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

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Belmont’s Curb Event Center to Host ‘World Cup of Tennis’

April Hefner
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Belmont’s Curb Event Center to Host ‘World Cup of Tennis’

Tickets go on sale Feb. 23 for three-day international Davis Cup quarterfinal competition in April

The USTA today announced that Belmont University has been selected as the host site for the 2018 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Quarterfinal between the United States and Belgium, April 6-8.  The matchup between the U.S. and Belgium will be played at the Curb Event Center.

“The Davis Cup is to tennis what the World Cup is to Soccer—it’s the biggest world-wide team competition in the sport,” said Belmont University President Dr. Bob Fisher. “To be able to host this event at Belmont University and in Nashville is an opportunity to put our university and our city on the world stage. This quarterfinal event with Belgium, the No. 2 seed, will be one of the highlights of the tennis year. We can’t wait to show Belmont’s and Nashville’s hospitality to the world.”

American John Isner returns the ball in Davis Cup First Round play, USA vs. Serbia. 02.02.2018 foto: Srdjan Stevanovic/Starsportphoto ©
American John Isner returns the ball in Davis Cup First Round play, USA vs. Serbia. 02.02.2018
foto: Srdjan Stevanovic/Starsportphoto ©

Davis Cup will come to Nashville for the first time in 40 years, with a U.S. versus South Africa tie held in the city in 1978. Founded in 1900, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in sport with approximately 135 nations competing each year.

The best-of-five match series between the U.S. and Belgium begins on Friday, April 6, with two singles matches featuring each country’s No. 1 player against the other country’s No. 2 player. Saturday’s schedule features the pivotal doubles match. And the final day of play on Sunday features the two “reverse singles” matches, when the No. 1 players square off, followed by the No. 2 players meeting each other in the final match. All matches are best-of-five tiebreak sets; the first country to win three matches wins the tie.  A revised schedule for Sunday may take place if a team clinches in the third or fourth match.

“The USTA is excited to bring the next U.S. Davis Cup tie to Nashville, a city with a strong passion for the sport, a region that has a vibrant tennis community, and an area with an incredibly diverse fan base,” said Katrina Adams, chairman of the board and president, USTA. “We are lucky enough to have a host site in Belmont University that has been home to numerous high-profile events and will truly embrace the international spectacle that is Davis Cup tennis.”

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Feb. 23, at 10 a.m. Three-day ticket packages for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be sold at prices ranging from $240 to $750 ($80 to $250 per day), representing the greatest initial ticket value. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.usta.com/daviscup.

USA Davis Cup Team for the first round versus Serbia included (l-r) Coach Jim Courier, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson.
foto: Srdjan Stevanovic/Starsportphoto ©

USTA members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance through a special USTA member-only presale beginning Tuesday, Feb, 20, and running through Thursday, Feb. 22 (or while supplies last).

Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp remarked, “The Davis Cup event gives us an opportunity to showcase Belmont and Nashville to a new audience. We are honored to have been selected and will do our best to deliver a first class experience to the players and fans, while we further enhance our event resume.”

The U.S. comes to Nashville after defeating Serbia in the World Group First Round earlier this month, 3-1, in Nis, Serbia. The winner of this tie advances to the World Group Semifinal, Sept. 14-16.

U.S. Davis Cup Team Captain Jim Courier will select the team to represent the United States no later than ten days prior to the event.

The site selection is subject to final approval by the International Tennis Federation.

Tennis Channel will present live daily coverage of the World Group Quarterfinal.

The U.S. leads all nations with 32 Davis Cup titles. Overall, Team USA holds a 218-71 all-time Davis Cup record and owns the longest uninterrupted run in the World Group, dating back to 1989. For more information, including access to player and historical Davis Cup records, please go to www.usta.com/daviscup or www.daviscup.com.

About USTA
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level — from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking seven summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, go to USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

Schoenfeld Published in Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

Hope Buckner
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Schoenfeld Published in Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

Dr. Timothy Schoenfeld at BelmontDr. Tim Schoenfeld, assistant professor of psychology, recently had an article published in Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, the official journal of the International Neuroendocrine Federation. The article, titled “Behavioral and structural adaptations to stress,” can be found here.

Schoenfeld said, “In the review, we talk about how stressful experiences affect both behavior and the structure and plasticity of the brain. Although we normally consider the effects of stress to be ‘negative,’ these changes in behavior and brain are adaptive for the organism. What we talk about then is how adult-born neurons in the hippocampus might mediate these adaptive changes, and without them both, behavior and the brain might be less adaptable to the environment.”

