Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn, chair of the philosophy department at Belmont University, was recently chosen as the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Volunteer Award from the East-West Center Association (EWCA) for his endeavors as “what is best in a volunteer including service to something beyond oneself, a willingness to contribute time and effort without pay and a donation of time and effort beyond one’s normal responsibilities.”
Littlejohn helped build one of the EWCA’s most successful alumni groups, the Asian Studies Development Program (ASDP) chapter. He sits on the board of the Association of Regional Centers of the ASDP.
Littlejohn will officially receive the Outstanding Volunteer Award during the EWCA International Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, December 7-10, 2006.
The EWCA is made up of over 50,000 East-West Center (EWC) alumni worldwide. It is headquartered in Honolulu.
The EWC is an education and research organization established by Congress in 1960. The EWC contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States.
Littlejohn Honored as Outstanding Volunteer
Wollaber Named Woman to Watch by Nashville Medical News
Debra Wollaber, dean of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing at Belmont University, was selected as one of the 10 women to watch by Nashville Medical News. The women chosen have made a significant impact on the delivery of health care in Middle Tennessee and beyond.
Click here to read the article.
Spring Commencement Set for Sat., May 13
Belmont University will graduate 560 students on Sat., May 13, at 10 a.m. in the Curb Event Center. The class of 2006 marks the largest graduating class from Belmont.
Belmont president Dr. Robert Fisher will be the commencement speaker.
The media is invited to attend and cover Belmont’s Spring 2006 Commencement. No special media arrangements are necessary.
Wright Hall Wins National Award
The student leaders and staff members of Wright Hall at Belmont University were recently honored by the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH), a national honor society that is made up of the top 1 percent of on-campus leaders. Its purpose is to recognize the individuals that serve campus.
Each month, NRHH recognizes residence life staff and programming with awards such as program, RA and student of the month. Winners are submitted to the regional level that includes all colleges and universities in the Southeast and then on to a national level.
For the month of March, Wright Hall won the Social Program category nationwide for their “Death by Chocolate” murder mystery program. The 2005-06 school year is Belmont’s inaugural year as a member of NRHH.
Psychology Faculty, Students Attend Conference
Belmont University faculty and students from the psychology department attended the Eastern Psychological Association meeting in Baltimore March 16-19. Drs. Pete Giordano, Linda Jones, Mike Sullivan and Lonnie Yandell attended as faculty sponsors.
Psychology students Laura Bear, Sarah Lashley, Eileen Marks, Sarah Miles, Zea Miller, Layne Murphy and Kelly Witherbee attended and presented posters at the meeting.
University Honors Students, Faculty at Annual Scholarship and Awards Day
Belmont University recognized students and faculty at the annual Scholarship and Awards Day on Wednesday.
Students honored in the ceremony included:
Libby Ann Reed, Julie Maupin – Recipients, The Williams-Murray First Year Writing Awards
Michael Butera, Stacey Johnson, Caroline Van – The Alfred Leland Crabb Awards
Eric Detweiler, Joshua Wolak, Daniel DeHaan, Trevor Turndrup – The Stacy Awalt Writing Awards
Allie Peden – The Annette Sisson First Year Seminar Writing Award
Danica Mercer – The John Williams Heart of Belmont Award
Hanna Gentiles – The First Year Award, Leadership
Ashley Strosnider– The Second Year Award, Leadership
Matt Warnat – The Third Year Award, Leadership
McKinley Belcher – The Fourth Year Award, Leadership
Three retiring faculty members were also recognized Wednesday. Mary Etta Cook (Communication Studies), David Driskill (Physics) and John Arnn (Music) were all honored for their many years of service to Belmont.
College of Business Hosts Venture Capital Symposium
Dr. Mark T. Schenkel and Dr. John Gonas hosted a symposium for Belmont students and alumni on behalf of the College of Business Adminstration focusing on current trends in venture capital and private equity markets of Middle Tennessee. Over 100 attendees from Belmont University and the surrounding Nashville community gathered to hear about the alternatives available to business owners and financers of small businesses.
Three prominent representatives from local investment firms spoke on the panel: Linda Costello, managing director of investment banking of Avondale Partners; Stuart McWhorter, managing partner of Clayton Associates; and Gary Peat, partner of Council Ventures. Special topics discussed at the symposium included entrepreneurial, mezzanine and growth capital demand in addition to deal flow differences between industries such as investment banking, technology and health care.
Best of the Best Showcase 2006 to be held April 29
NASHVILLE, April 25, 2006 – The Belmont University Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business presents its annual Best of the Best Showcase on Saturday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Curb Event Center. This will be the largest student produced showcase in Belmont history and will feature some of the most talented up-and-coming artists in Nashville from a variety of genres including Pop/Rock, Christian/Gospel, Jazz, Bluegrass, Country, and Urban.
The performers are the winners from previous showcases that were held earlier this school year and include:
• Mikeschair – Winner of the Christian Music Showcase
• Rob Blackledge – Winner of the Pop/Rock Showcase
• Ryan Griffin – Winner of the Country Music Showcase
• Soul Force – Winner of the Other Showcase
• Alvin Love – Winner of the Urban Showcase
• Bobby Hamrick, Clark Richard, Ben Cooper, Troy Akers, and Zac Koffler – Winners of the Writer’s
Series Showcases
The evening is entirely produced and managed by students of The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont as they gain hands-on experience in lighting, live sound, event production, set design, publicity, artist management, stage direction, engineering and video production. The showcase is free of charge and open to the public. For more information contact Christy Baumiller at CEMBPressCorps@mail.belmont.edu or 615.460.6272.
USA Today Editor Speaks At Belmont
Ken Paulson, editor of USA Today, the nation’s largest daily general interest newspaper, spoke at Belmont University today, concluding the 2005-06 New Century Journalism Speaker Series. Paulson assumed the role of editor at USA today one month after Jack Kelley, a long-time, respected journalist at the newspaper, was fired for fabricating stories in 2004.
Paulson spoke about his career in journalism, the continued importance of newspapers in today’s ever-changing media and USA Today‘s committment to a strong code of ethics.
Prior to his role at USA Today, Pauslson worked in Nashville for seven years as the director of the First Amendment Center. For four years, he hosted the Emmy-nominated, nationally televised PBS program “Speaking Freely,” dedicated to free expression and the arts.
Cusic Receives Award; Publishes in Books
Belmont University Professor Don Cusic received the “Governing Board Award” from the American Culture Association (ACA) for his “contributions to American culture” at the recent combined conference of the Popular Culture Association (PCA) and ACA held in Atlanta.
During the conference, Cusic presented a paper, “Johnny Cash and C.S. Lewis,” which will be a chapter in the book Literary Cash: Writings Inspired by the Legendary Johnny Cash (BenBella Books) scheduled for a September publication.
Cusic has also written two chapters for American Icons: An Encyclopedia of the People, Places and Things That Have Shaped Our Culture, a three-volume set scheduled to be published by Greenwood Press in June and has written the 12,000-word entry on “Music” for the Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture, scheduled to be published by Greenwood Press at the end of the year.
