Kinsel in The Tennessean and on MTV.com.

The two women with the most votes will go to New York City for Glamour’s Women of the Year red carpet event, where Kinsel said she hopes to touch toes with political celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama.

“It is not a monetary prize but it is a huge opportunity to spread the word about Salvation City and network with real influential women,” she said.

The award would be the pinnacle of her work that began when two friends committed suicide.

“I decided to do something to let people know if they were in the same situation they there are places that they can turn to help them,” Kinsel said. She since has been assembling an article compilation CD, creating posters and selling $3 wristbands to raise money to distribute suicide prevention resources to schools. Fox 5 KVVU in Las Vegas also have Salvation City a $1,000 grant.

Continue

Lumos Award Winner Travels to China

Paul Chenoweth
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Sponsored by a Lumos Student Travel Award, a scholarship given to students who are interested in volunteering overseas for at least six weeks, Belmont student Henna Jurca was able to make her long-time dream of volunteering in China possible.

Initially traveling for academics through the Keats School, Jurca was able to fulfill her call to volunteer when her trip fell through. She decided to continue on with the Keats School’s Study + Volunteer program.

Although Jurca said the people she worked with were unfamiliar with service, and why someone would give without receiving she was able to provide a new example. “Having an impact on all of those people was the greatest reward,” she said.

Spending six weeks volunteering with a school for autistic children and a home for the elderly, Jurca said that although the experience was challenging, she is thankful for the lessons learned.

“I would say that I had some hard times along the way, but everything made me a stronger person,” she said.

Jurca said she is excited about additional opportunities to travel to China and is looking forward to helping more people along the way.

Songwriting Major Wins Christian Music Festival

Paul Chenoweth
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Emily Summers, sophomore songwriting major, was selected as the winner at ALIVE 11’s Christian music festival. The festival hosts a new talent search program where musicians are invited to submit a bio, photo and recording of an original song. Ultimately, after many performances and public voting contests, Summers was selected as grand prize winner to represent the ALIVE 11 Festival at the national talent search competition.

Summers now is competing, along with grand prize winners from surrounding festivals, in an online voting competition. The ultimate winner will tour with Christian bands to the 23 participating festivals around the country next summer.

Click here to hear more about Summers and listen to her music.

Andrew Webster Publishes Chapter on Enzymes

Paul Chenoweth
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Andrew Webster, chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, recently published a chapter in the American Autonomic Society book Primer on the Autonomic Nervous System, Third Edition, Elsevier. The chapter “Acetylcholinesterase and its Inhibitors” is an overview of the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase in the body and the drugs and chemical classes that impact the enzyme’s activity.

Edgar S. Diaz-Cruz Published in Cancer Research Journal

Paul Chenoweth
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Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Assistant Professor Edgar S. Diaz-Cruz had an article on published in the Cancer Research Journal on Aug. 15. The article, titled “Comparison of increased aromatase versus ERa in the generation of mammary hyperplasia and cancer,” discusses whether development of breast cancer caused by over-expression of the receptor results from the same or different aberrant molecular pathways than that induced by increased local estrogen production through mammary-targeted aromatase expression.

Alumna Takes Second Place in SuperStar Contest

Paul Chenoweth
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Belmont University alumna Madison Michelle Hardy was runner-up for season three of the Beech Bend SuperStar Contest in Bowling Green, Ky.

A recent music business graduate of Belmont, Hardy of Philadelphia, Miss., now lives in the Nashville area and works as a receptionist while continuing to perform and pursue a career as a recording artist.

Recording artists, music producers, studio musicians, back-up singers, sound engineers, vocal coaches, artists and development studios and all genres of the music industry professionals have participated in the Bend SuperStar Contest. The SuperStar judges on the panel for the finale were Allen Laymen, Preshias Tomes-Harris, Jonell Polansky, Holly Jackson, and Brian Mansfield.

Students Serve In Honor of 9/11 Victims, Heroes

Paul Chenoweth
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On the 10th anniversary of the national tragedy, a group of Belmont University students volunteered in honor of 9/11 victims, survivors and heroes.

“I think it is important and an awesome opportunity to build something new and honor the buildings that fell,” said freshman Victoria Miller of Knoxville, Tenn. She and her roommate started their Sunday at 6:30 a.m. with Habitat for Humanity during a six-hour project with Lipscomb University students to renovate, revitalize and repair homes near Metro Center.

“It is awesome that people are coming together as a community to honor the lives that were lost that day and bring together America in the same unity and compassion as they did after the attacks,” she said.

Seventeen Belmont students and 15 Lipscomb students participated in the service project.

Belmont also is collaborated with Volunteer Tennessee, the State of Tennessee’s office dedicated to encouraging volunteerism and community service, which is providing the food, snacks and drinks for the Habitat Build volunteers; Room In The Inn, which also hosted 50 freshmen for the SERVE Project in August; and Hands On Nashville, which has created a dedicated University Portal for universities to use in publicizing, managing and tracking volunteer placements in the community.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama called for Americans to remember the spirit of unity and compassion that bound them together after the terrorist attacks by doing a charitable activity on Sept. 11. In 2009, the president signed into law the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which federally authorized the day as an annually recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Belmont University students continued their 9/11 remembrance service projects on Sept. 15 at Room in the Inn with students weeding gardens, cleaning the facility, storing donations and helping in the kitchen at the nonprofit organization that combats homelessness and hunger. Click here to view a video of the students discussing their memories of Sept. 11, 2001.

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