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).
Brian McLaren Visits Campus for EMERGE: Spiritual Emphasis Week
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/.
Tough Places in International Song Contest
CEMB Assistant Professor Dave Tough recently won second place in both the Country and Rock categories in the Indie International Song Contest for his songs “Ride That Train (Ode To Rosie Ruiz)” and “Beatles Without John.” Click here to find out more.
Webb Notches 300th Victory
Volleyball coach Deane Webb, already the program’s winningest head coach, secured the 300th win of his coaching career when the Bruins outlasted Weber State in five sets. His accomplishment was also noted on ESPN.com.
Cusic Interviewed for NPR’s ‘Marketplace’
Professor of Music Business Dr. Don Cusic was recently interviewed for the program “Marketplace” on NPR. His interview will air today, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. on WPLN in a story about country music, the economy and Nashville.
Physical Therapy Students Present at Annual RESNA Conference
Four Belmont physical therapy students recently got the chance to present at the annual Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their research project titled, “Functional Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction of Client in the Seating and Mobility Clinic,” examined the overall satisfaction of wheelchair users with their product, as well as the patients’ care while in the Vanderbilt Seating and Mobility Clinic.
Betsy Codington, one of the students involved in the project, hopes that the their research would be used by Vanderbilt to “better inform and equip the clinic in serving their clients.” Other students involved included Sarah Jo Lyons, Larry Pemberton and Daniel Rogers. All studies were conducted under the students’ research mentor, Dr. Renee Brown from the Belmont School of Physical Therapy, who also accompanied the students on their trip to the RESNA conference.
RESNA exists as an effort to improve the lives of people with disabilities through the use of different technologies. The foundation’s yearly conference brings together a diverse group of therapists, seating specialists, engineers and end users for this central cause.
Natalie Newbill Competes as Miss Belmont USA 2010
Belmont student Natalie Newbill will be competing in the Miss Tennessee USA pageant under the title Miss Belmont USA. Miss Tennessee USA is a pageant where young women from all over the state compete to represent the state of Tennessee in the Miss USA pageant (and later in the Miss Universe competition). The pageant will be held at Austin Peay State University on Oct. 15 and 16. Each contestant is judged in the following categories: poise and presence in interview, swim suit and evening gown. Additionally, the top five will be judged by their live interviews.
Newbill said, “I truly hope to not only be the young lady to walk away with the crown, but more importantly be the young lady who will be able to make a difference all over Tennessee. Please keep your fingers crossed for me, and I hope to make Belmont proud!”
University Celebrates Opening Convocation
As part of an annual Belmont tradition, the University celebrated a campus-wide opening convocation Wednesday to kick start the academic year and set the tone for the months ahead. Interim Provost Dr. Pat Raines provided the official welcome, noting, “We meet at this time of year to mark a new beginning, a time to re-focus our energy on the tasks at hand… We renew our commitment to seeking new knowledge, and to applying that knowledge to difficult problems.” Click here for the complete text of Dr. Raines’ remarks.
President Bob Fisher presided over the ceremony, which continued with student-led Scripture readings and a beautiful rendition of “Prayer for Grace” from the Belmont Chorale. Dr. Fisher then delivered his annual State of the University address providing students an update on all the campus changes and accomplishments from the recent summer break, including the completion of McWhorter Hall and two residence halls as well as the start of renovations to Rose Park. Though thankful for those improvements, he emphasized “Our students are our greatest point of pride… ultimately, it is the thousands of individual and small group efforts of our students to serve the community that are the most amazing. You students are clearly doing your part in positioning Belmont to be ‘the best in the world’ at engaging in service learning, internships and community service.”
Click here to read the transcript from Dr. Fisher’s address.
