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

Home Blog Page 580

Belmont Hosts 2012 Middle Tennessee Regional Spelling Bee

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

The Middle Tennessee 2012 Regional Spelling Bee was held on the campus of Belmont University in the Trout Theatre on March 2. Middle school students from across Middle Tennessee competed in the single-elimination competition sponsored by Belmont’s New Centry Journalism Program and the law offices of Baker Donelson.

The competition featured 36 students, each either the winners or runners-up from county spelling bees, representing 27 Middle Tennessee schools.

Grace Park of Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet School won the spelling bee after spelling “jimberjawed,” a projecting lower jaw. Park advances to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in late May. She also earned a $50 savings bond, a Webster’s dictionary and trophies for her school and herself.

Journalism faculty Dorren Robinson and Sybril Bennett as well as English instructor Sue Trout were judges. Public relations assistant professor Kevin Trowbridge served as pronouncer.

Speech and Debate Team Clinch State Championship, Receive Honors

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

The Belmont University Speech and Debate team was crowned the state champion team at the Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA) state tournament, held Feb. 18-19 at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn. Overall, the team won first place in individual events, second place in debate, as well as being the top combined team in the state.

In other debate news, Eric Schoen was named as the District Six (southeast area of the United States) American Forensics Association (AFA) All-American representative. This is a tremendous honor for Schoen and a first of this kind of recognition for Belmont. The award is for seniors and requires accomplishments in three areas: forensic competition, academic achievement and community service. Eric will be recognized at the AFA national tournament in April. Teammate, Nicole Bright was named as the District Six AFA student representative and will serve as a liaison between students and coaches in the organization. These positions recognize the high caliber of students from the Speech and Debate team and also exemplifies that Belmont is truly making a name for itself amongst other national speech and debate programs.

Continue

Best Buddies Spread the Word to End the ‘R-Word’

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

The Belmont University Best Buddies chapter led by Education Associate Professor Sally Barton-Arwood hosted a convocation and banner signing event on Feb. 29 centered on the theme “Spread the Word to End the Word,” a national initiative to end the use of the “R-word.”

“Members of Belmont’s Best Buddies organization wish to encourage the Belmont campus community to take a stand and raise awareness of the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the words ‘retard’ or ‘retarded.’ These students want to encourage others to think before they speak and learn more about those with intellectual disabilities,” said Barton-Arwood.

During the convocation, Alecia Talbott, a parent of a 3-year-old child with down syndrome reminded students that people are more alike than different from those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Talbott was awarded the Best Buddies Champion of the Year by Best Buddies of Tennessee and spoke from a family perspective on the subject.

Mike Maguire, a Buddy in the Best Buddies Citizens Program and intern at the Best Buddies of Tennessee Office, also spoke about his life and how it makes him feel when he hears the “R-word.” Matt also encouraged the audience to take a pledge to remove the “R-word” from their vocabulary and show their support by signing a pledge banner.

The convo ended with a special beneficiary award, given to Education Professor James Stamper on behalf of the Belmont Best Buddies Chapter.

“Best Buddies recognizes that all people have worth, value, and ability.  That aligns with the way I’ve always tried to live my life, and I’ve enjoyed encouraging this worthwhile group whose mission I wholeheartedly support,” Stamper said.

Barton-Arwood said through the financial support of Stamper, the Belmont Best Buddies chapter was able to form two years ago to give Belmont students the opportunity to volunteer their time to develop one-to-one friendships with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Men’s Basketball Seniors Named Academic All-Conference

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

Belmont men’s basketball seniors Drew Hanlen (St. Louis, Mo.), Mick Hedgepeth (Crossville, Ala.) and Scott Saunders (New Orleans, La.) have been named to the 2012 Atlantic Sun Academic All-Conference team.

Hanlen, who was named First Team All-Atlantic Sun Monday, has received Academic All-Conference honors four straight years. The St. Louis, Mo. native is the Atlantic Sun Conference active career leader in assists. He holds a 3.45 GPA in his chosen major of entrepreneurship.

Hedgepeth, also honored by the league for academic achievement four straight years, was named Second Team All-Atlantic Sun Monday. Among Belmont’s career leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage, Hedgepeth is a two-time Capital One Academic All-District selection. He is also one of 10 finalists for the 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for men’s basketball. Hedgepeth holds a 3.70 GPA in his chosen major of accounting.

