Belmont University recognized students and faculty at Wednesday’s annual Scholarship and Awards Day ceremony in the Massey Performing Arts Center. Click here for a photo gallery of the event. Students honored in the ceremony included:
Jacqueline Rachel Wilson, Amanda Knox and Eric Glenn – The Williams-Murray First Year Writing Awards
Jesse Johnson and Dylan March – The Alfred Leland Crabb Awards
Matthew Lefavor, Brian York, Bethany Somma and Nathan Stabenfeldt – The Stacy Awalt Writing Awards
Emily Hastings – The Annette Sisson First Year Writing Award
Felicia Black – The Lumos Travel Award
Hannah DeLap – The John Williams Heart of Belmont Award
Sarah McClellan Currey – The First Year Award, Leadership
Susan Caroline Bay – The Second Year Award, Leadership
Hope Allison Cooper – The Third Year Award, Leadership
Amy Kathleen Dunning – The Fourth Year Award, Leadership
In addition to student award winners, Dr. Jennifer Thomas, associate professor of biology, was named the 2011 Chaney Distinguished Professor. The Chaney Distinguished Professor Award, determined on the basis of superior teaching, is presented each year to a faculty member who best represents the vision of the university to be a “premier teaching institution.”
“It is amazing to be recognized by my students and colleagues in this way,” said Dr. Thomas. “There is nothing better than having the people you care about, work with and work for affirm and rejoice in what you have chosen to do with your life. I am grateful, humbled and downright giddy.”
Dr. Vaughn May, chair of the political science department, was awarded the 2011 Presidential Faculty Achievement Award. The Presidential Faculty Achievement Award is presented each year to a faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to student life outside the classroom. The award honors and recognizes excellence in faculty-student relationships, special abilities in meeting student needs – academic, personal and professional – and symbolizes Belmont University’s commitment to being a student-centered institution.
“I am extraordinarily flattered that my students nominated me for this honor. I am blessed to work at a remarkable university, and I hope that I can continue to contribute in positive ways to the lives of my students,” Dr. May said.
Belmont Honors Students, Faculty at Annual Scholarship and Awards Day
Belmont Students Win Inaugural 2011 Values and Ventures Business Plan Competition
The student team from Belmont University won the Grand Prize for the first ever “Values & Ventures Business Plan Competition” held April 15 at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Entrepreneurship students Emily Hollingsworth and Emilie Lico and Finance and Accounting student Ayesha Ghaffar presented their business plan for Mattress Works – a mattress recycling venture created to provide employment opportunities for local homeless men while also diverting waste from landfills – to a panel of experienced new venture investors and consultants. The Belmont team impressed the five judges with their concept, presentation and business plan and was awarded $10,000 for the Grand Prize. They also were honored for Best Oral Presentation and Best Values-Based Concept.
Upon completing the intensive two day experience, Hollingsworth, a senior and the team’s leader, said, “The Values and Ventures competition was an amazing opportunity to share our entrepreneurial vision with other talented students. It was a blessing to see our business concept received so positively, and I came away with valuable feedback from the competitors and judges. This experience solidified my belief that values-centered business can be a force for positive change in my community.”
Dr. Mark Schenkel, assistant professor of entrepreneurship Belmont University, added, “It was an honor for our team to be invited to compete against an elite group of their undergraduate peers from some of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country at this inaugural event. The opportunity was a testament to the caliber of students, academic and extracurricular programming, and student entrepreneurial activity that exists on our campus. We are thrilled with the performance and very proud of what they accomplished with the development of this values-driven concept. ”
The Values and Ventures competition was designed to help student entrepreneurs recognize and live their own values when creating their enterprises, to champion their desire to do good while doing well. Over two days, teams presented their business plans to a world-class panel of entrepreneurs, investors and business consultants. These experts provided feedback on various venture aspects, including the assessment of feasibility, long-term sustainability and identification of potential funding and growth opportunities. In addition, participants garnered a rare opportunity to network among a robust group of experts that shared the goal of assuring sustainable prosperity while supporting the needs of company owners/shareholders, employees and their families, suppliers, customers, communities and the environment.
Belmont Students in Running for Red Bull’s Global Drumming Competition
Belmont University juniors Andrew Bellisle and Vinay Schroff, both percussionists and students in Belmont’s School of Music, are competing in the regional round of Red Bull’s Tum Tum Pa freestyle drumming competition after winning the first round on March 24.
At Nashville’s Café Coco, Bellisle and Schroff performed a cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and an original composition, using only office supplies and Red Bull cans as their instruments (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 Schroff blowing into a half-full can to create the song’s “Snoooooop” noise, the duo earned the highest score and made it to the second round.
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.
