Greg O’Loughlin, a Nashville Teaching Fellow who is receiving his Master of Arts in Teaching from Belmont, was recently interviewed in a cover story for the City Paper titled “A look inside our changing public schools.” Click here to read the story.
Biology Students Conduct Research at Nashville Zoo
Students from Dr. John Niedzwiecki’s BIO 3330 Animal Behavior class visited the Nashville Zoo on Sept. 13 in preparation for month long research projects at the Nashville Zoo. Pairs of students will each be working with a zoo keeper to test hypotheses about a specific animal’s behavior. Both the students and the zoo will benefit from this collaborative effort.
Sport Science Students Help Instruct Homeschoolers
Dr. Tabby Bewley, associate professor of sport science, gave her Physical Education class the task of researching home schooled students in the area. The Physical Education students have gathered a group of 28 homeschooled students from the Nashville area that will be arriving for their introduction to their Physical Education class on September 28. They will meet each Tuesday and Thursday this semester in the Sport Science Center, and Belmont students will be instructing them in these sessions.
Kuryla Presenting Paper at Oxford
Peter Kuryla (History) is presenting a paper at Oxford University on September 25 at the “William James and the Transatlantic Conversation” conference. The conference is in memory of the centenary of the philosopher William James’ death. Kuryla’s paper is titled “A Prosthetic Aesthetic: Henry James, Sr. and the Cosmopolitan Education of William and Henry James.”
Women’s Basketball, Tennis Teams Participate in Gift of Life Walk
The Gift of Life Walk is a non-competitive walk which focuses on raising awareness about kidney disease and the need for organ donation while raising funds to support the programs and services of the Tennessee Kidney Foundation. The walk presents an opportunity for dialysis patients, transplant recipients, donors and donor families, the medical community and the general public to come together to celebrate life and create lasting support for the Tennessee Kidney Foundation. Belmont’s women’s basketball team and women’s tennis team came out to River Park on Saturday morning to support TKF. The basketball team hosted a skills camp for kids participating in the walk, and the tennis team encouraged walkers crossing the finish line. Overall, the walk was a fun day and a great success!
Belmont University Tops 5,900 Students
Enrollment growth, rankings continue to flourish for 10th straight year
Following the official period when students can drop/add classes or withdraw, Belmont University realized a record-breaking final census of 5,936 students on campus as the university’s growth continues at a phenomenal rate for the tenth straight year. This year’s enrollment marks an increase of nine percent from last year and a rise of 99 percent since 2000 when the school enrolled 2,976 students. The Belmont student body currently consists of 1,293 graduate students and 4,643 undergraduates, representing record figures in both categories.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Not only is this our largest enrollment to date, but our incoming class also represents our strongest student pool ever. This indicates to me that many of the country’s best students are discovering Belmont to be a truly unique place where their passions and talents can be developed to meet the world’s needs.”
This year’s incoming freshman class represents 44 states and four foreign countries. The University received a record number of more than 3,330 applications for freshman admission. The average ACT score for the 2009-10 freshman class is 26. Thirty-five percent of new freshmen at Belmont were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class, and 68 percent were in the top quarter. This year’s freshman class of 1,019 students held an average un-weighted cumulative high school GPA of 3.53, including 25 valedictorians and 10 salutatorians.
In the annual U.S. News & World Report ranking of America’s best colleges and universities, Belmont was cited for the third year in a row as a Top School to Watch and was ranked 5th in the Regional Universities South category, the highest ranking for the university to date. Once again, Belmont was also the highest ranked university in Tennessee in this category and was praised for its commitment to undergraduate teaching and the strength of its learning communities. The rankings are based on several quality indicators including peer assessment, student retention rates, graduation rates, student-faculty ratios and scores on college entrance exams.
Interim Provost and Massey Dean of the College of Business Administration Dr. Pat Raines added, “The improvement in our peer ratings proves Belmont University’s growing national reputation for the high quality of our academic programs and the commitment of our faculty to teaching. Engaging students in transformative learning is at the heart of all we do.”
