Rising Belmont seniors Andrew Bellisle and Vinay Shroff, both percussionists and students in the university’s School of Music, will represent the United States at the Red Bull Tum Tum Pa World Finals in Rio De Janeiro June 8-12 after winning local and regional competitions.
This unique Red Bull Tum Tum Pa competition, where students use everyday classroom materials to create organic rhythmic sounds, is the first of its kind. Over 386 teams competed on college campuses around the U.S. in March and April. Five were chosen to compete against an elite squad of drummers from 32 countries in Rio de Janeiro on June 11, when a jury will award the Best Beat Performance.
In the first round of the competition, Bellisle and Shroff, competing as team “Coffee and Cream,” performed a cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and an original composition at Nashville’s Café Coco (click here to view video of their first round performance). Judges graded the competitors based on rhythm, creativity and audience response. After their spot-on cover, complete with Shroff blowing into a half-full can to create the song’s “Snoooooop” noise, the duo earned the highest score and made it to regionals. The duo won the regional competition after they received the most online votes in the Southeastern Conference and were selected to be one of five national finalists by a group of judges.
With permission and support from many at Belmont, as well as the Nashville-area representative for Red Bull marketing, the two students filmed their official competition video in Belmont’s Hitch Science Building chemistry lab. Belmont’s Red Bull Student Representatives Kirk Slawek and Matt Shaw helped film the video, while Belmont student Kenny House recorded audio. Red Bull’s local marketing head, Lisa Gracey, is helping to promote the duo.
The official video is on Red Bull’s website, and click here to view photos from the filming session.
Belmont Students to Represent U.S. In Red Bull Global Drumming Competition
Troutt Theater Named Venue for International Black Film Festival Nashville’s Mooz-Lum
Nashville’s International Black Film Festival will be kicking off its “Summer Film Series” with the showing of Mooz-Lum, a critically acclaimed drama on Sat., May 28 at 5 p.m. at Belmont’s Troutt Theater. The movie stars Love Jones’s Nia Long, Diana Ross’s son Evan Ross and Dream Girls’ Danny Glover. There will be a Q&A session with Director Qasim Basir and Producer Dana Offenbach immediately following the screening. The film will be released on DVD nationally by Codeblack Entertainment on June 14, 2011.
“IBFFN is ecstatic to present the 2011 summer film series as it fulfills our mission to educate and create opportunities that connect stories from around the world to our community,” said IBFFN founder Hazel Joyner Smith.
Belmont Vice President and Chief of Staff Dr. Susan West was originally contacted by the IBFFN asking for Belmont to host the showing, and the organization worked with Dean Dr. Cynthia Curtis and staff in the College of Visual and Performing Arts to pull the event together. West thought the event would be an ideal partnership for the university saying, “This is a great opportunity to partner with the community, and this is a perfect fit! We want the community to use our facilities, embrace our values and mission and assist in telling our great story.”
The International Black Film Festival of Nashville (IBFFN), established in 2006, is a collaboration of dedicated professionals who support the need for a “community” effort to bring African-American and other communities together to showcase their work as emerging and skilled independent filmmakers, actors, composers, screenwriters, directors and other film industry professionals. The festival is made possible in part with the continued support of Belmont University, HCA-Tristar, The Film House, The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, One Village Entertainment, the Africa Channel, The Tennessee Arts Commission, The TN Film, Entertainment and Music Commission and The Screen Actors Guild.
Tickets to the Mooz-Lum showing can be purchased online at www.ibffnashville.com or at the door the evening of the performance. General admission tickets cost $12, and student tickets can be purchased with an ID for $8.
Murphree Sheds Light on Cicada Invasion
Steven Murphree (Biology) has been very busy this cicada season giving various interviews and lectures on the phenomena of the 13-year cicada. On May 19, Murphree will present a talk at Nashville restaurant Fido’s as part of the Adventure Science Center’s “Science Café” series on the emergence of the big, noisy, red-eyed bugs. Murphree will shed light on the life cycle of the cicada to help others understand what to expect over the next six to eight weeks of the buggy invasion.
Below are links to various media outlets where Murphree was a featured expert on cicadas:
The Tennessean
Huffington Post
FOX17 News
News2 WKRN and coverage of “Cicada School”
USAToday.com
Slay to Co-Author Music Copyright Book
Cheryl L. Slay, assistant professor of music business, has signed with Cengage Publishing to co-author Music Copyright Law with David Moser. The new book will update Moser on Music Copyright, currently in print. Publication of the revised edition is anticipated for early 2012.
SIFE Team Places in National Top 8
Following a sixth consecutive year as regional champions, the Belmont University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team competed last week at the SIFE USA National Exposition in Minneapolis, finishing in the Top 8 this year following last year’s national championship victory. In one of the largest collegiate competitions in the country, SIFE teams from more than 400 campuses presented their service projects to panels of corporate judges to determine which teams have had the most impact improving people’s lives. The mission of SIFE is “To bring together the top leaders of today and tomorrow to create a better, more sustainable world through the positive power of business.”