This video was recently added to Red Bull’s website, and voting is now open from April 25-May 2 to decide the winner of the Southeastern USA region (Click the link above, then choose Southeastern Conference and then click on the video by “Coffee and Cream” to cast your vote). The winner of this region, the other four USA regional champions and other participating countries’ winners will be flown to Rio de Janeiro , Brazil for the final round. Click here to view photos from the filming session.
Belmont Students Aim to Be ‘Moovers and Shakers’ With Mobile Soda Parlor
Two Belmont sophomores, Ale Delgado and Hayden Coleman, want to be “Moovers and Shakers” with a new entrepreneurial project. The duo hopes to purchase a food truck to serve milkshakes and ice cream floats from their mobile parlor. They’re currently trying to raise $5,000 before April 24 through a Kickstarter fundraising campaign.
According to the Moovers and Shakers website, the concept began when Coleman and Delgado serendipitously discovered that they both wanted to open classic soda parlors. This idea quickly evolved into the idea of a mobile milkshake truck roaming the streets of Nashville. They immediately dove into writing their business plan and, after three weeks of lots of caffeine and little sleep, they won second place in Belmont University’s Business Plan Competition.
Now with $2,000 in their hands, they’re gearing up to raise the rest of their start up funds, revamp a truck, and get on the road by May 2011. ” As of now,” Coleman told the Nashvillest, “our plan is to run full time in the summer, and then try to move into catering and special events in the off-season when we won’t have a very regular flow of customers. This way, we can still operate in some capacity while we’re in school.”
In addition to the Nashvillest story, Moovers and Shakers has also received local media coverage from the Nashville Scene.
Greek Week Raises $10,000+ for Rose Park Scholarship Recipients
Belmont Greek Life recently held another successful Greek Week, resulting in more than $10,000 raised for the Rose Park scholarship recipients. Using the theme of “The Greek Network” to help bring chapters together for the week, the Greek organizations came together to raise money to provide the Rose Park scholarship recipients with laptops, as well as computers for the Easley Community Center and underprivileged high school seniors attending college in the fall.
The chapters also competed in different social networking-related games such as Words with Greeks, Angry Birds and campus morning searches for the Twitter bird and Facebook “f,” and they also attended events such as the Network Launch Party and a Greekwide semi-formal.
Members of Greek Life spent their Saturday connecting with the Nashville community by working either at the Nashville Brush with Kindness Habitat for Humanity build or Family Literacy Day.
The men of Phi Delta Theta emerged victorious at the conclusion of the week as 2011 Greek Week and Greek Sing champions, followed by Alpha Sigma Tau, as Greek Week runners up. Alpha Gamma Delta finished in third place, with a second place win in Greek Sing.
Greek Week was chaired by Alpha Gamma Delta’s Morgan Caldwell, Phi Delta Theta’s Zach Hughes and Phi Mu’s Kelly Redfern, and under their leadership, Belmont Greek Life was successfully able to unite for a week of service, socials and celebration of the achievements of the Greek community. Click here to view video highlights from Greek Sing, and click here to view the Greek Olympics photo gallery.
Guitar Ensemble Performs on WPLN
The Belmont University Guitar Ensemble performed on WPLN’s “Live in Studio C” program on April 13. The program and photos from the event are available here.
Belmont Mansion, History Department Host Teaching Symposium
On Sat., April 2, the Belmont Department of History in partnership with the Belmont Mansion hosted its Second Annual History Teaching Symposium, “Nashville and the Civil Rights Movement: A Teaching Symposium.” Social studies teachers from Metro-Nashville, Sumner County and Rutherford County schools earned professional development credit through attendance at panel presentations and participation in discussions. Department of History faculty Brenda Jackson-Abernathy and Pete Kuryla co-chaired this year’s symposium.
Riechert Serves as Panelist at VPRS Week
Bonnie Riechert, director of the Public Relations Program, was an invited panelist at the recent Vanderbilt Public Relations Society’s first annual VPRS Week, which was themed “All of the Lights.” Panel speakers discussed professional experiences and career advice and answered questions from attendees. Activities of the week included a networking event, fashion show and clothing swap. Members of the student group include students interested in public relations, journalism, marketing, advertising and broadcasting internships and events. Belmont students including Katie Siklosi and Allison Durfee, officers in the Belmont Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), also attended some of the Vanderbilt special events of the week.
Kuryla Publishes Article
Peter Kuryla (History) published a peer-reviewed article in April, which appeared in a special double issue of Patterns of Prejudice that was dedicated to the presidency of Barack Obama. The article is titled “Barack Obama and the American island of the colour blind” and can be found here.
Stepnick Presents at Southern Sociological Society Meeting
Andi Stepnick (Sociology) presented a paper in early April, with Dr. Kris De Welde of Florida Gulf Coast University, called “It’s Not as Glamorous as it Looks: Lived Experiences of Women Academics” at the Southern Sociological Society meetings in Jacksonville, Florida.
