“It taught me to dream big. I never thought I would be traveling the nation speaking on issues that mattered to me, and yet, it all happened,” Jeanette Morelan, senior social entrepreneurship and mass communications student at Belmont and recently crowned Miss Nashville, said of her experience with the Miss America organization.
Morelan was crowned Miss Nashville on Sunday, Nov. 8 during the pageant held at Stratford High School. As Miss Nashville, Morelan will represent the city through a number of appearances and events and will continue on to compete for Miss Tennessee in June 2016. The winner of Miss Tennessee will go on to compete for Miss America.
Since beginning her time with the organization in 2010 by representing the nation as Miss America’s Outstanding Teen and working with “The Power of One” platform, Morelan said she’s had her eyes set on future titles and the opportunities they allow. As Outstanding Teen, she raised over $200,000 for Children’s Miracle Network and was hooked on the experience. Since then, Morelan said everything she’s done – attending Belmont, serving as past student body president and traveling to South Africa as a Lumos Traveler – has contributed to the woman she’s become and further prepared her for taking the stage.
For Morelan, Miss America titles mean far more than the competition and a crown. “I really see this as a 365 day a year job. It’s all about investing in yourself. After the competition, it’s all about using the reputation of the Miss America organization to serve others. I already have many appearances lined up, and I can’t wait to get out there and get involved in my community,” Morelan said.
With her most recent title behind her, Morelan hopes to move forward by making an impact on the community she has come to love. A Wisconsin native, Morelan said she loves Nashville and wants to help with its growth and development. “I’m hoping that my year as Miss Nashville means making a real and tangible difference here. I am so proud of this city and what it stands for, and I want to help it continue to grow. I’m excited for every moment I’ll have where I realize the power that one person has to make a difference.”
Dr. David Tough, associate professor of audio engineering technology, recently won a GMA Covenant Award (Dove Award) for his production, mixing and engineering on the song “Rise Again”.
College of Entertainment and Music Business Professor Dr. Wesley Bulla recently presented the lead-off academic research paper in audio perception at the Audio Engineering Society’s 139th International Conference in New York.
Lecturer in the School of Music Dr. Virginia Lamothe’s paper titled “Social Mobility and the Wonderful Women of the Stage Music The Wizard of Oz (1902-1904)” has been chosen for the national meeting of the American Musicological Society. The paper focuses on historical aspects of the stage play, originally written by L. Frank Baum, and musical aspects that depict a vibrant portrait of the changing roles of women at the turn of the twentieth century. It also presents research with implications for the study of working women in the 1900s and the history of theater and Broadway musicals.
Home to the world’s first university-based Dolby Atmos stage, a film and TV mix stage, a green room screen and shooting stage, a Foley stage, four computer labs, video and broadcast control rooms and more than 25 editing suites, the Center provides opportunities for students to learn in state-of-the-art facilities.
Chris Barton, Assistant Professor of Biology, gave an invited lecture at Cumberland University on October 23. His lecture, “Cancer Progression and Treatment: A Tale of Evolution and Selection,” focused on the formation of human tumors and how natural selection and evolution drives the development of invasive and metastatic cancers.