Dr. Devon Boan’s play Darkroom has been selected one of six finalists for FutureFest 2009, the festival of new plays at the Dayton Playhouse in Dayton, Ohio. Boan is professor of honors and director of the Honors Program. This year is the 20th anniversary of the festival, which has nearly 300 submissions each year and has launched the careers of more than 90 professional playwrights. Darkroom and the other five finalists will be staged and publicly adjudicated by a panel of five theatre professionals. This year’s festival will run from July 24-26.
Business Students Excel at International Competition
Twenty three Belmont business students competed in the international competition hosted by Delta Epsilon Chi April 22-25 in Anahiem, Calif. Out the 1,250 students in attendance, Belmont students won numerous awards in the following categories:
Entrepreneurship Business Plan: Andy Tabar won 1st place which included a $1,000 award and Julie Zaloba was a top ten winner.
Entrepreneurial Challenge: Andrew Birchfield, Julia Cecere and Brandon Littleton won 1st place with $5,000 awards and Noah Curran and Julie Zaloba won 2nd place which included a $2,000 award.
Travel and Tourism: Noah Curran was a top ten winner and Julia Cecere was a national finalist.
Business Ethics: Kaitlin Adams and Susan Harbison were national finalists.
Marketing Management: Kirstin Long and Mandy Thompson were national finalists.
Fashion Design: Andrew Birchfield was a national finalist.
Advertising: Kirstin Long won $500 for her essay on an advertising campaign.
This is the second consecutive year Belmont placed first in the Entrepreneurship Business Plan category and first and second place in the Entrepreneurial Challenge.
Delta Epsilon Chi is the college division of DECA Inc. More than 14,000 students from 230 college campuses participate in the organization. Delta Epsilon Chi enhances the student’s college experience by providing recognition and leadership activities directly related to academic study.
Pecchia Named 2009 Recipient of AT&T Real Yellow Pages Scholarship in Public Relations
Sara Pecchia was named recently as the third recipient of the AT&T Real Yellow Pages Scholarship in Public Relations. AT&T Advertising & Publishing is supporting Belmont University’s public relations program with a five-year scholarship commitment, with the inaugural award given in 2007. The $2,500 prize is presented annually each spring to the public relations major who demonstrates academic excellence, campus service and professionalism. Applicants must also write an essay that effectively responds to the question, “What role should public relations play in corporate social responsibility?”
Hailing from Youngstown, Ohio, Pecchia is majoring in public relations with a minor in music and an anticipated graduation date of December 2009. She has been a member of the Belmont Oratorio Chorus since 2007, and she currently works as a student intern for Peritus Public Relations.
Renfroe Named to Basketball Times All District Team
Men’s basketball senior Alex Renfroe (Hermitage, Tenn.) added to his impressive list of postseason accolades as he was named to the Basketball Times South Region All- District Team. Renfroe was the lone Atlantic Sun Conference representative and one of only 10 mid-major players named to the Basketball Times’
annual honors list. Click here for more on this story.
Finley Elected to Publix Super Markets Board of Directors
Dr. Jane B. Finley, Belmont University Deloitte and Touche Professor in Accounting, has been elected to the Publix Super Markets Board of Directors. Finley will be a member of the Audit Committee.
“Dr. Finley has an impressive background in finance and information technology that will complement our current Board of Directors,” said Maria Brous, Publix director of media and community relations. “She also adds another geographic area of our company to the Board as a Nashville, Tenn., resident. We are proud to have Jane as part of the Publix family.”
Finley is Belmont’s first and only Deloitte & Touche Professor in Accounting, a highly selective honor bestowed upon an outstanding business educator active with students and the local business community. She has taught at Belmont since 1995, serving in roles of associate dean of the Graduate Business Program and coordinator of the accounting programs. She was the Tennessee Educator of the Year in 2001 and holds a B.B.A in Accounting from Emory University, a Masters in Accounting from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in Information Systems Management from Florida State University. Before her teaching career, Finley was a partner at Deloitte Consulting, with a specialty in information systems technology. She also served as CFO of Miami International Airport and previously was an auditor and consultant with Peat Marwick (now KPMG).
