Belmont men’s basketball player Kerron Johnson was recently the subject of a lengthy profile in his hometown paper, the Huntsville Times. Click here to read the article.
Faculty, Alumnus Co-Author ‘Best Teaching Case’
Dr. Mark Schenkel, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, has been notified by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) that a case he co-authored is being awarded “Best Teaching Case” at this year’s national USASBE conference. Co-authors are Dr. Beth Woodard (Belmont associate professor of management) and Joseph Ormont (Massey MBA Alumnus). The case is focused on Bergen Cathedral Interiors, a venture founded by Stephen Bergen, also a Belmont alumnus. This is the third consecutive year that a Belmont faculty-authored case has been recognized with this prestigious national award.
Program Hudgens Helped Develop Wins Award
Dr. Julie Hudgens, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, received information that the heart failure clinic program where she played a primary development role at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. received the Second Place Practice Innovation Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine recently.
Pinter Leads Memoir Workshops
Dr. Robbie Pinter (English) led workshops titled “Writing Memoirs of the Civil Rights Era” at Nashville’s Scarritt-Bennett. The workshop was part of the “Elders for Today” Conference held Jan. 5-8. The 2010 “Memories, Dreams and Reality: The Civil Rights Movement 1960’s-2010” provided participants with a historical perspective of the movement in Nashville, offered a variety of creative methods of sharing individual memories/experiences, and built a framework for analysis of the ’60s era results on the movement in 2010.
Belmont to Host Event With Activist, Noted Civil Rights Attorney Fred Gray
Gray defended Rosa Parks, MLK Jr., Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims
Noted Civil Rights attorney and minister Fred Gray will appear on Belmont’s campus on Wed., Jan. 20 for a special forum and lecture. Gray—the former attorney for Rosa Parks, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims—will discuss “Lessons Learned from a Civil Rights Pioneer about Health, Social Justice and Christian Service.” This morning-long event is free and open to the public, courtesy of financial assistance provided by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee. Both the forum and the lecture will take place in Belmont’s Massey Performing Arts Center.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “It’s a distinct honor to welcome Fred Gray to Belmont’s campus, especially during the week when our nation celebrates the accomplishments of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement. At Belmont we encourage our students to use their gifts and talents to impact the world. There are few better examples of individuals who have accomplished that mission than Fred Gray.”
The event will begin with an 8:30 a.m. panel discussion featuring Gray along with the following special guests:
• Dr. Henry Foster, Jr., professor emeritus and former dean of the Meharry College School of Medicine and nominee for U.S. Surgeon General under President Bill Clinton
• Dwight Lewis, columnist and member of the editorial board for The Tennessean
• John Seigenthaler, founding editorial director of USA Today, founder of the First Amendment Center and award-winning journalist who briefly left his career in the 1960s to work in the civil rights field.
Following a 20-minute intermission at the conclusion of the panel forum, Gray will return for a keynote lecture at 10 a.m. His presentation will conclude with a question-and-answer session.
Gray’s legal career began in the midst of America’s modern day civil rights movement. With a quiet demeanor, strong determination and secret commitment made in college, he vowed, “to become a lawyer, return to Alabama, and destroy everything segregated I could find.” Gray began his legal career as a sole practitioner, less than a year out of law school, and at age 24, he represented Mrs. Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus, the action that initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Gray was also Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s first civil rights lawyer. This was the beginning of a legal career that now spans more than 45 years.
Belmont College of Law Appoints Andrew Matthews Assistant Dean for Student Services
Belmont University announces today that Andrew R. Matthews will join the new College of Law as the assistant dean for student services. Currently, Matthews serves as assistant dean at Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Ala., which he helped lead to full American Bar Association (ABA) approval. He will begin his appointment at Belmont on Feb. 1, 2010.
Matthews brings a wealth of law school administration experience to Belmont. Prior to his career in legal education, he practiced law in the areas of civil litigation and real estate. He is a member of the Alabama State Bar and the American Bar Association.
“I am very excited to join Belmont University College of Law,” said Matthews. “This law school will blaze a new trail in legal education, and students will truly enjoy a unique law school experience. Belmont’s reputation is impeccable, and Nashville is a fantastic place to study law.”
College of Law Dean Jeff Kinsler added, “Andy Matthews is a perfect fit for Belmont, and he possesses the qualities necessary to work with students at all stages of their law school career. He will help make their time at Belmont fruitful and enjoyable. Additionally, his experience with the American Bar Association accreditation process will be invaluable.”
In October 2009, Belmont announced the opening of a College of Law, the first new law school in Middle Tennessee in nearly 100 years. Belmont’s College of Law represents the university’s seventh college and fourth doctoral program. The College will begin classes in fall 2011, and when at full capacity, it will enroll approximately 350 students. For more information on the College of Law, visit www.belmont.edu/law.
Belmont Nursing Graduate Honored
Kelley Allen, nurse for the Neonatal Transport Team at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in nursing. Allen received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Belmont University in 2002.
As the charge nurse for the neonatal transport team, Allen is responsible for supervising the team, overseeing nurses during orientation, credentialing and quality control, and managing bedside care in the neonatal intensive care unit and for babies in need of medical care at outside facilities. In 2004 and 2005, she was the president and vice president of the Middle Tennessee Association of Neonatal Nurses and participated in We Care for Kids Day at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for the past three years.
Belmont Cheerleading Earns Trip to Nationals
Belmont Cheerleading has earned a coveted berth in the 2010 UCA College Cheerleading & Dance Team Championship. The Bruins, making their first appearance at nationals in program history, will be one of nine universities vying for a title in the “Cheer Division I” category on Jan. 15 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. Click here for more on this story.
Stewart Featured on Web Site
Sarita Stewart, instructor in the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, is featured this month as the Graduate Student Spotlight on the University of Alabama’s Web site. Click here to read the profile.
Students Participate in Model U.N. Conference
Belmont University students Richard Swor, Jamie Brown, Alexandra Haass and Catherine Hill, accompanied by Dr. Susan Jellissen (Political Science), received high praise at the American Model United Nations conference held in Chicago recently. This conference—which involved 1,500 student-delegates from more than 150 schools—was Belmont’s first foray into the world of Model UN. Belmont’s Model UN organization was founded in September 2009 by Jellissen and 15enthusiastic students from an array of disciplines. Because the purpose of Model UN is to simulate the real United Nations, each school that attends the conference represents a particular country, and students thus act as delegates, or representatives, for their assigned country. Belmont students were very excited to be representing the small Christian country of Armenia at this year’s Chicago conference. The four students that represented Armenia served on committees that replicated, in form and substance, real UN General Assembly (GA) Committees.
Each General Assembly Committee focuses on two issues of international concern. Jamie Brown (junior, international politics) served on the GA First Committee, which deliberated over “The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons” as well as the seemingly daunting problem of “Preventing the Acquisition by Terrorists of Radioactive Materials and Sources.” Richard Swor (freshman, audio engineering technology, and president of Belmont’s Model UN) served on the GA Second Committee, which discussed the issue of “Preventing and Combating Corrupt Practices and Transfer of Assets of Illicit Origin,” as well as the “Convention on Biological Diversity.” Catherine Hill (senior, political science) served on the GA Third Committee and debated the “Rights of People to Self-Determination” and “The Improvement of the Situation of Women in Rural Areas.” Finally, Alexandra Haas (sophomore, political science) represented Armenia on the GA Sixth Committee, which focused on the “Criminal Accountability of United Nations Officials and Experts on Mission” and the “Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Convention of 1949.”
