Rachel Pate, an English graduate student at Belmont, recently won first place in Tennessee Magazine’s monthly poetry contest for her poem, “Redbird.”
To see Pate’s work, click here.
Occupational and Physical Therapy Students Participate in Aquifit Program
Associate Professor in the School of Occupational Therapy Natalie Michaels started the Aquifit program seven years ago with students from Tennessee State University. The program provides aquatic exercise for older adults and promotes wellness, socialization and enjoyment. The program has demonstrated improved balance, weight loss and decreased pain in individuals with arthritis as the buoyancy in chest deep water provides assistive movement to antigravity muscles, as well as resistance to muscles that are gravity assisted on land.
Michaels is now including Belmont’s occupational and physical therapy students in the program. Students recently participated in the program at Del Webb Retirement Community and will do so again in April. The program is currently targeted to the older adult population, but the group plans to work with young adults with neuromuscular disabilities in the Metro Parks system next month and to eventually work with children with Down Syndrome.
Michaels said the community was impressed with the professionalism and intelligence of the Belmont students. “It’s been wonderful including students from two different disciplines in the activity. Having students from more than one perspective has made it a much more holistic experience both for the students and the participants,” she said. “There have also been community therapists from multiple disciplines assisting and a few faculty from other universities. I am extremely proud to work on this service activity with the OT and PT students from Belmont.”
Students who participated included occupational therapy students Alyssa Burlage, Amanda LaBonte, Jordyn Perry, Joseph Straatman, Jenae Stevens and Nicole Kmieciek and physical therapy students Brittany Ryan, Emmy Rice, Kelsey Marie Otten, Lindsey Schiller, Megan Rolfe and Shelly Witt.
Belmont Team Finishes First in CFA Institute Regional Challenge
The Massey College of Business recently had two teams compete in the regional round of the CFA Institute Research Challenge, an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. One of the Belmont teams finished first and will move on to the next round in Chicago in April. The students spent a total of more than 1,100 combined hours researching, writing and rehearsing the presentation just for the regional round. Led by Associate Professor of Finance Dr. Joe Smolira, the winning student team included Kurt Alexander, Jim Burnett, Kurt Lydic, Ben Maslyn and Kate Skolits.
Belmont Receives Tree Campus USA® Recognition by Arbor Day Foundation
Belmont University has once again been honored with the Tree Campus USA® recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
Tree Campus USA, created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation, is a national program that honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Belmont achieved the 2015 designation by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five standards, which include observing Arbor Day, maintaining a tree advisory committee and campus tree-care plan, dedicating annual expenditures for a campus tree program and hosting student service-learning projects.
“Students are eager to volunteer in their communities and become better stewards of the environment,” said Matt Harris, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Participating in Tree Campus USA sets a fine example for other colleges and universities, while helping to create a healthier planet for us all.”
Belmont is committed to its campus-wide sustainability efforts and has a number of green initiates that contribute to campus conservation including LEED certified buildings, educational and sustainable green roofs, geothermal heating and cooling systems and its Tennessee arboretum designation. Last year, Belmont launched its Conservation Covenant, an initiate aimed at engaging students, faculty and staff in the University’s sustainability efforts.
The Arbor Day Foundation has helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested more than $36.8 million in campus forest management last year.
Alumna Joins Cast of “Disaster!” Broadway
Alumna Maggie McDowell is currently performing with the cast of “Disaster,” in the production’s ensemble. “Disaster” is Broadway’s newest musical comedy that features 1970s disaster movies and hit tunes of the disco era.
McDowell graduated from Belmont with her BFA in musical theatre and has since been in many shows including “Kinky Boots” and “Disaster,” off-broadway. The cast was recently on “Today” to perform a selection from the musical.
Tri-Beta Volunteers at Adventure Science Center’s Engineering Day
Members of Belmont’s Beta Beta Beta (Tri-Beta) Biological Honor Society recently volunteered at Nashville’s Adventure Science Center’s 14th annual Engineering Day. The event included a number of hands-on opportunities for children to learn about the engineering design process from local engineers and explore exciting student STEM projects while gaining a better understanding of concepts used in the field.
Belmont’s Tri-Beta members helped with various stations to teach participants about engineering. Since many of the group’s members have completed advanced coursework in physics, they were able to apply skills they have learned in class.
One station involved building Lego-like cars and placing them on ramps. Another station invited participants to build planes with paper and straws–and then test their handiwork with flying contests!
For more information on Tri-Beta, click here.
Alumna Brandt to Speak at Tennessee Arts Commission’s Statewide Conference
Nicole Brandt, Belmont alumna and former Office of Service-Learning student worker, is the founder of Poverty and the Arts, a Nashville-based social enterprise nonprofit that creates opportunities for individuals experiencing and transitioning out of homelessness through creative outlets and community support.
Brandt and Poverty and the Arts Board Member Julina Clare Fernández were recently selected to present at “Collective Impact: Arts Administrators, Educators, and Artists as Change Agents,” the Tennessee Arts Commission’s statewide conference. According to her Facebook page, the duo will lead a 75-minute arts & community issues session titled “Transforming Homelessness through Creativity and Community.”
On Facebook Brandt said, “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share about the mission and vision of Poverty & the Arts with artists and arts administrators across Tennessee!”