Mayor Barry Signs Executive Order on Belmont’s Campus Recognizing Trees as Public Utility

Hope Buckner
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Mayor Barry Signs Executive Order on Belmont’s Campus Recognizing Trees as Public Utility

Mayor Megan Barry signed Executive Order No. 40 on Urban Forestry today on Belmont’s campus — an order that recognizes trees as a public utility, establishes new guidelines to govern Metro’s planning and maintenance of trees and appoints a new Urban Forestry Program Manager to lead and coordinate all Metro tree-related activities.

Many key Metro individuals were in attendance at the event including District Councilmember Burkley Allen, Metro’s new Urban Forestry Program Manager Naomi Rotramel and appointed members of both Mayor Barry’s Livable Nashville Committee and the Metro Tree Advisory Committee.

“Think about all the good those trees will do for future generations,” Mayor Barry said. “Belmont University knows what we’re talking about. Again, thank you to President Fisher and Belmont for doing right by our trees. That’s the kind of approach we need to see more and more of throughout our great city. Belmont is a wonderful example, and Metro plans to be another one.”

The event occurred just outside The Belmont Store, the University’s newly opened campus store, as Belmont went to great lengths to both protect and enhance the survival of a 60-70′ historic elm tree on its property. It is the University’s policy to work to preserve existing trees during any construction-related activities on campus.

The Livable Nashville sustainability plan has set an umbrella goal of 50 percent countrywide tree-canopy coverage by the year 2050, an approximate addition of 300,000 net new trees planted by 2030, or 500,000 net new trees by 2050. This executive order seeks to help Nashville achieve its long-term sustainability goals: protecting air and water quality, improving public health, and saving public dollars on heavy infrastructure to mitigate stormwater impacts.

Updegraff Presents ‘Coral Bleaching and the Great Barrier Reef’

Staff Writer
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Updegraff Presents ‘Coral Bleaching and the Great Barrier Reef’

sarah updegraffOn the heels of their success with high school and community outreach, the College of Sciences and Mathematics (CSM) also routinely hosts speakers and events to benefit Belmont students, faculty, staff and the community. This week, Sarah Updegraff, an Environmental Science alumna (’11), visited campus and gave a presentation on “Coral Bleaching and the Great Barrier Reef.”  Updegraff was in Australia working with an ecotourism company during a coral bleaching event in 2016.

In her presentation, Updegraff talked about coral biology, the impact of global climate change on coral reefs and causes of bleaching. Since graduating, Updegraff has worked and traveled in New Zealand, Australia and Southeast Asia.  She is currently back in the United States, preparing for a graduate program in holistic health care.

English Faculty Featured in New American Colleges and Universities Newsletter

Staff Writer
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English Faculty Featured in New American Colleges and Universities Newsletter

English faculty members Drs. Marcia McDonald, Joel Overall and Jayme Yeo were recently featured in the New American Colleges & Universities Newsletter for their creation of “Shakespeare in Nashville,” an online archive of local productions of Shakespearean plays. Students in McDonald’s Shakespeare class collect interviews, photos and videos from local performances, while students in Overall’s class use the data to build the website.

The website is hosted by Belmont’s Bunch Library and was made possible by a grant from the Folger Shakespeare Library in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities. See the full article here. 

Belmont University Acquires O’More College of Design, Move to Nashville Effective Fall 2018

April Hefner
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Belmont University Acquires O’More College of Design, Move to Nashville Effective Fall 2018

Union promises world-class design education in thriving Nashville market

 In a timely move that enhances Belmont University’s academic and professional offerings in design while extending the strong legacy and reach of O’More College of Design, the two institutions announced today that they are combining efforts to serve the next generation of designers. The governing boards for both Belmont and O’More have agreed that Belmont will acquire O’More College of Design and all of its assets and then move O’More’s programs in fashion, interior and graphic design as well as fashion merchandising to Belmont’s campus. The new O’More School of Design at Belmont University will open its doors this fall in Nashville.

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “This is an incredibly exciting moment in Belmont’s history as we join forces with O’More to cultivate world-class design in all its forms. The possibilities for interdisciplinary collaborations are endless as O’More’s programs inspire natural partnerships with countless academic areas in which Belmont’s a proven leader. In addition, Nashville is already positioned as a rising star in the fashion world, and the O’More School of Design at Belmont will elevate that status as we anticipate our programs will quickly make a significant impact on our city and the design industry at large.”