Saunders, also a four-time A-Sun All-Academic honoree, has received numerous awards during his career. Twice named Capital One Academic All-American and Capital One Academic All-District, the New Orleans, La. native ranks among the Atlantic Sun Conference active career leaders in scoring and rebounding. Saunders holds a 3.84 GPA in his chosen majors of finance and marketing.

Justin Glenn of Lipscomb, Chalmers Rogers of USC Upstate and Adam Sollazzo of ETSU were also named to the Academic All-Conference team for men’s basketball.

The A-Sun introduced the new sport-by-sport Academic All-Conference teams this fall to recognize student-athletes who embody the conference’s mission of Building Winners for Life. All members of the team boast a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (GPA) or better and participated in at least half of their team’s games.

Thomas Speaks on HPV Virus at Murray State

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

Dr. Jennifer Thomas, associate professor of biology, recently gave an invited talk at Murray State University in Murray, Ky. as part of the school’s Department of Biological Sciences seminar series. Thomas’ talk was titled “From Warts to Cancer: Understanding the Biology of Human Papillomaviruses.” Thomas gave background information on HPV and described her most recent undergraduate research projects with her students at Belmont.

Former Archbishop Encourages Christian Growth

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, challenged Belmont students to become more missionary-minded during a Wednesday morning chapel in the Neely Dining Hall.

Carey shared stories of his evangelical work in Susan, Nigeria and other countries. Christians in Western countries rarely have their faith challenged, are persecuted for attending church or have their home burned down as with believers in developing countries, he said. Missionary work would facilitate growth in Jesus Christ.

“The work of the church is to establish the kingdom of God in the hearts and minds of men and women, boys and girls. The challenge is to put backbone into our Christian lives and to have it pulsate in every aspect of our lives,” Carey said. “Children are our church of today and leaders of tomorrow.”

Following his lecture on World Christianity, Carey signed copies of his book, The Church in the Modest Place.

Queen Elizabeth II appointed Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1991. He promoted a “decade of evangelism” that coincided with the explosive growth of the Anglican Church in Africa and throughout the developing world. Upon his retirement in 2002, he was made a life peer and member of the House of Lords. He is the recipient of 12 honorary doctorates, author of 14 books, chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire and president of the London School of Theology.

Belmont and ASCAP Honor Alumnus Rusty Gaston with Music City Milestone Award

Paul Chenoweth
-
0
Pictured (l-r) are ASCAP's Ryan Beuschel, Michael Martin and LeAnn Phelan; honoree Rusty Gaston; and Belmont's Sarah Cates and Dan Keen.

Tuesday night Belmont’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and industry partner ASCAP honored alumnus Rusty Gaston (’98) as the first recipient of the Music City Milestone Award (MCMA), which celebrates Belmont’s connection to Music Row. The award recognizes a young Belmont graduate who has achieved truly superlative success in the entertainment & music industry.

Partner and general manager of This Music, Gaston was raised in Texas and moved to Nashville 16 years ago to pursue a career in the music industry and attend Belmont University. Gaston partnered with hit writers Tim Nichols (“Live Like You Were Dying”) and Connie Harrington (“Girls Lie Too”) to form This Music, a joint venture with Warner Chappell. In only a few years of operation he has built the company into a powerhouse. Today, Gaston is a passionate and committed music publisher who fills his time promoting the songs that his nine seasoned songwriters produce, including 14 award-winning songs and number one hits with artists such as Blake Shelton, Josh Turner, Chris Young and Luke Bryan.

Belmont Instructor of Music Business and creative force behind the MCMA award, Dan Keen, said, “One of the most rewarding facets of nurturing young people is celebrating their growth and successes. Rusty Gaston was a stand out student in my music publishing class at Belmont and is already one of the most successful independent publishers on Music Row. He has a huge servant’s heart as well. He is the type of person that Belmont and ASCAP want to encourage students and young executives to emulate.”

