IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

Home Blog Page 79

Belmont Alumna Receives Mid-South Conference Faculty Member of the Year Award

Emma dela Pena
-
0
Belmont Alumna Receives Mid-South Conference Faculty Member of the Year Award

Belmont alumna, class of 1993, Dr. Valerie King was recently awarded the Mid-South Conference Faculty Member of the Year Award after being nominated for her “diligent and outstanding service to the university.” King is currently a university professor of marketing at Cumberland University. 

As a big fan of women’s basketball, football and hockey, King is a former student athlete of Belmont as a member of the Belmont Collegiate Women’s Basketball team.

Cumberland Athletic Director Ron Pavan shared, “Dr. King has been a great influence to our student-athletes. She has participated in our athletic leadership days, engages with our student-athletes on their goals in academics and life.” 

Belmont’s Alumni website also featured King for her great accomplishments and service work.

Watkins College of Art at Belmont Secures Record Number of ADDY Awards

Haley Charlton
-
0
Watkins College of Art at Belmont Secures Record Number of ADDY Awards

Students in the Watkins College of Art at Belmont University were recognized with a record number of Student ADDY Awards through one of the top local competitions for student advertising design in the nation. Hosted by the American Advertising Federation Nashville (AAFN), the Nashville Student Advertising Awards showcased the winning work and presented awards via Facebook Live on February 23.

With a 16 percent increase in entries this year from five local schools, the results of the competition are even more impressive. Belmont students received 18 Silver awards, 8 Gold awards, 2 Judges Awards and the Best in Show.

“Our numerous wins this year is welcome news. In a year where students have adapted to new ways of learning, and with the addition of the talent at Watkins joining our creative community here at Belmont, it’s rewarding to see that the creative work has not suffered but gotten stronger,” explained Art Professor Doug Regen. “The ADDY awards are an extremely competitive nationally recognized competition in the design industry, so kudos to our students that have worked so hard.”

Senior Abraham Mast won Best in Show with a trophy and cash prize of $500 for “The Most Dangerous Game,” made possible by Foxfuel Communications. Mast joined the livestream to discuss his winning piece, as well as his current and future plans in design. “Right now I’m doing freelance and after I graduate this semester, I plan to really ramp up my freelance company. I do notice there is a spike of client work around the ADDYs, so thank you and it means a lot to me.”

The other awards are as follows:

Two Judges Awards were given to Katherine Vanhüssen for Poster Design and to Destiny Carter for Advocacy Campaign.

Isabella Stern–Illustration, Gold ADDY winner

18 Silver Awards were given to:

  • Natalie Briscoe–Gevalia Package Design
  • Destiny Carter– Feminism Booklet
  • Destiny Carter –Advocacy Poster Campaign
  • Bryce DuBray–BookLocal App Design
  • Danielle Long–Lunae Poster Design
  • Abraham Mast–Character Development
  • Abraham Mast–Character Development
  • Abraham Mast–Distractions Campaign
  • Abraham Mast–Mandola Project
  • Abraham Mast–Manifested Words
  • Huy Nguyen–Illustration
  • Hannah Sizemore–Illustration
  • Sheridan Spiess–Packaging
  • Sheridan Spiess–UNIFY App Design
  • Katherine Vanhüssen–Book Design
  • Amy Varboncoeur–Cosmic Nature Booklet
  • Amy Varboncoeur–Trader Joes Packaging
  • Sydney Whitten–Color Photography Campaign

8 Gold Awards were given to:

  • Sarah Collins–Frist Gala Materials
  • Kennila Gruen–Advocacy Poster
  • Abraham Mast–Animated Loops Animatiom
  • Abraham Mast–The Most Dangerous Game Illustration
  • Isabella Stern–Illustration
  • Caitlyn Swartwood–Poster Design
  • Katherine Vanhüssen–Poster Design
  • Natalie Briscoe–St George and the Dragon Illustration

Other winners were from MTSU, Nashville State Community College and Nossi College of Art.

Belmont Professor Publishes Article in The Oxford Handbook

Emma dela Pena
-
0
Belmont Professor Publishes Article in The Oxford Handbook

Dr. Mark McEntire’s article “The Minor Prophets and Modern Culture” is currently featured in The Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets that was just published last week. McEntire is a biblical studies professor in the College of Theology and Christian Ministry.

