First day of classes welcomes more than 1,400 new freshmen to campus
Don’t call it a “small, liberal arts college” anymore. Today Belmont University announced a Fall 2014 enrollment of 7,301 students, putting the thriving University at more than double its enrollment from 2000 (2,976 students) and up 5.5 percent from last fall’s total of 6,915. Applications for undergraduate and graduate admissions for Fall 2014 also saw an increase of 12.5 percent and resulted in the University’s largest freshman class to date with 1,420 students.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “It’s both humbling and gratifying to see the number of students who want to come to Belmont to learn and discover their life purpose. These are individuals from all walks of life and many corners of the globe who aren’t thinking only of future careers but are embracing this University’s mission to engage and transform the world with their passions, skills and talents. I’m proud to welcome them to their new home and thankful they’ve chosen to be Belmont Bruins.”
In addition to incoming freshmen, Belmont also welcomed 508 new transfer students to campus this week, marking a total number of nearly 2,000 new undergraduates. The student body currently consists of 5,898 undergraduate students and 1,403 pursuing graduate/professional paths.
Associate Provost and Dean of Enrollment David Mee added, “We are very pleased with the fall 2014 admissions cycle. The entire University is involved in helping Belmont maintain the kind of momentum that has resulted in growing national recognition, enhanced experiences for our students and phenomenal growth during a period of stagnant enrollment across much of higher education nationally. Belmont is a unique story – one highlighted by a daily commitment to living out our mission and values. And by doing so, students continue to be attracted to Belmont and Nashville from all 50 states and many countries, and in record numbers. Nearly 2,000 new undergraduates alone just arrived at Belmont, and that is wonderful news for both the University and Nashville.”
Following a thankful message from Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and a charge to find their purposes through service from Belmont President Bob Fisher, students in Belmont’s Class of 2018 along with transfers students volunteered throughout Nashville through the University’s annual SERVE Project on Monday afternoon.
Belmont alumna and country music newcomer 
Twenty Belmont students and three faculty spent the first summer session traveling and studying in China from June 11 to July 2. During their stay in the city of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, students enjoyed a homestay with faculty members from Zhengzhou University’s School of Foreign Languages and their families. Zhengzhou University is the largest university in Henan Province with over 50,000 students, and it is one of Belmont’s partner institutions in China. Belmont’s Dr. Qingjun Joan Li, assistant professor of Chinese language and Asian studies, set up the home stays, coordinating with Professor Victor Wang Shengli, dean of the School of Foreign Languages. Wang will teach at Belmont this Fall Semester as a Visiting Scholar. Belmont students were assigned in pairs, two persons to each Chinese family. They enjoyed a wide variety of activities while staying with their Chinese families including making Chinese dumplings called jiaozi, boating on the Yellow River, joining their little Chinese siblings in birthday parties, learning calligraphy from their Chinese parents, teaming up with their Chinese families to sing Chinese and American songs in karoke, fan dancing and doing taiji quan with their families in the park in the evening as well as visiting with Chinese senior citizens who had never met any Westerners.
After 27 months of construction, Belmont University administrators, trustees and student representatives officially cut the ribbon today to signify the grand opening of the Wedgewood Academic Center, a 186,000 square foot structure plus 159,500 square feet for parking located on the corner of Wedgewood and 15th Avenues. From the five-level underground garage fit to hold 430 vehicles to the Fifth Floor Conference Room offering a perfect bird’s eye view of Nashville’s skyline, the building stands as a new cornerstone for the University that seeks to serve both its growing student body and its dynamic hometown.
“The Wedgewood Academic Center provides a perfect visual testimony of just what a unique and challenging education Belmont offers,” said Dr. Fisher. “Where else can science, liberal arts and religion students and faculty interact so easily? I believe the building itself will quickly become a Nashville icon—it is spectacular.”
Today Belmont University unveiled its new campus Chapel, the first space on the ecumenical Christian university’s campus intentionally designed for worship services. Located on the ground floor of the new Wedgewood Academic Center at the corner of 15th and Wedgewood Avenues, the Chapel sits as a focal point within a larger structure that will house three of the University’s Colleges: Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, Sciences & Mathematics and Theology & Christian Ministry. The Chapel will host services three times a week during the fall and spring semesters, as well as special services of worship throughout the year. 
On Aug. 7, Motion Pictures Chairman and Assistant Professor Will Akers presented a paper at the University Film & Video Association annual conference at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. On the panel “Narrative Trends in 2014: Enhanced Content, Expendable Characters, Anime Undertones, Creative License,” Akers spoke on his paper topic “Turning Real Life into Drama: The Joys and Pitfalls of Discovering a Story in the Past.”
The New York Times cited Belmont Honors Professor Joseph Byrne in an article published Tuesday about a government quarantine of cities in Liberia and Sierra Leone to stop the spread of Ebola. Their method, “cordon sanitaire,” keeps people from entering or exiting the infected area and was common during the Black Death. Byrne is a historian who teaches the medieval and early modern sections of the Honors interdisciplinary humanities curriculum and in the article discussed a voluntary cordon in Eyam, England in 1665. 
Dr. Pat Sells, associate professor of physical therapy, lent his expertise to a recent story posted in 
Drs. Carolyn Treybig, Joel Treybig and Gregg Bunn performed by invitation at the 2014 National Flute Association Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The concert, which took place on Aug. 9, centered upon a variety of music for flute, trumpet and organ and featured baroque pieces by William Corbett and Maurizio Cazzati, virtuoso salon works by Ernesto Köhler and Rudolph Speil and modern works by Ellen Given, William Presser and Anthony Plog. Plog’s piece was written specifically for the group and premiered by Carolyn Treybig, Joel Treybig and Andrew Risinger in Nashville in 2010 with the composer attending.