Dr. Pat Raines, dean of Belmont’s College of Business Administration, said, “I am very proud of our students’ performance in this year’s SIFE National Exposition, especially after their top three finish at the SIFE World Cup last October. It is extremely difficult to maintain this level of recognition, but our students remain focused and really take ownership of their projects. Opportunities to be involved in organizations like SIFE support our mission to prepare entrepreneurial, ethical and socially responsible future business leaders as our students are encouraged to spearhead and manage various service projects, while developing problem solving, team work and communication skills.”
Dr. John Gonas, associate professor of finance, serves as a Sam Walton Fellow responsible for advising Belmont’s SIFE students. Instructor Cate Loes and Assistant Professor Jason Stahl also serve the team as Sam Walton Fellows. Gonas said, “Belmont SIFE continues to produce servant leaders that are focused on blessing the non-profit community with business models that lead to sustainable social change. Our continued top-20 placement in the SIFE National Exposition for the past five years confirms our students’ strong work ethic, high intellect and dedication to excellence.”
During the 2010-11 academic year, the Belmont University SIFE Team worked on 14 projects on campus and in the community addressing a wide range of issues. The 42 members of Belmont SIFE spent more than 2,600 volunteer hours this past year developing and completing their projects, which included work with:
• FashionABLE: In October 2010, fashionABLE, a fashion-accessory social entrepreneurship venture, was created to help women who have been exploited due to the effects of poverty in Ethiopia. In partnership with Ellita-Women at Risk (EWAR), an Ethiopian organization that provides counseling and job skills training to former prostitutes, fashionABLE is creating a sustainable business with consistent employment for these women.
• Linking, Educating, and Advancing Families [LEAF]: As part of the Nashville Mayor’s Poverty Reduction Initiative, Belmont SIFE has partnered with Metro Nashville Public Schools and its ESL teachers to teach math, reading and other basic market economic survival skills to immigrant children and their families.
• 147 Million Orphans: A T-shirt and apparel social entrepreneurship venture started by two mothers in 2009, to support their own nine adoptions, to bring awareness to the orphan crisis, financially assist orphanages, and fund overseas adoptions.
• Spring Back: A collaborative partnership that engages local mattress retailers to help reduce landfill waste. Belmont SIFE students created an entrepreneurial venture that employs previously homeless veterans and other homeless men as they work toward self-sufficiency while keeping mattresses from landfills.
SIFE is an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. Active on more than 1,500 university campuses in 39 countries, SIFE Teams create economic opportunities in their communities by organizing outreach projects that focus on market economics, entrepreneurship, success skills, environmental sustainability, business ethics and financial literacy.
Cambodian high school student supports 2011 Belmont mission trip
For the fifth year, students and faculty from Belmont University’s College of Health Science travel to Cambodia during the next 2 weeks with their annual mission trip. This year’s team departed on Sunday, May 15, but in preparation for their departure, they greeted a Cambodian high school student on Thursday, May 12, from Stratford High School who came to Belmont with 3 fellow students and a sponsor. The students had recently conducted a fundraiser, selling snacks at their school, to raise $125.35 to support Belmont’s student mission to Cambodia this year. The Cambodian student, Savut, and his classmates had the opportunity to meet several of the students going on the trip, while inviting the group to attend an International Festival at Stratford High School.
![StratfordHSGroup[2].jpg](http://forum.belmont.edu/achievers/archives/StratfordHSGroup%5B2%5D.jpg)
School of Nursing professor Keary Dryden met Savut at her church just over a month ago. When he found out about the Belmont trip, he organized the fundraiser at his school, enlisting the help of friends. Dryden said, “We will take the money with us and use it when we identify needs.” She added, “Last year we used donated money to help sponsor a rice drive which provided rice and other food supplies to a group of people who had been displaced from a slum into a very desolate rural area that had few resources. We’re not sure where the money will go this year, but $125 goes a long way in Cambodia!”
To stay up-to-date about the Cambodia Mission Trip, visit http://forum.belmont.edu/cambodia/.
Belmont Receives 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction
Belmont University was named a member of the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, an honor higher than the one received last year. The Honor Roll recognizes universities that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities. Belmont’s recognition from the highest level of the federal government signifies the university’s commitment to service and community engagement in both its students and faculty. Of the 614 schools admitted, 114 received awards with distinction. Belmont was one of only three from the state of Tennessee to achieve that standing. [Rhodes College in Memphis was named an Honor Roll Finalist.]
Belmont’s Director of Service Learning Tim Stewart said, “Together, students contributed more than 26,600 hours of service to the community, and 312 students participated in 20 or more hours of service. I’m always amazed, but never really surprised, when an appeal goes out to the Belmont community to help, and folks respond so enthusiastically. I think we have created, and are continuing to nurture, a place where, like our mission statement says, we empower ‘men and women … to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.’”
Dunlap Article Published in Journal of Nursing Education
Dr. Ruby Dunlap, Associate Professor of Nursing, is the lead author of an article published in the Journal of Nursing Education. Dr. Dunlap has pioneered service learning in the School of Nursing and the university, forging many significant relationships in the local community surrounding Belmont.