MEntire shared, “The Minor Prophets present a challenge for the most skilled interpreters, and their obscurity proves an even greater challenge for more casual readers. It is not surprising that expressions related to the Minor Prophets in contemporary culture tend toward notable phrases or images and the sparse characters, like Hosea and Jonah, which readers find there.”

McEntire was recently featured for another published work in Belmont News (read here) and is continuing to write and intersect his interests in art and biblical studies.

Belmont Celebrates Black History Month 2021

Emma dela Pena
-
0
Belmont Celebrates Black History Month 2021

Belmont University celebrated Black History Month throughout February 2021 with special events to engage and educate students, faculty and staff. The University recognizes the month as “a celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history.”

Mary Clark in the Office of Multicultural Learning and Experience shared, “Black History Month is important because it affords us to turn an additional spotlight to the accomplishments, legacies and significant contributions of Black Americans. One of my favorite parts of the celebration is the opportunity to provide knowledge and experiences that are new and different to the campus.”

The celebration kicked off with month-long exhibits that were on display throughout campus to commemorate and celebrate black Americans:

Table display in Gabhart for Black History Month
Table display in Gabhart for Black History Month
  • The History of Black History Month was a poster series explaining the founding, evolution and significance of Black History Month that was put on display all throughout campus. 
  • Black History Month Literature was a table display in the Gabhart Center lobby that sought to inform readers on the black experience in America through literature. 
  • Belmont’s Portraits of Excellence highlighted the impact and contributions of black Americans and was put on display all throughout campus. 

Black History Month started with a chapel featuring Jason Curry, chaplain of Fisk University, in “My Grace is Sufficient: Toward a Chrisitan Understanding of God’s Ontology.” The chapel discussed the essence of ‘God is love’ and how His love is “able to liberate humanity from a tribal understanding of God that dominates our extant political, religious and racial discourse.”

The month also featured a panel titled “Being Black at Belmont,” put on by the Black Student Association and Student Activities Programming Board. SAPB Director Ashley Wearren shared, “We felt like this was an important event to put on with BSA because creating community is not only about fun events with free stuff, it’s also about bringing people together to educate and bring awareness to marginalized issues and groups within that community.”

Collection of logos from Black Greek Letter Organizations

“A Century Change: The Negro League Centennial Celebration” was hosted by the Office of Multicultural Learning and Experience where students learned more about the impact of the Negro League. The office also hosted The Langston Hughes Project in collaboration with the Black Student Association. The event featured Ron McCurdy, professor of music at the University of Southern California, who shared a performance commemorating the work of Hughes. 

“My grandmother always told me that if you don’t stand for anything, you’ll fall for anything,” shared McCurdy in the event, as he reminded students, faculty and staff that there is no age requirement to being passionate about something. 

Black History Month came to a close with a historical presentation on the legacy of black Greek Letter organizations in America, “The Divine 9: American Legacies,” and chapel “The Courage To Be,” hosted by preacher Nicole Tolliver Minister at the Grove Nashville.

The University thanks students, faculty and staff for their commitment to creating a celebratory and educational Black History Month for the Belmont community.

Belmont to Celebrate Women’s History Month in March: Life from the Margins

Haley Charlton
-
0
Belmont to Celebrate Women’s History Month in March: Life from the Margins

Throughout history, women have lived much of their lives relegated to the margins of society – without power, influence and often adequate resources. And yet, women have worked diligently to create space for the flourishing of their families and communities—finding hope, healing and purpose as they care for and pay attention to those on the margins. This March, the Belmont community will have the opportunity to hear the stories of women whose work and life seeks to lift up and make space for all people as the University celebrates Women’s History Month.

In the midst of the pandemic, the world turned its eyes on those on the margins of society and saw how they have been disproportionally impacted. As a member of Belmont’s Women’s History Month Committee, University Minister Heather Daugherty explained how the group was reminded this past year that women throughout history have generally been on the margins of our society and still managed to stay strong, survive and to flourish. 