The news is all the more fitting as O’More’s roots lie with a Belmont alumna. O’More College of Design was founded in 1970 by Eloise Pitts O’More, a Ward-Belmont graduate who also trained in Paris and New York for interior design. Her goal was to establish a school that would foster and preserve her passion for design and design principles. With an aim to provide a student-centered environment that cultivates the power of design to transform, O’More has been recognized by Fashion-Schools.org as one of the top 10 fashion programs in the South and the only Tennessee program that is nationally ranked.

“This is a monumental day for O’More as we join Belmont University,” said Shari Fox, president of O’More College of Design. “Belmont’s creative spirit and impressive growth have captured the attention of our nation, and we are delighted to now be part of that energy. O’More students will be able to explore new opportunities and take advantage of resources that will further propel their design education and training. Mrs. O’More would be so proud to know that her legacy has come full circle, and I cannot wait to see what our students achieve as part of this wonderful university.”

Beyond the immediate benefits to Belmont and O’More, this announcement heralds even more growth for the already booming fashion and real estate industries in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. An April 2017 article in the Business of Fashion noted “…the city of Nashville is betting that fashion can become not only a major driver of culture in the region, but also a significant driver of employment and industry.”

According to a 2017 comprehensive economic impact study released by the Nashville Fashion Alliance, Nashville is in a perfect position to benefit from design education with a rapidly growing career pipeline:

  • Fashion businesses in Nashville contribute $5.9 billion and 16,200 jobs to the area’s economy.
  • The report suggests those numbers could reach $9.5 billion and 25,000 jobs by 2025.
  • Nashville now boasts the largest per capita concentration of fashion companies in the nation outside of Los Angeles and New York (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Beyond the new programs in fashion design and merchandising, Belmont will also expand its Design Communications program with the influx of O’More graphic designers, and the University will embark for the first time into interior design. With an excellent reputation in the industry, O’More has long boasted a strong placement rate of graduates working within their field locally, regionally and nationally:

  • O’More offers the only BFA Interior Design program in Middle Tennessee to be fully accredited by the international Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).
  • O’More’s Interior Design department boasts nine winner of the Angelo Donghia Foundation Scholarship, the nation’s most prestigious interior design scholarship.
  • As consumers’ expectations increase for homes and offices that are environmentally friendly and more easily accessible, Belmont programs in areas like health and environmental sciences will offer timely collaborations.

The creative climates fostered at both schools, along with kindred missions focused on transformative and service-minded education, translates to a powerful pairing. In addition to the financial stability, resources and expanded reach Belmont offers, the union provides O’More students with an array of opportunities not currently available, including campus housing, study abroad possibilities, dedicated career development staff and increased options for general education courses.

Students at both institutions will benefit from immense cross-discipline collaborations as fashion designers work with musicians on stage outfits or interior designers meet with the theatre department to discuss set scenery. Other programs at Belmont—like law, entrepreneurship, marketing, health sciences and many more—will all quickly discover mutually helpful connections with students in O’More’s programs.

The O’More School of Design at Belmont University will be housed within the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Belmont Students Reveal $146K Fundraising Total for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on National Television Segment

Hope Buckner
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Belmont Students Reveal $146K Fundraising Total for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on National Television Segment

Students from Belmont University’s Up ’til Dawn student organization could be seen all across the country on Saturday morning as they revealed their 2018 fundraising total for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on national television. The highly anticipated total, $146,180.78 — the highest since the student organization was founded on campus in 2015, was revealed live on Fox and Friends at 6:50 a.m. by the Up ’til Dawn Executive Board, led by Executive Director and Belmont senior Joe LaMartina.

More than 300 students were awake all night, celebrating their successful year in the Beaman Student Life Center with games, inflatables, a pizza party, dancing, sports, Zumba classes, special challenges and more. Students must create teams and raise at least $100 each to participate in the night’s festivities where they stay up in solidarity with patients and their parents who are awake all hours of the night during the height of their treatment at St. Jude.

This year, the group’s final total was more than $25,000 higher than their original goal, a feat LaMartina said he always dreamed of and was secretly hoping for. “Knowing the heart of Belmont students, I knew we could blow right past our goal of $120,000 and raise more than we ever thought possible,” he said. “These students are amazing, and it has been such an honor to serve as Executive Director of this year’s event.”