“Anyone who knows me knows that for many years Publix has been my most favorite company,” Finley said. “Publix is known for outstanding customer service delivered by outstanding people. Once a Publix customer, always a Publix customer. I am so very honored and proud to serve and work with such outstanding individuals and to have the opportunity to be a part of such an organization.”
Math Department Hosts High School Contest
The Tennessee Mathematics Teachers Association Fifty-Third Annual State-Wide High School Mathematics Contest took place on April 21. The Mathematics Department of Belmont University hosted six schools and about 175 students from the local area. The main purposes of the contest are to stimulate interest in mathematics and to honor those students who are outstanding in their respective subjects. Students competed in six divisions: Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Statistics, Pre-calculus and Calculus and Advance Topics. The top three students in each category were recognized at the end of the day with Certificates of Merit and Belmont shirts, and their scores were forwarded for recognition at the regional and state levels.
Parry Named Top Grad Student at Southern Mississippi
Pam Parry, associate professor of journalism, was named the Top Graduate Student in the School of Mass Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg at an April 23 ceremony. Parry is on study leave working on her doctor of philosophy degree in communication with an emphasis in public relations history.
Additionally, she won a second top graduate award. She was named the first Gene Wiggins Fellow, a newly established endowed award named after a longtime member of the faculty. The fellowship provides support for graduate research. Parry will use the money to complete research on the campaign waged to help Margaret Sanger publicize the first congressional hearing on birth control legislation. Parry is scheduled to return to Belmont this fall and resume her teaching.
Wicke Provides Photo Journal of Final Four Trip
Senior men’s basketball player Andy Wicke was named one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award in large part to his dedication to academic success and community service. As part of the award program’s activities, Wicke participated in numerous events at the 2009 Final Four in Detroit. Click here to view a photo diary of Wicke’s time at the Final Four.
Panhellenic’s ‘Up ‘Til Dawn’ Inaugural Event Raises $18,080
The women of Belmont’s Panhellenic Community recently teamed up with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to bring the “Up ‘Til Dawn” philanthropy effort to campus for the first time. Up ’til Dawn is a national collegiate fundraiser that was first held at the University of Memphis a decade ago. The Up ‘til Dawn program asks students, faculty and campus communities to raise awareness and support for St. Jude through a variety of activities including letter-writing campaigns, softball tournaments and carnivals, to name a few. Over the past 10 years, the fundraiser has culminated in an all-night Finale Event in which participants sacrificed a night of sleep in honor of the St. Jude patients who courageously battle cancer every day. At dawn, participants would find out how much their campus raised for St. Jude to find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
Now held on more than 250 college campuses, the event began at Belmont in February when more than 200 students participated in a letter-writing campaign to friends and family. At the Finale Event, Belmont’s Panhellenic Community was told they had raised $18,080, more than the University of Alabama and many other schools who have held the event for years. These proceeds will allow the hospital to provide groundbreaking medical treatment to children living with catastrophic diseases at no charge to their families.
Student Pharmacists Attend First National Conference and Competition
Four students from the Belmont University School of Pharmacy recently traveled to San Antonio for the annual American Pharmacists Association and Academy of Student Pharmacy conference. This meeting was attended by more than 7,000 pharmacists and pharmacy students nationwide. Belmont student pharmacist chapter President Zac Renfro received the chapter’s inaugural charter. The conference was also the site for the National Patient Counseling Competition, where students compete in demonstrations on counseling patients on the safe use of medications. Bethany Bedford, the winner of BUSOP’s own competition, competed against 109 other student pharmacists from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Fellow attendees included Diane Akin, Zac Renfro, David Jones and chapter advisor Dr. Salvatore Giorgianni. The participants also attended leadership, educational and networking conferences and activities. Giorgianni said, “Having our student pharmacists attend and participate in professional meetings such as this is an essential component of their growth as professionals and leaders.”