“Most of the time when a woman flourishes, she brings along with her an entire community – and so we wanted to have conversations that center women, that highlight their work and that inspire us to continue to live out their legacy of caring for those on the margins of our lives and society,” Daugherty said. “Our hope for our events is that students will celebrate the way that each of the women we highlight is being used by God and seek to find ways that God might be calling them to engage and transform the world around them.”

A schedule of events is listed below. Although disappointing that the events will all be virtual this year, as Belmont wants students to be able to interact with speakers fact-to-face, the Zoom environment does allow students to hear from speakers across the country, and many more students will have access to see their presentations later. All of the events will be available on Bruinlink and on Blackboard for students to access, but anyone is able to attend using the zoom links included in this list.

Wednesday, March 10 at 2 p.m.

CHAPEL: A Space for Love: Cultivating Community Among the Margins with Emily Mills (Zoom link)

Emily Mills, founder and chief ideation officer of Jesus Said Love/Lovely Enterprises, will share her journey of working with survivors of sexual exploitation for the last 15 years and how they have determined the trajectory for JSL. Mills will weave together story and data compelling us to love radically, cultivate community among the margins and create a space for love big enough for every individual. Co-sponsored by the Women’s History Month Committee.

Wednesday, March 17 at 3 p.m.

Asian Christian Art: Matter + Spirit with Professor Suki Kwon and Dr. Rachel Smith. (Zoom link)

Suki Kwon is an artist who has lived and had her works exhibited in her native Korea, as well as Japan, China, England and the United States. She is assistant professor of design at the University of Dayton. Belmont University’s Leu Art Gallery features her work this semester in the exhibit “Matter + Spirit,” which is curated by Dr. Rachel Smith, Gilkison Distinguished Professor of Art History at Taylor University and artistic director for the Nagel Institute for World Christianity. Co-sponsored by the Watkins College of Art and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Asian Studies Program.

Wednesday, March 24 at 3:30 p.m

CHAPEL: From the Margins: The Origins of Christian Feminism (Zoom link)

Feminism is often thought of in a negative context within the church. Dr. Du Mez will explore how it was often women on the margins who found in the Christian scriptures sources of empowerment and helped build a tradition of Christian feminism. Co-sponsored by the Women’s History Month Committee.

Thursday, March 25 at 3:15 p.m.

CHAPEL: Parable of the Brown Girl (Zoom link)

Imago Dei, a theological term rooted in Genesis 1:27, says human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. While this is a fascinating concept, humans have struggled to conceptualize what it truly means as it relates to themselves as individuals and other humans and living creatures. Young Black girls, specifically, fail to receive the message that they, too, are made in the image of God. Their lived experiences are often overlooked, unseen and ignored rather than valued and heard. In this talk, Rev. Khristi Adams will magnify the struggles, dreams, wisdom and dignity of these voices and demonstrate how the narratives we most often ignore can teach us the most important lessons in life. Co-sponsored by the Women’s History Month Committee.

Belmont Pharmacy Fellow Dr. John Maneno Accepts Position with IBM

Haley Charlton
-
0
Belmont Pharmacy Fellow Dr. John Maneno Accepts Position with IBM

Dr. John Maneno, second year Drug Information Fellow in Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, has accepted an offer to work for IBM. His new role will be part of IBM Watson Health but more specifically within the Micromedex Suite as a clinical content specialist.

Maneno began his fellowship program with Belmont University College of Pharmacy in conjunction with Aegis Sciences Corporation in the summer of 2019 after his graduation from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine’s College of Pharmacy. He has spent time as part of Belmont’s faculty within the College of Pharmacy and also as a drug information pharmacist at the Christy Houston Drug Information Center and Aegis.

During his time at Belmont, Maneno published an article on Annals of Pharmacotherapy, had multiple podium presentations at national conferences, and a poster presentation. Genevieve Engle, PharmD and Andrew Holt, PharmD, directors of the fellowship program, continue to set up the fellows for success by ensuring 100 percent post-fellowship job placements.

Belmont Songwriting Students, Faculty Take Part in Virtual Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival

Emma dela Pena
-
0
Belmont Songwriting Students, Faculty Take Part in Virtual Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival

Belmont songwriting students Sydnee Conley, Max Woolery, SJ McDonald and Phoebe Scott are competing in the annual Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival which will take place on March 5. Due to the pandemic travel restrictions, the festival will be held virtually this year with activities starting through their website on March 4.