LaMartina prepares for his interview on Fox and Friends

LaMartina, the focus of the national coverage, has a very personal connection to St. Jude and their work to cure childhood cancer. His 4-year-old little sister Lily was diagnosed with Precursor B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in the summer of 2016, and though she’s now in remission and doing well, her treatment protocol will continue for another year and a half. Lily hasn’t been treated at St. Jude, as she doesn’t live in Tennessee, but LaMartina credits much of her health to the hospital’s willingness to share their research with other facilities across the country.

“I work so hard for Up ’til Dawn, simply, because I want to end childhood cancer,” LaMartina said. “I want no other child to have to go through what Lily has gone through. A child should be fighting for their dreams, not fighting for their life.”

Money has continued to pour in since the students unveiled the total on Fox and Friends and now, the running total has reached $148,170.56.

To watch the clip in its entirety, click here. To learn more about St. Jude and the Up ’til Dawn program, click here.

 

McLaren Kicks Off Faith and Culture Symposium, Discusses Love in Christianity

Staff Writer
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McLaren Kicks Off Faith and Culture Symposium, Discusses Love in Christianity

Brian McLaren, author and activist, kicked off the Fifth Annual Symposium on Faith and Culture with Monday’s chapel presentation, “Seeing God in the Stranger: The Ethical Summons of Jesus.” As David Dark, professor of religion and chair of the symposium’s faculty committee, said, “Christianity is a movement and a practice, a way of being in the world,” and McLaren advocated for “a new kind of Christianity” that is just, generous and works with all peoples of faith for the common good.

He opened his discussion with a poem by Mary Oliver called “Making the House Ready for the Lord,” drawing comparisons to people’s need to distinguish themselves from ‘others.’ He said, “We develop a sense of who we are by depositing a sense of…privilege… over who others are.” But, Mclaren asserts, everyone is a brother and sister under God, and to be a Christian means that there is no ‘other.’

“When you’re inside Christ looking out at the world, that boundary marker [between yourself and others] counts for nothing. The only things that count are faith and love.” He described the demonstration of love as the “deepest non-negotiable” in Christianity.

As an example of this demonstration, he told this story:

In the early 1980’s, McLaren was working as an English teacher, and his office hours were interrupted by a call from World Relief one day. He agreed to invite a refugee family to live in his home, a visit that ended up lasting nine months and changing his life. His family then continued to take in several refugee families over the next few years, as his circle of friends from church also began to do. He noted that the people he took in were all different from him, in culture, appearance and faith, but when he got to know them, “they stopped being the ‘other,’ they became part of our family.”

A member in the audience noted during the Q&A afterward that living in love sometimes needs to be reconciled with the fact that wrongdoings have consequences. McLaren told a story of a man he took in once, whom he eventually asked to leave. He described it as a “painful decision, but it related to the fact that I loved him, and he needed help that I couldn’t give him.” He said, “There are decisions we make in the context of love…and you hope that you’ve done what you can.”

As for wrongdoings in the church, McLaren noted that “there are so many beautiful examples of individuals in congregations doing right… though sometimes it’s only the negative ones that get press.” But he also noted that people typically can’t always suppress negative feelings in favor of loving ones, and they shouldn’t. He said, “We are biologically wired for anger… What pain is the physical body, anger is to our soul.” He argued that anger is a manifestation of our own feelings, not consequences of others’ actions. “Anger is a normal, healthy and important reaction,” but must be dealt with accordingly, because a person’s response to their own anger can become the problem.

Songwriters RoundThis event was the first of several in the symposium, which discussed topics such as Jesus and ethics, faith and race, religion’s place in the world and overcoming faith obstacles. In addition, McLaren and Dark moderated a songwriter’s in-the-round event that featured alumni Andy Gullarhorn and Jill Phillips, along with Sarah Masen and Sam Ashworth.

This year’s theme, Prophetic Consciousness, worked to sustain an ongoing conversation relating to faith and culture. It also raised questions about what a contemplative presence in the world looks like and how individuals can make a difference with compassion in places of need.

Athletics Gives Students Broadcasting Experience, Strengthens Video Streams

Staff Writer
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Athletics Gives Students Broadcasting Experience, Strengthens Video Streams

“Do everything that is asked of you to the best of your ability and seize every opportunity.”

