On Feb. 14, the English Club held a fundraiser in the Beaman Student Life Center to begin promoting Family Literacy Day. For the second year English majors and minors, led by Callie Compton, spent the day writing custom-tailored Valentines and selling treats to the Belmont community.
English Club Writes Messages of Love for Valentine’s Fundraiser
Alumni Nominated for Dove Awards
Several Belmont alumni were nominated this week for Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. MIKESCHAIR, which consists of several Belmont graduates, was nominated in four categories: Group of the Year, Song of the Year for “Let the Waters Rise,” Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for “Straight to the Heart” and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for “Keep Changing the World.”
In addition, alumnus Sam Allen and his gospel group No Other Name were nominated for a Dove award as New Artist of the Year.
York and Dryden Named YMCA Volunteers of the Year
Assistant Professor of Management Stan York and Belmont SIFE partner Alec Dryden were named the YMCA of Middle Tennessee 2010 Volunteers of the Year. York and Dryden worked with Massey graduate students Justin Entzminger, Keith Smith and Shawn Sweeny to develop a comprehensive five-year strategic plan for Restore Ministries.
Restore Ministries, an organization within the Green Hills YMCA, works with people whose lives are in crisis because of addiction, emotional and lifestyle problems. Scott Real, Director of Real Ministries, said, “Lives will be impacted all over middle Tennessee and the world for years to come because of [York and Dryden]. We are forever grateful and appreciative of what you did for us.”
Alumnus Shares Dream of Barefoot Republic Camp
As part of the Homecoming 2011 celebration, Belmont alumnus Tommy Rhodes (’95) spoke on campus Wednesday about “Building God’s Community” and the purpose of his camp, Barefoot Republic.
Upon completing his undergraduate degrees at Belmont in biology and chemistry, Rhodes was accepted to Vanderbilt University’s Ph.D. program in biomedical science and was on the path to a successful career in research. However, during his third year of the program, he shared with his wife, Lane, that God had revealed that now was the time to pursue his real passion, creating a summer camp ministry.
“There are three things that I look back on that God does in all of our lives,” Rhodes explained. “He finds people, frees people and focuses people.”
Career Services Implements ‘Call to Serve’ Initiative
In February 2011, Belmont senior Carlin Lawroski and the Office of Career Services implemented the “Call to Serve” initiative on Belmont’s campus. Lawroski and Career Services will plan and offer programs to educate Belmont students about federal service. The Office of Career Services will promote internships and jobs with the federal government.
To accomplish these goals, the Partnership for Public Service–a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize the federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve–works with colleges and universities across the country to ensure that students are knowledgeable about opportunities in federal service. In addition, The Partnership for Public Service partners with federal agencies to develop innovative recruiting methods and effective hiring techniques to improve government’s capacity to build the workforce it needs.
Currently, the Call to Serve network consists of more than 720 schools and more than 75 federal agencies.
College of Health Sciences selected for Health Information Technology Scholars Program
The Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing at Belmont University has been selected to be part of the 2011 Health Information Technology Scholars Program (HITS), which is supported by a five-year $1.5 million grant provided by The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) in partnership with the Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT). This is the fourth year of the grant and Belmont is one of 29 universities to join the program in 2011.
Dr. Beth Hallmark from the School of Nursing and Dr. Kelley Kiningham from the School of Pharmacy submitted the project proposal to integrate electronic health records in medical simulation via inter-professional collaboration. Both will attend a planning conference in March and complete the project during the next year.
The HITS program is designed to merge informatics, tele-health, simulation and e-learning to create powerful learning environments, to integrate IT in curricula to educate future practitioners, to expand infrastructure for clinical learning processes and to optimize patient safety and drive improvements in healthcare quality.
Jackson-Abernathy Named to Mansion Board
Brenda Jackson-Abernathy (History) was recently named to the Belmont Mansion Association Board of Directors, a non-profit organization which, in cooperation with the Belmont University administration and trustees, restores and maintains the Belmont Mansion and those objects belonging to the original Belmont Estate, and educates and informs the general public of their historic and cultural value.
SIFE Students Collect Canned Goods at CABLE Meeting
As part of its recently launched “Let’s Can Hunger” food drive, the Belmont University SIFE Team partnered with CABLE Nashville’s Civic Outreach committee to collect more than 200 canned goods at a CABLE meeting this week. CABLE is Tennessee’s largest and most established network of diverse professionals committed to connecting women and opportunity. In another Belmont connection, the guest speaker for the meeting was Belmont alumna Melinda Doolittle.
Belmont SIFE students have a goal of collecting 5,000 pounds of canned food, which will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank and the Edgehill Center.
Betty Wiseman Book Available Now
Belmont University Athletics announced Monday that Bounce the Balls & They Will Come – an autobiographical work of Senior Woman Administrator Betty Wiseman is available in paperback.
Wiseman, who founded women’s basketball at Belmont in 1968 and has long been considered a matriarch on campus, details her life experiences as a coach, mentor, instructor and leader of the Belmont sports evangelism ministry.
Offering deep introspection, Wiseman recounts numerous tales of how basketball and faith have shaped her life, enriched her experiences and called her to share the message of Jesus Christ.
As Belmont University President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Betty Wiseman knows what she’s talking about. This is a story that will encourage and inspire.”
Wiseman is professor emerita of the Belmont faculty, with a teaching career of 44 years, and continues to teach part-time in the Department of Sport Science. She has been awarded the two highest honors bestowed on a faculty member: the Chaney Distinguished Professor Award and the Presidential Faculty Achievement Award.
In 2004, she was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, one of many honors bestowed upon her locally and nationally. From city streets in Eastern Europe to dirt paths in South America and South Africa, Betty takes teams of Belmont Christian athletes to use the platform of sports for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
Bounce the Balls & They Will Come is available at a number of book sellers, including the Belmont Bookstore and amazon.com.
For more information, click here.