Dr. Dunlap and her collaborators describe the formation of the Nursing Education Partnership for Community Health Improvement (NEPCHi), a campus-community partnership with the historically African American Edgehill community in Nashville. They outline the challenges the community faces and how those challenges were engaged to maintain a viable serving and learning presence within the community. Their aim is to create a body of knowledge about the practical aspects of creating and maintaining partnerships, which can provide guidance for those who wish to duplicate partnerships in other situations. Another goal is to contribute experiences from which theories on this kind of human relating can be formed, challenged or validated.
The article can be accessed online through the Journal of Nursing Education at http://www.slackjournals.com/article.aspx?rid=70905.
Belmont Honors Vince Gill with Doctorate of Humanities
Belmont University recognized recording artist and longtime Bruins supporter Vince Gill today with an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree during the 10 a.m. spring commencement celebration at the Curb Event Center. Click here to view the presentation, and click here to read more about Belmont’s Spring 2011 Commencement ceremonies.
Presenting the degree to Gill during the graduation ceremony, Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “As a singer, songwriter and multi-faceted musician, Vince Gill has mastered his craft and yet he keeps pushing himself to greater excellence. Moreover, as a citizen and humanitarian, he dedicates himself to service and providing opportunities for others to succeed. Vince is truly a Nashville—and national—treasure. His professional experiences and personal contributions make him an ideal candidate for this doctorate degree and a perfect model for Belmont students to emulate.”
In an acceptance speech marked with both humor and emotion, Gill reflected on his own education while also encouraging his fellow graduates to focus on friendships. “I knew as a young guy that college was not in my future. I was led by my ears. I didn’t see my future—I heard my future. I learned everything I know how to do by listening. I never in my wildest dreams thought that a day like this could happen… In all honesty I was hoping that this [doctorate] would be in friendship. That’s the single reason I stand before you today—and that’s because of your head basketball coach, Rick Byrd.
“I met Rick on a golf course. I was making records at that point but couldn’t prove it because no one owned them. He was coaching basketball, but he couldn’t prove it then because no one came to the games. It’s easily been one of the best friendships I ever had… I’d like to thank Bob Fisher and all the faculty. I have never been more honored to receive anything in my life because it came strictly from a friendship.”
Gill’s contributions to Belmont University are plentiful, starting in 1990 with the Vince Gill Celebrity Basketball Game and Concert which raised funds for scholarship and program enhancement for Belmont University’s Athletics and Music Business programs. For more than 12 years, the event also provided an invaluable opportunity for students to gain experience in planning and executing a music-industry event.
Belmont University to Join Ohio Valley Conference
Belmont University has accepted an invitation to join the Ohio Valley Conference as its 12th member institution, effective July 1, 2012, President Dr. Robert C. Fisher announced Friday. Belmont University will begin competition in the Ohio Valley Conference in the 2012-13 academic year.
“The Ohio Valley Conference is one of the most tradition-rich and respected athletic conferences in NCAA Division I,” Fisher said. “We were honored by the invitation to join such a great family of fine universities, and look forward to establishing new traditions and new friendships.”
Belmont University joins Austin Peay State University, Eastern Illinois University, Eastern Kentucky University, Jacksonville State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Southeast Missouri State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Tennessee State University, Tennessee Technological University and the University of Tennessee at Martin.
“Given Belmont University’s commitment to excellence, both in the classroom and on the playing fields, they are a wonderful fit for the Ohio Valley Conference,” said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. “I am delighted to welcome them to the Conference. They are a wonderful addition and the right fit for the OVC.”
The far-reaching academic successes of Belmont University Athletics – most notably seven Atlantic Sun Conference All-Academic trophies in nine years and 26 consecutive semesters of a departmental G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher – mirror the academic standards of the Ohio Valley Conference. The OVC boasts 196 all-time Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America selections, including 35 in the last four years.
“The addition of Belmont University adds great value to our already stable and healthy Conference,” said Dr. Thomas Rakes, University of Tennessee at Martin Chancellor and current Chair of the OVC Board of Presidents.
“This is an exciting day for Belmont University and our athletic program as a whole,” Belmont University Director of Athletics Mike Strickland said. “Membership in the OVC offers our student-athletes and alumni numerous opportunities and advantages, and we look forward to forging these new relationships.”
Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn., the Ohio Valley Conference is the eighth-oldest NCAA Division I athletic conference. In 1995, the OVC implemented a first-of-its-kind “Sportsmanship Statement” – a policy promoting the principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one’s opponent. The statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship within collegiate athletics, and has become a model for others to follow across the nation.
On the field of competition, the OVC has distinguished itself among the nation’s best. In particular, men’s basketball has been an area of considerable strength for the OVC, one of just 10 conferences – and one of only four non-BCS conferences – to record victories in three consecutive NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. This past year, seven OVC institutions earned postseason play in basketball (four men, three women).