Madison Blevins interviews Evan Bradds

This was alumna Madison Blevins’ advice to current Belmont students. A sports broadcasting major and women’s basketball player, Blevins (’17) was a busy student. On top of her academics, her extracurriculars and her responsibilities as a student-athlete, Blevins interned as a sideline reporter for Belmont Athletics. The internship gave her the experience she needed to be successful as a sports broadcaster, and, now that she has graduated, she still stays busy as a freelance sports broadcaster for several platforms around Nashville and Tennessee more broadly, including as a live content correspondent for the NFL. She also recently called a Lady Vols Basketball game with Bob Kesling on the SEC Network online, which she said was a “big bucket-list moment.”  She is also the promotions coordinator for 104-5 The Zone, Nashville’s top-ranked sports talk radio station. She said, “I am loving what I am doing. It has been fun to be on all sides of the sports media industry since graduating – from local TV to the national level with the NFL.”

Hayley Lewis interviews Betty Wiseman.

And Blevins isn’t alone. Since the internship’s inception, Belmont Athletics has graduated interns each year who have found success in sports broadcasting, including Hayley Lewis (’16), who currently works for ABC Sports as a sports anchor/reporter and recently got to cover the Oregon Ducks in the Las Vegas Bowl. Like Blevins, Lewis credits her time at Belmont for her current career success. “Belmont is the entire reason I am where I am today,” said the Massey College of Business graduate. It’s “crazy to look back at my path and see how I got here today, but it all started with the culture and opportunities at Belmont… I would choose Belmont over and over again.”

Despite being the springboard for these and many other students’ careers, the Belmont Athletics broadcasting internship is fairly new. According to Greg Sage, the assistant athletic director for broadcasting & media relations, “The genesis of this [program] was me trying to find ways to elevate the production quality of our OVC Digital Network video streams. We had a number of talented students with on-air aspirations who were looking to gain experience in live television production and strengthen their resume reels,” so the department created that opportunity for them.

“My education from the classroom put me ahead in the workforce right away,” said Lewis. “But my co-curricular activities helped me with experience and leadership skills. Belmont provides so many learning roles and leadership opportunities with real-life responsibilities.”

Blevins agreed, saying “I was challenged in the classroom and on the court [which] led me to be a stronger woman… My professors and people in the athletics department at Belmont are some of my biggest mentors and I have them to thank for so much of what I have accomplished and what I will accomplish down the road.”

Other alums finding success in this field include 2016 journalism grad and former women’s soccer player Emily Proud, who is now a sports anchor/reporter for WATE-TV Knoxville, and Grace Chapin, a morning news reporter with KHQ in Spokane, Washington who received a bachelor’s in video production and a master’s in sports administration from Belmont in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Unsurprisingly, the program has gained attention across the campus and is continuing to grow. Currently, Belmont Athletics has added several more students to its broadcasting line up, including Belmont women’s basketball player Paris Lawson, Belmont Vision sports editor Shelby Vandenbergh and even Lindsey Nance, a student at Lipscomb University.

Belmont Partners with The Bridge Builder Program, Hosts Mentoring and Networking Dinner

Staff Writer
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Belmont Partners with The Bridge Builder Program, Hosts Mentoring and Networking Dinner

Bridges to Belmont recently partnered with a local non-profit, The Bridge Builder program, to host a networking/mentoring dinner for men from Tennessee State University (TSU) and Belmont. The “Men About Business: Mentoring and Networking Dinner,” was co-sponsored with Belmont University’s Bridges to Belmont Program and Office of Multicultural Learning & Experience. Dr. Thurman Webb, speaking and pointing his hand at the crowdThe event brought together young, diverse, collegiate men from Belmont’s Bridges to Belmont program and Tennessee State University’s Rho Psi chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. More than 20 young men were afforded the opportunity to meet and network with one another and engage with local professionals, entrepreneurs, educators and leaders from Nashville. The event introduced these young men to professionals who work in their desired career fields and potentially connect them with shadowing opportunities, internships, practicums and eventually full-time employment.

Additionally, all attendees were afforded to opportunity to hear Dr. Thurman Webb’s presentation on “Mentoring: A Model for Success.” Webb, assistant professor of psychology at TSU, has completed extensive research on mentoring and life coaching. Bridges to Belmont, the Office of Multicultural Learning and Experience and the Bridge Builder Program are committed to providing opportunities that will facilitate their transition from young collegiate men to young professional men.

The Bridges to Belmont program was launched in 2013 as a full scholarship program designed to enroll high-potential students from Metro Nashville Public Schools who may not have previously been able to consider Belmont as an option. This program focuses on creating an environment that dedicated to academic achievement, community service and personal development to empower students’ personal passion to have an impact on the world through their education.

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