Belmont freshman Brandon Tarr (Knoxville, Tenn.) was named the 2009 Atlantic Sun’s Freshman of the Year in men’s soccer. He was honored by being selected onto the 2009 A-Sun’s Second-Team All-Conference and All-Freshman Team. Tarr is the first Bruin to have been awarded Freshman of the Year. Click here for more on this story.
University College Celebrates National Adult Student Appreciation Week
On Nov. 1-7, Belmont University’s University College celebrated its second annual Adult Student Appreciation Week. Designed to recognize non-traditional students on campus, as well as highlight efforts that have improved the adult student environment at Belmont, Belmont’s Adult Student Appreciation Week coincided with National Adult Student Appreciation Week, which is coordinated by the Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education.
Highlights of the week included Adult Student Art Show at Belmont@Cool Springs, Late Night Academic Advising, Walk-in tea and treats at several locations on campus prior to evening classes, Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee Food Drive and making thank you cards for those who support Belmont’s adult students. In addition, several convocation events were held including Making an Effective Career Transition as an Adult led by Gary Boling in the Office of Career Services and a Stress Management Workshop Session led by Director of Counseling Services Peg Leonard-Martin.
To cap off the week, University College recognized several adult students in the program based on nominations received from their instructors and University College staff. Individual awards were as follows:
Henri Burton, Liberal Studies program: Certificate of Academic Excellence
Janice Malone, RN-BSN program: Certificate of Academic Excellence
Karen Elizer, Liberal Studies program: Certificate of Remarkable Perseverance
Kim Lewis, Liberal Studies program: Certificate of Personal Achievement
Ronshea Clark, Liberal Studies program: Certificate of Excellence
Robert Blake, Liberal Studies program: Certificate of Dedicated Involvement
Lakota Author Challenges Audience to Broaden Perspective
Lakota author Richard Twiss visited Belmont this morning, bringing with him a personal mantra that he asked the full Neely Dining Hall audience to repeat: “I am ethnocentric, narrow-minded and have limited vision.” (Click here to view the photo gallery from this event.)
Twiss is the co-founder of Wiconi International, a nonprofit Christian organization that seeks to provide assistance to Native Americans, as well as the author of One Church, Many Tribes, a book that examines how studying First Nations Christ followers can teach new ways of living with nature and one another. His “mantra” seeks to challenge individuals to recognize their own cultural biases and to open their minds to seeing God from Native perspectives.
Twiss shared the story of his own transformation from a drug user who hated Christians to a man who “experienced peace that can’t be humanly comprehended.” After overdosing on mushrooms in 1974 while living in Maui, Twiss noted that God was made known to him one day on the beach. “Even though Jesus looked a lot like Captain Jack Sparrow at the time, I’m pretty sure it was still Jesus.”
Inspired by the Sermon on the Mount, Twiss began to realize that God wasn’t represented by the Christians he had formerly encountered or that his family had suffered from on the reservations and in boarding schools. Instead, he began to see God through the eyes of his own cultural background. “The Bible gives him all kinds of Indian names: Bright and Morning Star, Lily of the Valley, Chief Cornerstone… God was speaking to the Lakota, the Cherokee, Shawnee [and other tribes] long before we discovered Christopher Columbus drifting around in the ocean.”
PT Alum Featured in News Article
Belmont alumna Erin Cook was featured in her hometown newspaper, The Elizabethton Star, for her work in the Sports Residency Program at Physical Therapy Services in Elizabethton, Tenn. Cook, who received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Belmont in 2009, is preparing to take the Certified Sports Physical Therapy Specialty exam. Cook is currently working with with Dr. Danny Smith, a Belmont adjunct professor, and his son Dr. Justin Smith, a 2006 graduate of Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy. To read the article, click here.
Jeff Kinsler Named Founding Dean for New College of Law
Former Dean, Yale graduate to join Belmont faculty in 2010
Belmont University announced today that Professor Jeffrey Kinsler will serve as the founding dean for the new College of Law. Currently a professor of law and senior scholar with Elon University School of Law in North Carolina, Kinsler previously served as dean of Appalachian School of Law, which he led to full American Bar Association (ABA) approval during his tenure. Kinsler already knows Belmont well, serving as a consultant in the plans for opening the new college. He will begin his tenure at Belmont in early 2010.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Jeff Kinsler is a perfect fit for Belmont. He is highly respected in the legal community and has previously provided leadership as dean in the creation of another law school. Most importantly, he understands our dreams and aspirations for creating a College of Law that is driven by the mission and core values of Belmont University.”
