Belmont’s Welcome Week 2008 Provides Nashville 1,000+ Volunteers for Service Projects
The largest incoming class in Belmont University history made its mark on their new hometown this morning with the annual SERVE project, which stands for Students Engaging and Restoring through Volunteer Experiences. More than 1,000 new students, including members of the School of Pharmacy’s inaugural class, left campus at 9 a.m. to volunteer their time at 32 different ministry and charity organizations in the Nashville community.
An annual “Welcome Week” tradition for more than a decade, SERVE provides a perfect tie-in to Belmont’s ongoing commitment to engage students in their community and encourage the values of service on both a local and global level. The organizations participating in this year’s SERVE project included Safe Haven Family Shelter, Campus for Human Development, Monroe Harding Children’s Home, Dismas House, Music City Mission, Radnor Lake, American Red Cross, Agape Animal Shelter, New Hope Academy and ThriftSmart. In addition, students starting Belmont’s graduate School of Pharmacy pitched in their time to assist at Feed the Children.
New Students SERVE More Than 30 Local Organizations
School of Humanities to Host Seventh Annual Symposium on ‘Debate, Dissent and Dialogue’
Featured lecturers include Michael Bérubé, Daniel Frick and Masood Raja
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As part of Belmont’s year-long programming to celebrate the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate, the School of Humanities will be hosting its seventh annual symposium Sept. 7-15 based on the topic “Debate, Dissent and Dialogue.” Focusing on the nature of argument and language in discourse, especially political, the symposium will feature talks by Family Professor in Literature at Pennsylvania State University Dr. Michael Bérubé, Marshall College Writing Center Director Dr. Daniel Frick and Belmont alumnus and current Kent State University faculty member Dr. Masood Raja.
The Humanities Symposium seeks to fulfill the classical definition of what a symposium should be: a gathering of friends for the purpose of intellectually stimulating conversation on a matter important to humanity, time and place. More than 20 academic lectures and special events will be held during this year’s eight-day symposium, including the viewing and discussion of two recent films, the William Wilberforce biopic Amazing Grace and the Edward R. Morrow-inspired Good Night, and Good Luck.
Assistant Professor of English Dr. Bonnie Smith, who also serves as director of Belmont’s Writing Center and helped with symposium planning, said, “Debate, dissent and dialogue are three quintessentially human activities relevant to the life of our students and community not just in the ‘here and now’ of an election year. Rather, debate, dissent and dialogue are acts of compassion essential for members of a free society. Our symposium will invite deeper conversations about the nature of debate, suggest that dissent is a patriotic deed, and provide opportunities for students, faculty and staff to dialogue on an array of issues related to film, philosophy, literature, politics, history and language.”
Bérubé—who will speak Thurs. night Sept. 11 and participate in a panel on Fri., Sept. 12—is the author of six books to date as well as the editor of The Aesthetics of Cultural Studies and, with Cary Nelson, of Higher Education Under Fire: Politics, Economics, and the Crisis of the Humanities. He has written more than 150 essays for a wide variety of academic journals such as American Quarterly, the Yale Journal of Criticism, Social Text and Modern Fiction Studies as well as more popular venues such as Harper’s, the New Yorker, Dissent, The New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, the Nation and the Boston Globe. His book Life As We Know It was a New York Times’ Notable Book of the Year for 1996 and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Maureen Corrigan of National Public Radio.
Men’s, Women’s Basketball Teams Announce Schedules
Perennial major conference powers and area rivals highlight Belmont University’s men’s basketball schedule for the upcoming 2008-09 season. The three-time defending Atlantic Sun Conference champions will play no fewer than nine games against teams from the state of Tennessee during the regular season, with four contests at the Curb Event Center.
In addition, one season after playing the toughest regular season schedule under Head Coach Tony Cross, the Belmont women’s basketball team is poised to rebuild on its legacy of excellence and vie for a return to the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Bruins’ slate features match-ups with several intrastate rivals and appearances in two tournaments that should give the team confidence heading into the always competitive Atlantic Sun.
For more information on both of these stories and a preview of both teams’ schedules, click here to visit the newly redesigned Belmont Athletics Web site.
Bruins’ Cross Country Reigns Picked to Continue
Since joining the Atlantic Sun in 2001 both the Belmont men and women have won six of seven cross country titles. The league coaches again installed both Bruins teams as the favorites for 2008, the conference office announced on Wednesday.
Kipkosgei Magut, Belmont’s senior and two-time defending champion in the men’s race, will lead the men as they attempt to win their seventh straight league title. Magut can join Georgia State’s Andrew Letherby and Troy’s Michael Green as the only three in league history to win three league meets. Joining Magut among Belmont returning runners include 2007 Freshman of the Year Hillary Cheruiyot, Ben McGlothlin and Will Peters.
The Bruins women’s team replaces 2007 individual champion Lauren Weaver plus two additional runners from its top five. Brittany Thune, third at the 2007 A-Sun Championship will be asked to lead the squad that includes five incoming freshmen and two red-shirt freshman. For more on this story, click here.
