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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Massey Graduate School of Business Ranked Among ‘Best 294 Business Schools’

Staff Writer
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Massey Graduate School of Business Ranked Among ‘Best 294 Business Schools’

The Princeton Review recently profiled The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business in its annual publication “The Best 294 Business Schools: 2017 Edition,” which is a guide to business schools across the globe aimed to help prospective graduate students make an informed decision. The list evaluates AACSB-accredited MBA programs world-wide and is based on The Princeton Review’s criteria for academic excellence as well as surveys that were taken of over 25,000 MBA students from each of the schools. Students were surveyed about their school’s student body and campus life, their career plans and their overall academic experience within their business school in a series of 80 questions. Administrators at the schools were also surveyed.

Among the feedback obtained from the survey, students praised the Massey program for its “focus on real world topics” and “hands-on learning style.” Students appreciated the education path being “flexible enough for a working student” while also being customizable to meet their areas of interest. The survey also reported high levels of satisfaction with the class sizes and the “community-oriented” student body.

Robert Franek, senior vice president and publisher for The Princeton Review, said, “The schools we selected for this guide all offer academically outstanding degrees: we recommend them highly. Their program offerings vary considerably, and we salute and highlight those distinctions in our profiles.”

To view The Princeton Review’s online profile of The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business, click here.

First Reviews of ‘Hamilton’ Chicago Production Praise Lee

Staff Writer
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First Reviews of ‘Hamilton’ Chicago Production Praise Lee

The first reviews of the Chicago production of “Hamilton” are popping up online—and Headshot of Chris Leethey have wonderful remarks to make about Belmont’s senior musical theatre major Christopher Lee. Lee was cast in the production earlier this year in a dual role of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson after submitting a video audition to the show’s production team. The show, which is the first off-Broadway production of the Lin-Manuel Miranda creation, officially opened on Oct. 19, and tickets are now on sale for shows scheduled through September 2017.

One of the first reviews of the production was published on Variety Magazine’s website and praised Lee for his expert-level acting among a cast full of experience. “According to his cast biography, Lee just completed his junior year of college, but the actor playing Lafayette and Jefferson looked perfectly at home on stage with veteran performers, and his bounding energy was infectious,” the article said.

The article continued on to mention Lee’s electric presence and outstanding personality. “Given how much broad, sly and subtle humor the entire cast found in almost every scene, it’s almost unfair to single out the comic timing of Lee and Alexander Gemignani, who plays King George, but it’s hard to believe anyone on stage was having more fun than those two.”

The Chicago production has received a lot of media recognition so far for living up to high expectations, and reviews posted by sites like Variety and Chicago Tribune make the case that the show is likely to stick around in the city for quite some time.

This article is a follow-up to a post published in July, which can be found here.

Image provided by MA2LA.

Islamic Center of Nashville President Addresses First-Year Honors Students

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Fakhruddin speaking at BelmontRashed Fakhruddin, president of the Islamic Center of Nashville, recently visited campus to speak to first-year students in Belmont’s Honors Program. Fakhruddin spoke in one of the classes that is required for students in their first semester titled “World Traditions of Faith and Reason,” which examines five major world religions and discusses issues of religious origins, sacred rituals and living faith communities. The class analyzes Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism and discusses the tenets and backgrounds of each.

One of the objectives within the class was to apply students’ knowledge of these world religions to this year’s common book in the Honors Program, which is read by all first-year students. The book, titled “The Submission” by Amy Waldman, is a work of fiction that follows an architecture competition for a 9/11 memorial in New York and involves a designer who is an American Muslim at a time when emotions and fear are running high.

Fakhruddin is well-known in Nashville for presenting on Islam to universities, schools and churches that aim to develop a better understanding of Muslims while fostering stronger relationships within Nashville’s faith community. He is a founding member of the American Muslim Advisory Council, which works to help build bridges between Muslims in Tennessee and law enforcement officials as well as other government agencies. As a result of his work in the community, Rashed has received many awards including Pencil Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year Award (2015), the Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee’s Good Guys Award (2015) and the Community Nashville Human Relations Award (2016). Fakhruddin also has a daughter who is attending Belmont as a sophomore psychology major.