Kinsler graduated first in his class from Valparaiso University School of Law (’89) and obtained a master of laws degree (LL.M., ‘96) from Yale Law School, where he served as senior editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. The winner of nine teaching awards, Kinsler has taught at several law schools in the United States and Australia. He also has served as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Queensland in Australia. Kinsler was a partner with Katten, Muchin & Zavis in Chicago, “of counsel” at Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago and, more recently, “of counsel” at the Kingsport, Tennessee law firm of Hunter, Smith & Davis. A member of the Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois and Wisconsin bars, he has co-authored ten books and has published numerous law review articles in journals at law schools such as the University of North Carolina, Northwestern University, and Vanderbilt University. In 2006, he was named a “Virginia Leader in the Law” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly. In September, Kinsler was elected to the American Law Institute (ALI), the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law. Election to the ALI is limited to one third of one percent of lawyers in the country and is considered by many to be the most prestigious legal organization in America.
Kinsler said, “I’m honored to have been chosen as the founding dean and look forward to helping Belmont University build an excellent law school. I joined Belmont because it is determined to create a new kind of law school, one that produces professional, practice-ready attorneys for today’s global legal market. I’m convinced that Belmont University College of Law will be able to attract first-rate faculty and students.”
Leary Davis, founding dean emeritus of Elon University School of Law, said, “Jeff Kinsler is an outstanding lawyer and legal educator. As dean at Appalachian and as a member of the founding faculty at Elon, he is fully aware of what needs to be done to establish an excellent law school while navigating the path to provisional and then full American Bar Association approval. He has played key roles in both processes at two different schools.”
Student, Alumnus Recognized in Nashville Technology Awards
Senior Hank Carter (Russellville, Ala.) was recognized this week as the 2009 “IT Student of the Year” at the inaugural Nashville Technology Awards at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. He was introduced and honored before an audience of more than 400 leaders of the technology community in Middle Tennessee. The awards recognized individuals and companies whose success has helped grow Nashville and the surrounding areas into a hub for technology.
Carter is an honors student in Computer Science, working on a thesis in information security. On campus he has been active in the Mathematics and Computer Science student group and recently participated in the programming competition at Tennessee Tech. He is a member of Alpha Chi and received the 2009 Hale third-year student award. An Eagle Scout, Carter spent the summer at Sea Base in the Florida Keys leading 15-17-year-old scouts on week-long high adventure explorations. He is currently applying for graduate programs. In addition to his abilities and talents in Computer Science, Carter is an accomplished pianist (a music minor), a black belt in martial arts, a ballroom dancer and has taken up fencing.
In addition to Carter’s award, alumnus Chip Hayner (’04, Digital Media Studies) was named Software Programmer / Engineer of the Year. Hayner currently serves as director of technology for Centre{source} Interactive Strategies. As one of the most senior C{S} employees, Hayner started as a developer and now heads the development and creative departments.
Lambda Pi Eta Hosts Event for National Freedom of Speech Week
Lambda Pi Eta, the honor society of the Communication Studies Department, recently hosted a week of events aimed at giving voice to the homeless as part of National Freedom of Speech Week. The week’s theme this year was titled “Homeless not Voiceless.” The program included a panel from the Nashville Homeless Power Project. Residents from Tent City told their stories and answered student questions on how to address the problem of homelessness in Nashville.
Magruder Publishes Paper
Dr. Robert Magruder, professor and chair of the Chemistry & Physics Department, recently had a paper accepted for publication titled “Excitation and detection of surface acoustic phonon modes in Au/Al[sub 2]O[sub 3] multilayers.” Click here to read the abstract of this paper, which was published in the Physical Review B of the American Physical Society, October 15, 2009.
Vaughn Publishes Two Articles on Video Family Memoirs
Mary Vaughn (chair, Department of Communication Studies) had two publications this month. One was in Communication Teacher (Vol. 23, No. 4, October 2009) titled “Video Family Memoirs: Service-learning in a Family Communication Course,” and the other is a related piece called “Capturing Family Stories on Video” in Communication Currents. Click here to read the latter article.
Women’s Soccer Wins Atlantic Sun Regular Season Title for First Time in Program History
One goal in the 83rd minute was all it took to help the Belmont women’s soccer team (9-5-4, 6-1-3 A-Sun) win its first Atlantic Sun regular season title in program history. The Bruins collected their ninth shutout of the season, knocking off UNF 2-0 on the road Sunday afternoon to earn a bye for the first round of the A-Sun Tournament. The Bruins first game in the A-Sun Tournament is set for Nov. 5 in Kennesaw, Ga. Click here for more on this story.
