Surrounded by members of Belmont University’s Class of 2014, today Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher announced the names of the campus’ two new freshmen residence halls at an afternoon ribbon cutting ceremony. Adjoined by a central lobby, one hall is being named Patton Hall, in honor of longtime Trustee Carolyn Patton, while the other residence will be called Bear House, reflecting the site of a bear house that was located on Adelicia Acklen’s original property. Together, the six-story halls provide an additional 103,000 square feet of residence space for more than 400 Belmont freshmen.
“Belmont University continues to grow at a remarkable rate, with early enrollment numbers for the coming semester looking strong once again,” Fisher said. “It’s important that Belmont remains student-centered, placing our students’ needs first even as we experience significant enrollment increases. These new halls guarantee that Belmont will provide a unique and innovative space to welcome incoming classes into the heart of campus.”
Carolyn Patton, a 1958 alumna and current member of Belmont’s Board of Trustees, and her husband Clem are responsible for an endowed, merit-based scholarship that provides full tuition for four years to a student with an ACT of 29 who possesses strong leadership potential.
Mrs. Patton said, “Belmont has certainly grown since [I attended], but I am proud of the way it has held on to those qualities that I enjoyed in its early days. Clem and I believe that our country, and indeed the world, needs students in higher education to graduate not with just head knowledge but with the moral and spiritual foundation to become the wise and compassionate people that are so needed in the world of business, ministry, science and, especially, in day-to-day family and home life. We believe Belmont provides this foundation, and we want to help accomplish these goals.”
The other new residence hall provides a unique opportunity to revisit Belmont’s legendary history. When construction began on the new halls last summer, remnants of Adelicia Acklen’s original Bear House and Bowling Alley/Billiards Building were uncovered. Tucked beneath layers of asphalt, these two structures went unnoticed for nearly 100 years, providing those who knew of them little more than mystery as to their exact location and design.
Belmont Names Two New Residence Halls
Belmont Celebrates Grand Opening of McWhorter Hall
New 90,000 square foot, state-of-the-art academic building houses Schools of Pharmacy and Physical Therapy, Department of Psychological Science
Belmont University celebrated the grand opening of the new 90,000 square foot McWhorter Hall at a ribbon cutting event held on campus this morning. The state-of-the-art academic building houses the Schools of Pharmacy and Physical Therapy, as well as the Department of Psychological Science.
McWhorter Hall is being named in honor of Belmont Trustee Emeritus and Chairman of Clayton Associates, Clayton McWhorter, and his brother, the late pharmacist Fred McWhorter. Both men dedicated their careers to the healthcare field, making a difference in the lives of countless individuals and championing healthcare reform. In addition to his longtime relationship with the University and his work on the School of Pharmacy’s initial Study Team and External Advisory Committee, Clayton is also providing a major leadership gift in support of Belmont’s new academic building.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “This building is a model, 21st century academic facility that will provide the perfect space and environment where our students and faculty can intersect in service to help meet the medical needs of our community and our world. We are honored to have the McWhorter name on the building, knowing that it will endow this space with a legacy of compassionate, professional care for others that our students will be equipped to emulate.”
Clayton McWhorter added, “My brother Fred practiced pharmacy like it should be practiced and stayed true to his profession for more than 50 years, loving every minute of it. I believe he would be honored to have this building bear the McWhorter name, but I’m even more hopeful that the student pharmacists and other health care specialists learning within these walls will look to my brother as a premier model of their profession.”
Pharmacy Care Center, Health Services Center, Drug Information Center and Pharmacy Labs
Designed by Earl Swensson Associates with construction by R.C. Mathews, McWhorter Hall continues the innovation for which Belmont University has become known. The facility will emphasize integrated, “hands on” experiential learning components including a licensed, state-of-the-art Pharmacy Care Center which will provide services to students, faculty and staff while also serving as a training site for student pharmacists. This first floor “living laboratory,” which is located adjacent to Belmont’s expanded Health Services center, will help student pharmacists learn every aspect of opening and running a retail pharmacy business. Clients of the pharmacy will be offered personal service in a managed care environment.
The second floor of McWhorter Hall also offers numerous spaces to serve pharmacy students’ needs. In the pharmacy lab, student pharmacists will be making various pharmaceutical products (ointments, powders, creams, etc.), while the Drug Information Center serves the faculty and student pharmacists with a state-of-the-art area to search, assimilate, and transfer information to health care providers that is up to date and patient specific. The center also provides educational programs for post graduate pharmacists from area hospitals. Pharmacy faculty laboratories in the building provide over 5,500 square feet for discovery, innovation and education. Faculty will immediately begin work on projects providing safer, better pharmaceuticals and insight and treatment approaches for various central nervous system diseases, human cell malformations and cancers, therapies for the eye, and improved formulations for pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Phil Johnston, dean of the School of Pharmacy, said, “This new facility is a dream come true for Belmont University, our faculty and for our student pharmacists. It is a privilege to work in this environment and with these bright young professional people. Here, we are able to provide a top notch educational program that prepares student pharmacists to succeed in the world of pharmacy.”
Additional Lab Spaces for Interdisciplinary Education
Also housed within McWhorter Hall are a variety of laboratory spaces dedicated to permitting research and educating future occupational therapists (OT) and physical therapists (PT). Specifically, the first floor is a joint OT/PT Health and Wellness Lab that contains state-of-the art research equipment that spans balance assessment, strength (torque) evaluation, driving simulation, virtual reality exercise activities, work simulation and whole body vibration. The second floor is a joint Human Performance Lab I, with work hardening equipment and the facilities needed to teach a variety of hands-on classes. The third floor contains the Human Performance Lab II, a joint lab space designed for instruction and hands-on evaluation and treatment activities.