Computer Science Hosts “Industry Office Hours”

Hope Buckner
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Students speak with industry professionals.Dr. Glenn Acree, professor of mathematics, invited local tech industry professionals to host “Industry Office Hours” at Belmont University on Wednesday, October 19.  Belmont students were able to interact with  senior leaders and developers from some of the top software companies in Middle TN (Eventbrite, Stratasan and Digital Reasoning). The event included with an introduction and general Q&A session for the students and a quick discussion about basic web application security.

The “Industry Office Hours” were also held last year and provide an opportunity for students to speak with industry professionals in a casual setting. The event also allowed students to sign up for a grab bag of free tech items.

Students ‘Walk for Freedom’ to End Modern-Day Slavery

Hope Buckner
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Students ‘Walk for Freedom’ to End Modern-Day Slavery

Belmont students joined a group of more than 70 people who spent the morning on Saturday, October 15 “walking for freedom” as part of Nashville’s first A21 global walk event. Beginning on the quad of Lipscomb University, Belmont students joined with members of the Nashville community and students from Lipscomb to walk in silence down Belmont Blvd, to the Bell Tower and back. The event ended with a testimony from a trafficking survivor and a celebration of the campaign’s progress.

The first of its kind in Nashville, the A21 Walk for Freedom is in its third year globally and exists to fight against and raise awareness for modern-day slavery and human trafficking. All participants wore black clothing and tape over their mouths to symbolize the silenced voices of those who have lost their freedom. 

Belmont’s International Justice Missions Chapter President Jacob Magnuson said the event provides opportunities for students to become educated on what is happening in their world. “Events like this are necessary to give a voice to the voiceless,” Magnuson said. “We are protected in our day to day lives from the reality of the world–events like this show us all what is going on outside our lives. We hope to empower hearts to care about this cause and breed a new generation of people that will end modern day slavery.” 

Magnuson went on to say that students, specifically, have the ability to get involved and create change in a powerful way. “Students have passion and energy like no one else,” he said. “They have less distractions and daily concerns, and at the same time, they have the maturity and connections to get things done. They can be changed and they can change. Their hearts can be moved and they can move others, which allows everyone to come together from all backgrounds for the same important cause. Together, we will end modern-day slavery.” 

Students who are interested in learning more about Belmont’s IJM chapter can visit the organization on Facebook, sign up for group emails or join the leadership team’s weekly prayer meetings every Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Inman 240. 

*Above photo provided by Anna Connoe*

Political Analyst Charlie Cook Offers Election Insights to Business Groups

April Hefner
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Political Analyst Charlie Cook Offers Election Insights to Business Groups

Belmont’s Edward C. Kennedy Center for Business Ethics and Executive Learning Network hosted renowned political analyst Charlie Cook on campus Wednesday, the day of the final presidential debate. Cook, who is publisher of the “Cook Political Report,” spoke on “Preparing for the Presidential Election and Change.” Engaging and humorous, Cook opened his remarks by saying, “I’m required by political analysts to say, ‘This is the strangest presidential election we’ve ever seen!'”

Cook went on to analyze the state of the race as of that morning, comparing and contrasting various polling category numbers for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump. As part of his presentation, he encouraged attendees to look at the averages of the polls for the most accurate picture, recognizing RealClearPolitics.com and Pollster.com as competent and balanced resources. “There is a natural human tendency to cherry pick, to only look at the polls that reflects our individual point of view.” However, he also commented on the strong unfavorable ratings of both candidates.

Cook attributes the strangeness of this particular election to a number of issues. First, after living in Washington, D.C. since the 1970s and being involved in politics in various roles throughout that tenure, he sees the two primary political parties changing dramatically, “becoming far more ideological than they used to be.” The current media and social media environment in the U.S., he believes, is increasing the divide by creating ideological silos that heighten the differences between the two sides.