Belmont’s record-breaking enrollment news comes on the heels of significant announcements in the University’s physical growth as several new buildings opened recently. On Aug. 21, Belmont celebrated the grand opening of the new 90,000 square foot McWhorter Hall, which houses the Schools of Pharmacy and Physical Therapy, as well as the Department of Psychological Science. The university also opened two residence halls, Patton Hall and Bear House, which collectively provide an additional 103,000 square feet of residence space for more than 400 Belmont freshmen. In addition, Belmont announced plans for the renovation of Belmont Heights Baptist Church’s main sanctuary to transform the space into a classical Concert Hall. A groundbreaking for Belmont’s College of Law is expected this fall as well.
Brian McLaren Visits Campus for EMERGE: Spiritual Emphasis Week
University Ministries hosted Belmont’s annual “EMERGE Spiritual Emphasis Week” this week featuring keynote speaker Dr. Brian McLaren, a noted author, speaker, blogger and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers and activists. EMERGE is slated as a time each fall for the University as a whole to reflect, refocus and renew at the start of a new academic year.
During his first talk Monday morning, McLaren challenged students to consider “The Faith You Inherited and the Faith You Will Practice,” noting, “Everybody inherited a faith from their parents, even atheists. And children believe what their parents tell them.” However, as children move into adolescence, that stance can change, and individuals develop faith across time, determining if the faith they inherit will be the faith they inhabit.
On Wednesday morning, McLaren tackled “Christian Faith as a Revolutionary Movement” exploring a way of seeing the essential message of Jesus as a profound challenge to the social, economic, political and religious status quo. Through research for his most current book, McLaren discovered what he called four basic global emergencies: the planet, poverty, peace and religion. “Our world religions are failing to provide a story that makes the first three crises better.”
For additional insights from McLaren’s talks, visit the “Faith on Campus” blog from University Minister Dr. Guy Chmieleski.
From 1978 to 1986, Brian McLaren taught college English, and in 1982, he helped form Cedar Ridge Community Church. He left higher education in 1986 to serve as the church’s founding pastor and served in that capacity until 2006. McLaren has been active in networking and mentoring church planters and pastors since the mid 1980s and has assisted in the development of several new churches. He is a popular conference speaker and a frequent guest lecturer at seminaries and denominational gatherings, nationally and internationally. His books include A Generous Orthodoxy (2004), The Secret Message of Jesus (2006), Everything Must Change (2007) and his most recent work, A New Kind of Christianity (2010).
SunTrust Celebrates Belmont SIFE in Advance of World Cup
SunTrust Bank recently held an Honorary Luncheon to celebrate the achievement of Belmont University’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team for winning the 2010 National Championship. SunTrust provided a $1,000 grant to Belmont SIFE to continue its work with the Access DVD project, which featured a money and banking initiative that educates resettled refugees and immigrants on the American banking process. The DVD has currently been produced in seven different languages. The grant was offered to help with SIFE’s poverty initiative to educate areas of lower socioeconomic status on the dangers of predatory services such as pawn shops, Title Max, and Checks Cashed. Click here to see additional photos from the luncheon.
In only its fifth year, the Belmont University SIFE team competed in May against 169 other regional champion student teams from around the country and won the SIFE USA National Championship. Next up: a trip to California to compete against the national champions from 39 other countries at the 2010 SIFE World Cup, October 10 – 12 at the Anaheim Convention Center (www.sife.org/worldcup).
Through SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise), college students around the world are discovering that “doing well” and “doing good” can be accomplished simultaneously throughout college and career. Their efforts will be showcased at the SIFE World Cup, where more than 400 global business leaders will assemble to evaluate the outreach projects of national champion teams from 40 nations. They will be judged on how successful they have been at using business solutions to create economic opportunity for others.
“Increasingly people are looking at businesses in a broader context and rejecting the notion of choosing between making money or doing good,” said Mat Burton, senior vice president, SIFE. The organization attributes this shift in expectations to the rising demand for universities and corporations to remain relevant in a rapidly changing global economy.