Jackson Profiled in mobile Production monthly
Ron Jackson, general manager of the Curb Event Center, was recently profiled along with the venue in mobile Production monthly, a publication that focuses on issues affecting life on the road. Click here to read the story, which is on page 24 of the issue.
Belmont Cited Most as ‘School to Watch’ in 2009 U.S. News & World Report Rankings
University remains top school in Tennessee in Master’s category-South
In its newest analysis of America’s Best Colleges, U.S. News & World Report announced that Belmont University was a most cited “School to Watch” in its current research, a high honor that indicates the strength of Belmont’s reputation among universities nationwide. For the first time, U.S. News & World Report asked its experts to identify “colleges and universities that have recently made striking improvements or innovations—schools everyone should be watching.” Belmont and Elon University in North Carolina were mentioned by experts more than any other universities appearing in the category.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “I don’t believe Belmont University could have received a higher compliment than to be noted by our peer institutions as a Top School to Watch. These are the most entrepreneurial people I’ve ever worked with. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a sign outside my office door that says, ‘Anyone who has a crazy idea, come on in!’ The amazing thing is, most of these crazy ideas are working.”
In addition, for the fourth year in a row Nashville’s Belmont University achieved a Top 15 regional ranking in the “Best Universities—Masters” category in the annual U.S. News & World Report college guide, again landing the highest spot of any Tennessee university. Ranked for 2009 at No. 11, Belmont is joined in the South’s Top 15 by such institutions as Rollins College, Elon University, James Madison University, The Citadel and Mercer University.
University Provost Dr. Dan McAlexander added, “Belmont is taking significant steps in the right directions, focusing our efforts on giving today’s students the tools they need to engage and transform the world. Higher retention and graduation rates as well as strong assessments from our peers indicate we’re meeting our goals, providing students with the best resources for a quality educational experience through ground-breaking, cross-disciplinary programs, small class sizes and outstanding faculty.”
Lind Attends Math Teaching, Research Conferences
This summer Dr. Joan Lind, assistant professor of Mathematics, attended a one-day workshop with Project NExT and led a break-out session titled “Continuing a research program in analysis.” This concluded her year as a project NExT fellow. Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a professional development program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. It addresses all aspects of an academic career: improving the teaching and learning of mathematics, engaging in research and scholarship, and participating in professional activities. It also provides the participants with a network of peers and mentors as they assume these responsibilities.
Dr. Lind also attended a Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM) workshop in Provo, Utah Aug. 10-12. CURM is the first and only center devoted to undergraduate research in mathematics. Approximately 15 mathematics faculty members from across the county were awarded CURM mini-grants to pursue undergraduate research projects during the coming academic year. As one of the recipients of the award, Dr. Lind attended the workshop where they discussed successful approaches to involving undergraduates in math research.
Tennis Team, Individuals Honored with ITA National Academic Awards
The academic achievement of the Belmont men’s tennis team along with eight Belmont student-athletes were honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as it announced its Academic Awards for the 2007-2008 school year.
The Belmont’s men tennis team was named an ITA All-Academic team. To be chosen for this honor, a squad must have a cumulative team grade point average (GPA) of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale) and all team members must have competed in at least one match during the 2006-2007 season. The Belmont men’s team, who finished with a team GPA of 3.44, was one of 41 teams honored in Division I and the only Atlantic Sun Conference squad among the list of schools.
In addition, eight Belmont tennis players earned the ITA’s Scholar-Athlete Award. To earn the Scholar-Athlete Award, a player must be a varsity letter winner, have a GPA of 3.50 and been enrolled at the school for two semesters. Belmont’s five honorees from the men’s side were: Felipe Cirne Lima, Ignacio Gesto, Marshall Lipman, Brady Manifold and Fausto Rocha. The three honorees from the women’s team were: Linda Johansson, Kelly Pence, and Tatiana Pozo. Click here for more on this story.
Bennett Participating in Multiple National Conferences on Media
Dr. Sybril Bennett, director of Belmont’s New Century Journalism program, was selected to participate in the 2008 Disney/IRTS (International Radio Television Society) Digital Media Summit for faculty, which was held Aug. 5-7 in Burbank, California.
In addition, Bennett is leading the student newsroom for the Online News Association national conference to be held Sept. 11-13 in Washington, D.C., and she will be coordinating the National Association of Black Journalists Media Institute in partnership with the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute to be held in Nashville, Oct. 23-25. This summer, Dr. Bennett had an article published in the NABJ Journal about the importance of journalists learning multimedia skills.
Van Hatten-Granath’s Project Featured in Magazines
Teresa Van Hatten-Granath, associate professor in the Art Department, continues to receive media attention for her “Green Bag Lady ” project. Earlier this year Van Hatten-Granath started making fabric bags to use in place of plastic and set up a Web site to give the fabric bags away to anyone who promised to use them. Her goal was to inspire artists to think about the ecological impact of their art as well as to produce work that has a direct, positive impact on the environment. The project will be featured in the fall issue of Positively Green magazine as well as the Oct./Nov. issue of Plenty magazine. For more information, visit www.greenbaglady.org.