Cook also pointed to economic anxiety and political anger as defining characteristics of this campaign season. “There is profound pessimism about where the country is that doesn’t necessarily match up with what the data says.”

According to his analysis, Cook thinks that the House will retain a Republican advantage, but that the Senate will come down to a photo finish in terms of which party opens its next session in the majority.

Respected Entrepreneur Shawn Glinter Joins Belmont as Entrepreneur in Residence

Staff Writer
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Headshot of Shawn GlinterWell-known Nashville entrepreneur Shawn Glinter recently joined Belmont’s Center for Entrepreneurship as the Entrepreneur in Residence for the 2016-17 academic year. Glinter will be guiding students in the Center for Entrepreneurship’s Accelerator Program who are starting and running their own businesses as well as any other students who want to discuss their business ideas.

Glinter’s extensive background in entrepreneurship includes co-founding the water technology company AquaFinesse, which has locations in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Glinter helped grow the company from $600K to $11 million in just the 3.5 years he was involved. He also co-founded the biotech startup Nanoferix and is currently the company’s CEO. Nanoferix is working to develop a drug delivery technology to deliver medical therapeutics via a nanosponge.

In recent years, Glinter has also served as an entrepreneurship mentor with the Nashville Center for Entrepreneurship, the JumpStart Foundry, the Co.Lab Accelerator Program, Launch TN and Life Science Mentor Program. He hopes to use his insight gained from previous business successes and shortcomings to help students build more stable startups.

Elizabeth Gortmaker, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, spoke of her excitement to have Glinter as a part of her resource team. “Shawn is a successful serial entrepreneur who has mentored over 1,000 companies. He is passionate about supporting student entrepreneurs and is a tremendous resource for our entrepreneurial programming,” said Gortmaker. “His experience and guidance provide an incredible opportunity for our students, and we are so excited to have him on campus to mentor our students this year.”

Glinter hopes the experiences he’s had during his extensive career can serve as a valuable resource to students. “I’ve been mentoring entrepreneurs of all ages for over a decade,and I find tremendous satisfaction in sharing my experiences with those who are just starting out to help them avoid some of the mistakes that I made early on,” Glinter said. “I enjoy providing students with experiential learning that lets them apply their knowledge to the real world so they can figure out what works and what doesn’t. Additionally, a lot goes on in college, and balancing the challenges that come with college life can be even harder when trying to operate your own business. Watching students hit their milestones and learn from every turn along the way is tremendously rewarding to me.”

For more information on Belmont’s Center for Entrepreneurship, click here.

Recent Grad’s Digital Marketing Company Takes Off in Nashville

Staff Writer
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Snell's headshotTwo days after graduating from Belmont in 2015 with a degree in music business, Garrison Snell began working full time on his next milestone –creating, growing and operating his own digital marketing company. Snell’s start-up, Gyrosity, is a full-service digital marketing, software development and artist management business based in Nashville that aims to connect artists and clients with the tools they need to promote themselves in front of a larger digital audience. According to the company’s website, “gaps exist between clients and their customers” and Gyrosity’s goal is to aid in bridging those gaps in a way that’s efficient for their clients.

“We’re trying to help creators and new business people who don’t have the funds or knowledge to take their businesses to the next level,” Snell said. “Usually this can be accomplished through digital marketing, developing a web app or maybe even developing a product.”

Among the services that Gyrosity offers are promotion initiatives such as email marketing, social media content creation, graphic design and digital advertising. Snell provides these services along with eight other team members located in Nashville and five other members who are abroad. Snell hopes to grow his Nashville team to 13 members by the end of the year.

One of Gyrosity’s featured projects, Crosshair Music, is a music distribution platform that sends artists’ tracks to popular streaming playlisters on Spotify in an effort to make the artists’ music stand out among Spotify’s library of 30 million other songs. Gyrosity was able to use this project to promote up-and-coming musician Mitchell Rose’s new single “Candy,” which resulted in the song being added to over 756,000 playlists total.