“Belmont SIFE continues to build sustainable community partnerships that enable lasting economic change as well as personal and professional growth opportunities, both for those we serve and our students,” said Dr. John Gonas, associate professor of finance and SIFE advisor at Belmont. “Our students truly understand that they can take what they’re learning in the classroom and make positive changes in our immediate, national and international communities.”
One of Belmont SIFE’s projects has been working with the women of Thistle Farms, an enterprise run by residents and graduates of Magdalene, a residential program in Nashville for women who have survived lives of violence, prostitution and addiction. Thistle Farms produces, markets and sells handmade natural bath and body products (www.thistlefarms.org). Belmont University SIFE provided crucial computer and financial training to the women and financial guidance to the organization. Click here to see additional photos from Thistle Farms.
One of the teams vying with the Belmont students for the SIFE World Cup will be the University of Nottingham Ningbo SIFE team from China, which helped farmers develop a retail sales channel for ginseng crops and established a microfinance fund to ease cash flow problems. In Germany, SIFE students at the University of Mannheim created an original food delivery service to give young people valuable work experience to make them more attractive in a tight job market.
In addition to competing, the Belmont students will have the chance to socialize with students from the other national champion teams at a Cultural Fair, as well as the opportunity to meet some of the world’s top business leaders.
Operation Photo Rescue Sends Photo Restoration Team to Nashville
Belmont University hosts team on campus
Operation Photo Rescue (OPR), a global not-for-profit organization, gathered a team of volunteers at Belmont University last week to digitally copy family photos damaged during recent flooding.
Hosted by Belmont, the OPR team set up operations at the University Ministries office at 1900 Belmont Blvd. on Fri., Sept. 10 and Sat., Sept. 11 with hours of operation both days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event was organized by Belmont Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Andi Stepnick and University Ministries. Nashville residents with photos damaged during 2010 flooding were able to bring in up to 20 images to be restored free of charge. Those images that can be repaired will be digitally copied and later restored, printed and mailed back to the image owners at no cost.
Since OPR was founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in January 2006, the organization has grown into a network of over 2,000 volunteers. Volunteers come from all 50 states and from 49 other countries. OPR volunteers have restored and returned over 6,000 damaged photos to date for victims of hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other disasters.
“We’ve had an unbelievable outpouring of support from volunteers who have joined our cause from all over the world,” Dave Ellis said, Co-Founder of Operation Photo Rescue. “What started out as two people trying to make a small difference has turned into a global effort that has helped more people than we ever thought possible.”
When disaster strikes, people often try desperately to retrieve their family photos, Ellis said. “Insurance doesn’t replace memories,” he said, “but we do.”
Click here to see more photos from the event.
Belmont Participates in Sister Cities Visit from Mendoza Mayor
Last year Katy Wilson, director of Belmont Health Services, was part of Nashville’s Sister City delegation to Mendoza, Argentina. This weekend Mendoza Mayor Victor Fayad will visit Nashville for his first visit since the two cities joined in partnership. Mayor Fayad will shadow Nashville Mayor Karl Dean for a day to have a greater understanding of Dean’s duties and responsibilities, and he will also enjoy some time at Belmont including a brief lunch sponsored by Dr. Jeff Overby, chair of International Business, with guests that include Wilson, Professor David Julseth (chair of Foreign Languages), Professors Natalia Pelaz and Paolo Boero. Following the lunch School of Pharmacy Dean Dr. Phil Johnston will lead a tour of McWhorter Hall
While in Nashville Mayor Fayad will also tour the State Capitol, the police department and corrections facilities, as well as have meetings with the Nashville Convention & Visitors’ Bureau, Nashville Chamber and the Nashville Symphony. Sister Cities is a volunteer organization under the mayor’s office which exists for the purpose of cultural and educational exchange. Nashville has several Sister Cities: Edmonton, Alberta; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Caen, France; Magdeburg, Germany; and Tiyuan, China. Wilson serves as a Sister Cities’ board member and has been to Argentina several times in this capacity. For more information visit the Sister Cities Nashville Web site at www.scnashville.org/.
