Construction is currently underway to bring a new dining option to the Lila D. Bunch Library, along with other improvements.
Belmont’s Student Government Association (SGA) has been working to enhance the library experience for many years. Thankfully, library staff and leadership of the Lila D. Bunch Library have been helpful each step of the way in working to make the library a better place for students. The idea for a café has been discussed for the past three years, but no concrete decisions were made. Since then, benchmarking, library usage and other research data were collected.
The building of the as-yet-unnamed café has been made possible because of the partnership between SGA, Senior Leadership, the Bunch Library and Student Services. SGA has worked as advocates on behalf of students with regard to the library – both in building the café and establishing a 24-hour study location in the library. Because the need of both was effectively communicated, this collaborative partnership was strengthened to better serve students.
Dr. Ernest Heard, director of library services, said, “The entire library faculty and staff are absolutely thrilled to be able to provide a café, a 24-hour study area, and eating places in the library. Also, the Sophomore Transition Center will be built over the next few weeks. All of these endeavors are part of a larger plan to transform Bunch Library into a learning commons – all in an effort to enhance the college experience of Belmont’s fantastic students.”
The Bunch Library has also recently opened its internal atriums to allow food and drinks for students throughout open hours. With the addition of the café, the Library hopes to change the feel of the building. Instead of being just a location to study or print last minute papers, the library hopes to become more of a place on campus for students to both study and spend time collaborating with peers.
(In the photo, right to left: Eric S. Deems, President; Jim Darter, Policy Review Committee Chairman; Kevin Sanders, Vice President – SGA 2010-2011)
Collaborative Effort Brings New Additions to Lila Bunch Library
LaShawn Morrow, Michael Coffee Named 2011 Rose Park Scholars
In 2007, Belmont University committed to enhancing the E.S. Rose Park athletic center in Nashville’s Edgehill Community, a renovation that was completed and opened in the last month. In addition to the facilities Belmont planned, they also committed to the creation and funding of the E.S. Rose Park Scholarship program, a program that annually sends two deserving residents from the Edgehill community to Belmont. Since 2007, Belmont has welcomed five Rose Park Scholars to campus, providing educations worth more than $141,000 to date.
This year was no different. In the fall, Belmont will welcome LaShawn Morrow of Big Picture High School and Michael Coffee of Hillsboro High School to join its incoming 2011 freshman class. Both recipients received their awards last week, Morrow at her senior breakfast and Coffee in a private ceremony at Hillsboro’s library. Belmont’s Greek communities participated in a weeklong fundraising event this April, raising money to award both recipients Macbook laptops upon their arrival at Belmont. The recipients were notified of their computers when they received their scholarships.
Morrow is looking forward to her arrival at Belmont and is planning on majoring in nursing in the fall. Morrow is honored to be a part of the Belmont community where she can both serve and learn. She said, “The scholarship will help to inspire others just like me to be all that they can be. My dream was to become a Bruin, and the Rose Park Scholarship helped to make that dream come true.”
Coffee would agree. He currently works at Harris Teeter and said that before the Rose Park scholarship, he wasn’t sure what his future would hold. “Belmont is a truly a blessing for me. I honestly don’t know where I would be… Belmont is my blessing.”
Belmont Students to Represent U.S. In Red Bull Global Drumming Competition
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.
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.