Massey Students, Alumni Win Dragon Boat Race
The Massey Machine, a team of Belmont graduate business students and alumni, won the 4th Annual Dragon Boat Race this past weekend. The race is sponsored by the Cumberland River Compact and the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association. More than 1,000 racers participated, racing along a 250-meter stretch of the Cumberland River in traditional Hong Kong-style boats – ornate, thin, dragon-shaped canoes. The race, which raises awareness of the sponsoring organizations and promotes the health of the Cumberland River, was held on Saturday at Riverfront Park.
Kimberly May, one of the student racers, said, “We were so close to winning last year that we felt there was no choice but to win this year. It’s great that we were able to pull out a win while getting to know current and past Massey students. I can’t wait to defend our title next year!”
Joe Alexander, associate dean of the Massey School of Business said, “We talk a lot about the Massey School’s strong alumni network, and this competitive event offers further evidence of that difference. Our professionals truly enjoy each other’s company and stay connected after graduation— and nothing like a little friendly competition to bring out our Type A personalities, either.”
Hutchins Awarded 2010 Leo Love Merit Scholarship for Prose
Two years ago, after what she describes as a “careful and conscious” search to find a good writing conference, writer and teacher Dr. Sandra Smith Hutchins finally decided to apply to the Taos Summer Writer’s Conference in New Mexico. She felt that Taos would provide not only a diverse environmental and literary terrain, but also a “stimulating, welcoming, and encouraging” environment in which to work on her latest novel. This year, not only will Sandra be attending the conference, but as the recipient of the 2010 Leo Love Merit Scholarship, she will receive the merit award at a featured reading. She will also be awarded full tuition for her weeklong workshop, “Telling Truth Through Fiction,” taught by author and journalist, Jane Ciabattari, President of the National Book Critics Circle.
Her novel-in-progress, Already Kindled, is told from the perspective of a young girl raised in Mississippi, and it is the authenticity of the narrative voice that the judges most admired in this work. The setting is rich in cultural and sensory detail, and the characters, both major and minor, are convincing enough to walk off the page. Sentence by sentence, the prose continuously builds a relationship between reader and character in a way that feels both effortless and highly crafted. The Leo Love award is granted to one poet and one prose writer each year.
Norton Publishes Article in PRSSA’s Forum Newsletter
An article by Belmont senior Sarah Norton is published on page one of the Fall 2010 issue of Forum, a national newsletter published by the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). A public relations major and a leader in the Belmont Chapter of PRSSA, Sarah discusses her professional development experiences in PRSSA national conferences. PRSSA has more than 9,000 members in 284 chapters across the country. Last year the Belmont Chapter was one of six chapters to receive designation as a PRSSA Star Chapter. Click here to read Sarah’s article.
Edmunds Receives Doctorate of Education
Director of Undergraduate Admissions Anne Edmunds recently completed her doctor of education degree in higher education administration from The University of Alabama.
First Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership Class Graduates
The first members of the Belmont University Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership program graduated at summer commencement on Aug. 13. The Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership program was established as a cooperative relationship between the Belmont University Department of Education, under the leadership of Dr. Trevor Hutchins, associate dean of the Department of Education, and The Center for Nonprofit Management. The program educates nonprofit executives in Middle Tennessee who are committed to building strong nonprofits and stronger communities. The partnership guarantees students will have access to Middle Tennessee’s best experts and nonprofit professionals to direct courses and share their experiences.
Recent graduate, Sharon Hurt, who serves as the executive director of the Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership, said of her student experience, “I am extremely honored and excited that Belmont administrators and faculty recognized in me a natural desire to serve and equipped me through this program with principles and knowledge that makes me a bonafide ‘servant’ leader. My professors taught me that it was as important to be resilient, as much as it was to gain the knowledge. I am an ordinary person who accomplished an extraordinary thing. I believe and know that dreams do come true.”
Oglesby-Pitts Writes Book to Share the Teaching Wisdom of Mary Craighead
Dr. Oglesby-Pitts (Education) recently published To Teach Like Mary: Getting it Right at First with Dorrance Book Publishing. The book is the first in a series of four small conversations. Oglesby-Pitts wrote the book based on interviews she conducted with Mary Craighead, a highly respected school teacher and administrator from the Nashville area. Oglesby-Pitts was first impacted by the teachings of Craighead as she was her first grade teacher at Head Elementary School. Mary Craighead, along with Sister Sandra Smithson, founded Smithson Craighead Academy, Metro Nashville’s first charter school, in 2003. Craighead died in the summer of 2008, but Oglesby-Pitts feels fortunate to have been able to glean wisdom from Craighead to share with others through these books.
Biles Gives Presentation at Conference
Dr. Daniel Biles, associate professor in the math and computer science department, recently gave a presentation at the Fourth International Conference on Neural, Parallel and Scientific Computations, at Morehouse College in Atlanta. General topics of the conference were analytical and computational methods on all aspects of Neural, Parallel and Scientific Computing. Dr. Biles’ presentation was titled “Analytic Solutions for a Class of Functional Differential Equations.”
Rogers King Appears in Duvall Film Get Low
Tammy Rogers King, an alumna and adjunct commercial violin instructor, appears with her band The SteelDrivers in the upcoming Robert Duvall motion picture Get Low. The film, which also stars Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray, also features four SteelDrivers’ songs on the soundtrack. Get Low opens in Nashville Aug. 27.