Akers Releases Novel, First in New Series
Assistant Professor of Motion Pictures Dr. William M. Akers recently released his book Mrs. Ravenbach’s Way, the first in the The Amazing Escapades of Toby Wilcox series. The book tells the story of Toby, a new student at the McKegway School for Clever and Gifted Children, who gets stuck in the homeroom of Mrs. Ravenback, a tyrant who worships “the order and the discipline.”
While in school, Toby faces a much bigger challenge than Mrs. Ravenback–fight back or be ground to goo in the gears of Teutonic efficiency. In the end, Toby upends Mrs. Ravenbach’s perfectly ordered universe and risks everything to strike a blow for free-thinkers everywhere!
Akers is also the author of Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 Way to Make it Great and a WGA Lifetime Members with three feature films produced from his screenplays. He has written for studios, independent producers and major television networks.
For more information, click here.
Belmont Hosts The Power of Women Entrepreneurs Luncheon
Belmont hosted Legacy Maker’s “The Power of WE,” a women entrepreneurs luncheon, on March 2 and welcomed Sherry Deutschmann, founder and CEO of LetterLogic, to deliver the event’s keynote address. Focused on investing in their people, LetterLogic has become one of the most successful companies in their industry and has been on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for the past nine years.
With more than 100 people in attendance, Nashville Airport Authority President and CEO Rob Wigington offered greetings by describing the power of women in business and entrepreneurship, as well as what NAA is doing to embrace and celebrate diversity.
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry spoke about the progress Nashville has made in the business sector as it was recently named the No. 1 city in the U.S. for women entrepreneurs to live and be successful. Barry thanked attendees for their work in furthering the success of women in business in the Nashville area and for “being the faces of what little girls can be.”
Barry introduced Deutschmann who told the story of how she relocated to Nashville many years ago with her young daughter, beat-up Volkswagon Beetle, no job, dreams of a music career and less than $200 once her first rent check cleared. After a number of positions in sales, Deutschmann found herself in the printing business where she noticed a number of problems and decided to start her own company. “So I wrote a business plan,” Deutschmann said. “Turns out I had never even read one.”
With two filing cabinets, purchased from Goodwill, and an old door on top to form her first desk, Deutschmann launched LetterLogic in her home basement and went to work. Years later, she is the proud founder and CEO of an almost $40 million company that employs more than 50 people with an “unorthodox business philosophy” that puts the employee first–even before the customer.
LetterLogic, with Deutschmann at the helm, now has a new mission. “We prove to the world 
that you can take really good care of your employees and still have a really good bottom line,” Deutschmann said. For her team, this means free healthcare coverage, a percentage of net profits bimonthly, the freedom to bring children and pets to work and assistance in buying their first home.
Though she admits it sounds extreme, Deutschmann said she and her team believe the model can be replicated in other industries and will lead to success. She also believes it’s up to women to further these ideas. “It is our responsibility [as women] to lead the way in creating companies that are employee-centric,” Deutschmann said. “The only thing holding you back is you. Get out of your own way.”
Men Speak Up to Support Feminism, Celebrate Women’s History Month
Belmont University announced it Women’s History Month celebration with a number of campus-wide events. To kick-off the month, the university’s Women’s History Month Committee hosted “This is What a Feminist Looks Like: Men Feminists at Belmont University,” a panel of five male faculty and staff feminists that spoke to students.
Made up of Professor of English Dr. Doug Murray, Telecommunications Services Manager Gary Hunter, Director of the Center for International Business Dr. Jeff Overby, Associate Professor of Religion Dr. Andy Watts and Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Ken Spring, each panel member told the story of how they became a feminist and what identifying as a feminist means to them.
For Murray, progressive feminist ideas were first introduced by a colleague in college who challenged his comments and opinions by saying, “You think you’re thinking, but you’re not really thinking.” After that realization, Murray said it was his dealings and love for literature that further expanded his thinking and has resulted in the feminist he identifies as today.
As the father of two daughters, Overby said his feminist ideals began when he started questioning traditional gender roles as a child and then heard his wife’s experiences as a woman in corporate America. After his two daughters were born, Overby said it became even more important that feminist ideas were discussed at the dinner table. “You don’t define yourself by a man,” Overby said he tells his daughters. “I want [my daughters] to know that they can do anything they want to do.”
The panel engaged the audience in a question and answer session where topics including feminism in religion, society and specific disciplines were discussed. Overby ended the event by encouraging attendees to continue similar discussions with their peers, classmates and coworkers saying, “It’s dangerous to let things go unchallenged. When you hear something you don’t agree with, challenge it.”
Belmont’s Women History Month celebration will continue with a number of events that are open to campus and the community including:
- Keynote Address, Surviving the Silence: Dr. Charlotte Pierce-Baker at 10 a.m. at the Wedgewood Academic Center’s (WAC) 4th Floor Conference Room on March 16
- First Responders: A Pedagogy for Writing and Reading Trauma: Dr. Amy Hodges-Hamilton in WAC 1034 at 10 a.m. on March 21
- Invisible War Screening and Discussion: On March 29 in the Bunch Multimedia Hall from 6 – 8 p.m.
- Julius Caesar (All Female Cast): On March 31 at 7:30 p.m. in the Blackbox Theater