The partnership between Belmont Songwriting and the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival began in 2016 when Department Chair James Elliott led a Spring Break trip to Belfast where students performed at the festival. Belmont Songwriting faculty Drew Ramsey, Jodi Marr and Thomm Jutz will also be a part of the festival by teaching songwriting workshops prior to the festival.  

One of the highlights of the festival for Northern Ireland songwriters is that most years a select group of them come to Nashville the week after the event to perform and meet with industry leaders. Since 2016, part of those trips has been a performance in the Curb Café and visits with Belmont songwriting faculty and students.

The Panarts Director Colin Magee shared, “We are so pleased that our partnership with Belmont continues to grow, even in these difficult times. Our hope for the future is that we can meet up in person next year in both Belfast and Nashville to continue the important work of encouraging young people to be creative and to write great songs.”

All of their performances have been pre-recorded and will be on the festival website at the scheduled times.

Belmont School of Music’s Sorority, Fraternity Help Package Emergency ToolKits for Nashville Community

Emma dela Pena
-
0
Belmont School of Music’s Sorority, Fraternity Help Package Emergency ToolKits for Nashville Community

The Belmont community pitched in to assemble extra Cold Weather Patrol emergency kits for Nashville’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Rusty King, production and facilities manager in the School of Music, has been a volunteer for the Nashville Office of Emergency Management’s Emergency Support Unit (ESU) for the past five years and saw a need for more tool kits this winter. He quickly recruited servant-hearted faculty, staff and students at Belmont to help with the labor in assisting the greater Nashville community. 

The Emergency Support Unit is comprised of six to eight squads with more than 50 volunteers who donate their time to check on homeless camps all over Davidson county on the coldest nights. During the patrols, volunteers ask about health and wellness, offer transport to warming shelters and distribute items such as blankets, water bottles and Gatorade. 

Belmont students assemble Belmont kits
Items provided by University Ministries are assembled by students for OEM.

Three years ago, King was approached by Dr. Terry Klefstad, associate professor in the School of Music, as her children were assembling packages with hand-warmers, socks, wipes and packaged food to pass out to people in need on the streets of Nashville. King and Klefstad quickly found a way to collaborate, and the first winter, Klefstad and her family made 100 of the convenience kits for the Cold Weather Patrols to distribute. The kits became known as the “Belmont Convenience Kits.”

This year, King and Klefstad needed more help to assemble the packages and used their resources at Belmont to accomplish this task. Serving as the faculty advisor for the music sorority Sigma Alpha Iota and the music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha, Klefstad and King presented this volunteer opportunity to safely assemble boxes with items provided by University Ministries. The Belmont students packaged together 300 Belmont Convenience Kits that were distributed to homeless communities in the midst of Nashville’s snowstorm.

Belmont students assemble kits
Phi Mu Alpha assembling Belmont kits for OEM

“I’m really proud that Belmont supports our individual missions to serve our communities. If a Belmont family is involved in a crisis anywhere on this globe, there is someone we know that can reach out to help ‘Be Belmont’ to them,” shared King.

In the past three years, King has become corporal over Squad 3 and continues to spend his spare time volunteering with OEM in the ESU. “I’m blessed to be a part of a team that consistently trains to go into mostly bad situations, does a job well, and helps bring some comfort to our larger community in need,” shared King.

Other news sources in Nashville have noticed Belmont and King’s great efforts alongside the OEM (read news story here).

Bateman Team Creates Campus Mural Encouraging Students to Rise Above for Universal Civility

Emma dela Pena
-
0
Bateman Team Creates Campus Mural Encouraging Students to Rise Above for Universal Civility

Belmont University’s 2020-2021 Bateman Team recently revealed a mural on campus in honor of their public relations campaign focused on civil discourse. Working over the course of a year to put on a campaign, the team worked in collaboration with Belmont’s Graphic Designer Erica Belletete and administration to produce the final product. 

Each year PRSA puts on a competition where Bateman student organizations nation-wide are presented with a client that teams promote through conducting a month-long public relations campaign. Each team moves through the research, planning, implementation and evaluation phase of the campaign with a winner for most successful campaign announced by PRSA headquarters later in the spring. 

mural
Bateman Team mural ‘Rise Above for Universal Civility’ on display in Harrington Dining Hall.