Gyrosity has been profitable since its first month and Snell hopes this trend will continue as the company moves forward. Snell’s goal is to continue delivering better and better results for clients and to make employees feel like they are becoming better people through their work. He advises entrepreneurs to set goals and standards as they establish a business that is satisfying. “Just because an organization tells you that there is a systematic way to ‘success,’ assumes a definition of success,” said Snell. “You need to define that for yourself first, and then figure out the path to it.”

For more information on Gyrosity and its services, visit the company’s website.

Theatre Student, Alumni and Adjunct Professor Praised in BroadwayWorld Reviews

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Online theatre news resource BroadwayWorld.com recently published two articles giving praise to a current student, two alumni and an adjunct professor in Belmont’s Theatre and Dance Department for their work in two separate shows.

One of the articles reviewed The Nashville Repertory Theatre’s current production of “Noises Off” at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), giving mention to the cast and crew that enabled the production to be a success. Among the names mentioned were those of theatre alumni Morgan Conder Davis and Kyle Odum as well as Belmont adjunct theatre professor Eric Pasto-Crosby. Davis was noted for her acting as the show’s character Brooke Ashton.

The article took Davis’s praise even further by calling her “Nashville theatre’s current ‘it’ girl.” Pasto-Crosby was recognized for his acting as the fictional play director within the show’s storyline, Lloyd Dallas. Odum, the production’s sound designer, was praised for his “impressive” work “[making] certain every line is heard.” The show will continue to run in downtown Nashville through November 5.

Headshot of theatre student Kyle Caress
Theatre student Kyle Caress

The second article profiled current theatre student Kyle Caress and includes an interview with him about his experiences at Belmont and as a collegiate actor. The article discusses Caress’s role in Belmont’s upcoming production of “Parade” by Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown as well as his participation in Studio Tenn’s recent production of “Evita” at TPAC, where he was an ensemble member.

To view Caress’s profile on BroadwayWorld, click here. The write-up on “Noises Off” can be found here.

Belmont Students Take the ‘Plunge,’ Spend Fall Break Serving

Hope Buckner
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Belmont Students Take the ‘Plunge,’ Spend Fall Break Serving

Instead of traveling the country or spending their fall breaks visiting family, 70 members of the Belmont community spent time serving in five locations across the U.S. as part of the University’s “Plunge” Fall Break program. Having the opportunity to serve vulnerable populations through serving meals in homeless shelters, tutoring local children, participating in construction projects and engaging in important dialogue surrounding relevant issues, the five groups were led by student volunteers and Belmont staff members.

In Cincinnati, one group worked with the city’s Urban Promise (CUP), an inner-city ministry that works with underserved populations. Getting a first-hand look at rising home prices and their impending economic impact, participants assisted CUP as it moved into a new facility better positioned to serve their clients. CityLights, an urban ministry in St. Louis, hosted a group who completed construction and renovation projects while spending time with local families who recently settled in the area.

The remaining groups traveled to Memphis, Birmingham and Atlanta where they worked with local Another group of students pose for a picture during their Plunge experience.ministries that host college groups for alternative break trips. In Memphis, student participants hosted a community fair and experienced the city’s history as they visited the Civil Rights Museum. At Birmingham’s Rush Center, a fourth group worked in an urban garden, painted homes for low-income families and worked at an after-school program. The final group spent time in Atlanta where they volunteered for a tutoring program and spent time at a homeless outreach center, among other things.

Student leader Sean Grossnickle traveled to Memphis for the first time and worked alongside Serve901, an organization committed to impacting communities all around the city. Centered around racial and educational injustice, Grossnickle said the trip ignited an interest in him to use the gifts and passions he’s been given to change lives. “This trip was a great way to open eyes and minds to how to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a city’s people,” Grossnickle said. “By the end of the trip, I felt like I knew Memphis and a part of the city will always stay with me.”

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