“ASCAP is honored to be partnering with Belmont in inspiring students to achieve greatness in their careers. It is fitting that Rusty Gaston receives the very first Music City Milestone Award as he has been a trendsetter throughout his career. Everybody loves and respects Rusty and writers love writing for him.  They know him as a champion. Rusty is passionate about his songs—very passionate about his songwriters and music in general,” explains LeAnn Phelan, ASCAP senior creative director.

Continue

Nursing, Pharmacy Students Participate in Healthcare Interprofessional Case Competition

Paul Chenoweth
-
0
2012 ICCP Winning Team

Four health science students from Belmont University–three from the School of Nursing and one from the College of Pharmacy–competed last week in the annual Interprofessional Case Competition (ICC) sponsored by the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance in Nashville.

The four students–Danielle Degati, Katherine H. McFarland and Courtney Thompson representing RN nursing and Shanna Harris representing pharmacy–were placed on teams joining pre-professionals from 10 different healthcare disciplines. Other team members included medical and dental students from Meharry Medical College; students from medical, nurse practitioner, law, dietetic, divinity, and speech and hearing pathology programs at Vanderbilt University; and pharmacy and graduate social work students from the University of Tennessee.

Nursing major Danielle Degati, a senior, said, “I think the greatest part of this competition is feeling like I can say that I now understand how multi-disciplines work together to accomplish one goal… It has been eye opening, and I feel comfortable approaching other health care professionals in the hospital, not just nurses; without this experience, I’m not sure that comfort would have come to me so soon.”

The competition, based on the University of Texas Houston model, promotes an interdisciplinary learning experience where students learn to appreciate the value of various team members involved in reaching optimal patient outcomes.  There were three interdisciplinary student teams, each with 11 student participants.

Senior nursing student Courtney Thompson noted, “Participating in the ICCC has given me a better comprehensive view of how in depth patient-centered care goes. It is complex physiologically, emotionally, spiritually and cognitively and one person could not offer the knowledge or manpower to completely care for any patient. I am very proud to have had this experience because I have learned so much about other disciplines and because I have also learned how I work as a team member. I am sure these lessons  will be invaluable assets I can use throughout my career.”

Continue

Hachtel Elected to National Position in American Occupational Therapy Association

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

Dr. Yvette Hachtel, professor of occupational therapy at Belmont University, has been selected the chair-elect of the Ethics Commission of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) following a national vote by the organization’s membership. The Ethics Commission is one of the bodies of the representative assembly of the AOTA and is responsible for developing the ethics standards for the profession which apply to occupational therapy (OT) personnel at all levels and in all professional and societal roles.

Dr. Hachtel is a registered and licensed occupational therapist and earned a law degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1993.  A member of AOTA for more than 30 years, Dr. Hachtel is currently serving her second term as a member of the Ethics Commission’s Disciplinary Council Board.  Throughout her career, she has been involved with professional activities at the state and national level that serve to ensure the competency and ethical practice of practitioners at all levels.  Dr. Hachtel has taught ethics at the graduate level and served as a consultant to the Tennessee OT Licensure Board for nearly 15 years.  She is a General Civil Mediator for the Tennessee Supreme Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission. From 1994 to 1997, she served as secretary of the Maine OT Practice Board.  Her legal background has provided extensive training and experience as a mediator.

“This is a significant professional accomplishment for Dr. Hachtel,” said Dr. Scott McPhee, associate dean in the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing and chair of the School of Occupational Therapy in extending congratulations. “We’re extremely happy that she has been recognized for this important role and are confident she will excel in this new responsibility and represent Belmont in exemplary fashion.” Dr. Hachtel will assume duties as Chair-elect later this spring.

Belmont Hosts Metro Nashville Council’s Minority Caucus

Paul Chenoweth
-
0

Metro government officials, local business owners and community leaders attended the Metropolitan Minority Caucus’ Eighth Anniversary Celebration at Belmont on Feb.27. More than 100 people attended the reception in the Frist Lecture Hall.

Council-at-large member Jerry Maynard, president of the caucus, introduced minority and small business owners who shared how they and the city have benefited from the caucus’ work.  The caucus presented special awards to Mayor Karl Dean and business owners Sam Howard, Pam Martin and Marilyn Robinson.

1...579580581...887Page 580 of 887
Belmont University Logo | News & Media

CONTACT US

University Marketing and Communications
615-460-6650
communication@belmont.edu

FOLLOW US