This year’s Bateman team’s campaign is called ‘Rise Above for Universal Civility’ where the team is emphasizing the importance of engaging in conversations with the approach to understanding. The team of five is hosting several events between February 8 to March 8, where other students and emerging professionals can participate.

This year’s Belmont team consists of five members: Emma dela Pena as social media and writing specialist, Rileigh Skelton as strategic planning specialist, Abigail Roering as community outreach specialist, Molly Barresi as research specialist and Elizabeth Phillips as design specialist. 

The team shared that the mural is a chance for them and other students to “create a legacy at Belmont.” Design Specialist Elizabeth Phillips said, “The mural is a representation of what students value in this period of our lives. We want everyone to feel safe on campus and its promotion of civility, diversity and inclusion really embodies that.”  

girl on computer
Bateman Community Outreach Specialist Abigail Roering working on the mural.

Roering shared the explanation of the design approach, saying that “many of the visual elements reflect duality and how two ideas can coexist even if they are opposites. The colors, the space motif and the comic-book style panels all allude to the overarching theme of everyday civility. Quite literally, our astronauts can rise above the toxicity often found in uncivil conversation so that they can truly ‘talk the talk.’”

The Bateman team is encouraging students and professionals alike to sign the pledge and commit to encouraging civil discourse in their communities. “Our hope is that our campaign encourages everyone to take matters of civil discourse into their own hands, to claim that responsibility as their own and share it with the communities of which they are part,” Roering shared. 

“No matter who you are, we want to make this a safe place for you to discuss your big ideas and strong opinions,” Phillips shared. 

The mural was released on Friday, Feb. 19 in the Belmont’s on-campus dining hall and will be moved several times to other spots on campus for students to find and take pictures with it. The team also has several events for students to learn and participate in the campaign located on their website. 

Belmont Continues Celebration of Black History Month with Special Langston Hughes Project Event

Emma dela Pena
-
0
Belmont Continues Celebration of Black History Month with Special Langston Hughes Project Event

As a part of Belmont’s continued celebration of Black History Month, the University brought in guest speaker, educator and quartet member Ron McCurdy to put on his performance of the Langston Hughes Project, a multimedia concert performance of Langston Hughes’ kaleidoscopic Jazz poem suite, “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz.”

Langston Hughes, a graduate of Lincoln University and member of a historically black fraternity, is remembered for being a popular activist during the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes wrote “Ask Your Mama” as a response to riots and incidents at the Newport Jazz Festival. In McCurdy’s performance, he puts a spin on this poem to further educate viewers about significant people, places and events of the Harlem Renaissance. 

McCurdy is currently a professor of music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and was previously president of the International Association for Jazz Education. He has released two CDs, been published by Warner Bros and serves as the director of the Walt Disney All-American College Band and the of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble and combo. 

The event at Belmont was put on by the Black Student Association and the Office of Multicultural Learning and Experience on February 18. The event started with the president of the BSA introducing McCurdy who then gave background on the Langston Hughes project and shared some words of wisdom to the students and faculty. 

McCurdy began by sharing the words of Langston Hughes that were written more than a century ago, yet are still important today and have helped the country heal after experiencing discrimination that is so evidently shown through tragedies such as the murder of George Floyd.

He remembered previous activists in his presentation, encouraging students and faculty to stand up for what they believe in now rather than later. “My grandmother always told me that if you don’t stand for anything, you’ll fall for anything,” said McCurdy as he reminded the audience that there’s no age to being passionate about something. 

The night continued with a performance by the Ron McCurdy Quartet where McCurdy himself challenged the audience to ask themselves “what can I do individually or collectively to ensure that we as Americans can live up to the declaration ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal?’”

The night ended with an opening for questions and discussions on the event while the chat system was flooded with kind comments about the significance and value of the event for the University.  

The Ron McCurdy performance and more can be found at the Langston Hughes Project. Belmont University will have events for Black History Month through the end of February and more details can be found here.

1...787980...888Page 79 of 888
Belmont University Logo | News & Media

CONTACT US

University Marketing and Communications
615-460-6650
communication@belmont.edu

FOLLOW US