Tennessee Baptist Convention – Special Called Meeting
Statement – May 9, 2006
We are disappointed that the messengers did not approve the recommendation brought to them by the Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. We look forward to meeting with representatives of the TBC to continue our dialogue and reach an agreeable solution that honors our mutual Christian missions. Neither state law nor Belmont’s governing documents support the Convention’s vote to remove the Trustees. We feel that the involvement of our supporters from other Christian denominations will strengthen our mission and take us to the next chapter in our service. We will continue to be a student-focused, Christian community of learning and service with a rich Baptist heritage that we intend to foster and nurture. That is our promise and our covenant.
Marty Dickens
Chairman, Board of Trustees
TBC Convention – Belmont Statement
Belmont Journalism Student Published in The Tennessean
Belmont journalism student, Chansin Bird, wrote an article that appeared in The Tennessean about a team of Belmont students and other Middle Tennesseans who traveled to Honduras for a mission trip to do humanitarian work on behalf of the KidSAKE Foundation. The article can be read online here.
Philosophy Students Published in Journal
Belmont philosophy students Joshua Wolak and Stephen Strother will have papers published in The Reed, an Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Journal of Existentialism at St. Olaf’s College.
Wolak, a graduating senior wrote a paper entitled “The (Bad) Faith of Martin Buber’s I and Thou.” Strother, a rising junior, will publish “Buber and Antonioni Connection and Alientation in L’aventura and L’eclisse.”
Tennessee state senate honors Belmont Bruins
The Senate of the One Hundred Fourth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee honored the Belmont University Bruins Men’s Basketball team for their outstanding 2005-2006 season today. The team members and coaches, along with Athletic Director Mike Strickland and Belmont President Robert Fisher, were invited to the Senate floor as Senator Douglas Henry presented a resolution to recognize them on their completion of an extraordinary season. The resolution passed by a unanimous vote, and the Bruins received a standing ovation.
The resolution commended Belmont for defeating archrival Lipscomb University to win the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, thus becoming the first Bruin program in school history to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins received a 15th seed and dominated most of the first half of their game against UCLA. They also honored Coach Rick Byrd, who marked his 20th season with the Bruins this year and has a record of 493 wins against only 284 losses.
The team was further recognized for their successes off the court. The Bruins boast a cumulative team grade point average of 3.164, and 12 team members are on the academic All-Conference team, including Justin Hare, who was named to the 2006 Academic All-District Men’s Basketball team with a 3.81 GPA. These players represent the overall high standards of Belmont University, which has won the Atlantic Sun Conference’s All-Academic Trophy for four consecutive years. The players were also commended for giving their time and talents to the community, working with church ministries and traveling on mission trips to Brazil, the Ukraine and Venezuela.
- A 14 minute video of the event is available for download in Windows Media and Quicktime formats:
- Windows Media Video – 54Mb
- Quicktime Movie – 55Mb
Belmont Honors Student-Athletes
Belmont University recognized its student athletes Monday at the 2005-06 Belmont Scholar-Athlete Recognition Reception Awards. Presentations were made for team and individual awards for academic achievement and character.
Following is a complete list of this year’s recipients:
SAAC Inspiration Awards:
Faculty: Dr. Pete Giordano
Staff: Michael Moore
David Fish Award:
Brenna Lacey
Academic Achievement Awards (highest GPA per team):
Baseball: Matt Warnat
Men’s Basketball: Michael Modlin
Women’s Basketball: Jenny Conkle
Cheerleading: Andrea Robertson
Men’s Cross Country: Brad Polley
Women’s Cross Country: Lauren Williams
Dance Team: Jennifer Farmer
Men’s Golf: Jarryd Foreman
Women’s Golf: Kate Austin
Men’s Soccer: Channing Twyner
Women’s Soccer: Kari Lennon
Softball: Stacey Apple
Men’s Tennis: Alex Gillott
Women’s Tennis: Elizabeth Conyer
Men’s Track & Field: Stephen Register
Women’s Track & Field: Lauren Williams
Volleyball: Lindsay Cleveland
Graduating Senior Academic Achievement Awards:
Chris Marlow
Brandon Paetznick
Lindsay Cleveland
Director of Athletics’ Character Award:
John Baldwin
Lindsay Honea
President’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year:
Felipe Lima
Lindsay Cleveland
The Tennessean Covers Vigil for Darfur Held at Belmont
The Tennessean recently reported on a vigil held at Belmont University on Sunday to commemorate those who have died in the Darfur region of Sudan. Belmont history professor and co-founder of Tennesseans Against Genocide, Daniel Schafer, was interviewed in the story.
Littlejohn Honored as Outstanding Volunteer
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.
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.
