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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SIFE Students Start ‘Spring Back’ Business to Recycle Mattresses, Create Jobs

Paul Chenoweth
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Belmont SIFE team partners with Belmont Church’s ‘Isaiah 58’ ministry on program to employ formerly incarcerated and homeless

Spring Back Nashville’s Bryan King and Ron Harness break down a mattress.

Jan. 18, 2012 Update: Spring Back Recycling made national news with this story on NPR.

In partnership with the Isaiah 58 ministry at Belmont Church, the Belmont University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team is making a difference in the lives of a group of Nashville’s homeless and formerly incarcerated via a rather unusual means—recycling mattresses.

The non-profit, Spring Back Recycling, launched “Spring Back Nashville” just over six months ago and already more than 1,700 mattresses have been disassembled and recycled. The Belmont SIFE students spent a full year developing the business model for Spring Back, analyzing operations, accounting, marketing, legal contracts and safety procedures. Belmont Church’s Isaiah 58 ministry thereafter partnered with the team, providing an available facility, equipment, as well as an eager and capable workforce for the start-up business. Isaiah 58’s School of Life ministry is a residential program that helps formerly incarcerated men get back on their feet. With Spring Back Nashville, the men are disassembling old mattresses into scrap metal, cotton and foam—more than 85 percent of each mattress can be fully recycled.

Dr. John Gonas, associate professor of finance and SIFE advisor at Belmont, said, “I’m amazed that the Belmont students have created such a sustainable, scalable and economically viable business that blesses the community with a solid employment opportunity while simultaneously keeping so much recyclable waste out of landfills.”

Ron Harness, who works with the Isaiah 58 ministry at Belmont Church, added, “Due to an extensive life change, I’ve needed to start over both personally and professionally. Spring Back has given me the ideal opportunity to begin rebuilding my life with steady income, growth in education, relationships through students, faculty and co-workers, and confidence of person by being able to express my talents and strengths both individually and corporately.  I am truly blessed to be a recipient of kindnesses and generosities shared by Belmont’s College of Business Administration, SIFE and Spring Back.”

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Belmont Introduces WeCar as Alternative Transportation Option

Paul Chenoweth
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Sarah  Bouse  bummed rides to the grocery store from her friends until she discovered a car-sharing program that covers gas and keeps her from circling Belmont parking garages.

“In the past when I needed to go somewhere, I used other people’s cars or I would say to my friends, ‘hey, if you are going to Target, let me know,’” said Bouse, a junior from Indianapolis, Ind., studying classical performance, pedagogy and Spanish. She signed up for WeCar in August and uses a Toyota Prius twice a week to get around Nashville for service learning projects and to observe piano lessons to fulfill requirements for class. “With the classes I have this semester, it is beneficial to not have to bug other people for rides, especially when they would have to go out of the way to take me places like Mount Juliet.”

Parked in reserved spaces between Wright Hall and Whitten Soccer Field, the Toyota Prius  and a Mini Cooper are available to all Belmont employees and students aged 18 and older. Membership along with low hourly and daily rates includes gas, maintenance, roadside assistance, travel up to 200 miles and a reserved parking spot. Students between 18 and 20 must have their own liability insurance, and WeCar provides insurance for members 21 and older.

“Our partnership with WeCar strengthens our commitment to provide the Belmont University community with flexible, environmentally-friendly transportation options,” said Vice President for Administration and University Counsel Jason Rogers. “We are committed to a variety of strong sustainability programs and look forward to working with WeCar to further develop the university’s car sharing initiative and provide our students, staff and faculty with a solution that best matches their needs.”

The University has offered a membership-based car sharing program to the campus community since 2008 and switched to Enterprise-owned WeCar in August. Through Career Services, WeCar is offering a Belmont student a paid internship to help with promotions of the membership-based car sharing program around campus.

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Belmont Launches Online Spiritual Formation Program

Paul Chenoweth
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Belmont University has launched Monvee across campus, an online spiritual formation program devoted to assisting students in creating a customized way to plan their spiritual growth. The university is a part of a beta testing group, one of five schools, to test the typically church-wide program on college campuses.

The program begins with an assessment where students can find out more about how they best learn, how they best experience God and the things that might inhibit that growth. Ultimately, the program then provides them with an opportunity to create a roadmap based on the outcomes from that assessment.

The program also recommends books, videos, ways to connect with others on campus and more resources where participants can choose to commit specific amounts of time daily. It allows students to consider their own schedules and workloads to decide what might work best. The schedule can even be downloaded to a smart phone.

Associate University Minister and Director of Spiritual Formation Christy Ridings said, “Monvee is a resource, a tool we can use to engage with students regarding their own spiritual growth while in college.”

As Belmont looks toward Vision 2015, a five-year plan the university has developed, Monvee is one of the ways in which the community hopes to continue to think in new and innovative ways to “increase evidence of Christian character.”

Belmont Student Wins US Collegiate Skating Championship

Paul Chenoweth
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Belmont University freshman, Alicia Hsu, won the Gold Medal and a $5,000 prize at the US Collegiate Championships for figure skating this summer.

Competing against 27 other women skaters, the basic skills instructor from Hendersonville won the competition by a narrow margin of 1.62 points.

In an interview with Skating magazine Hsu said, “In overlooking my accomplishment, I feel I’ve gained a new level of confidence in my skating. It feels really good to know that my training and hard work has paid off. Also, I’m thrilled that I had the chance to represent my school, Belmont University. I’m so excited to begin this new page of my life.”

For more information about the US Collegiate Championships click here and for more information about Hsu’s win click here.

Greeks, Athletes Pioneer Community Halloween Night

Paul Chenoweth
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Belmont Greeks and athletes brought trick-or-treat fun to an area that hadn’t seen an organized Halloween celebration in several years with the first Edgehill Family Halloween Sports Night on Oct. 29 at E.S. Rose Park.

“The last time we did a Halloween party in the community was over 16 years ago. We had a lot of people to come out, but the problem was that we couldn’t get a lot of volunteers from the residents, and at that time we weren’t doing partnerships with students. This year was a pleasant change. I like the fact that we are partnering with students for them to volunteer and help out with different events because everything goes like clockwork,” said Edgehill Family Resource Center Director Brenda Morrow.

Phi Delta Theta and Phi Mu spearheaded the Halloween night as their community service event with 130 student volunteers. They partnered with the Edgehill Rose Park Walking Club and the Easley Community Center.

“Belmont students were excellent and always asking us if we needed anything. They set up booths and passed out fruit and candy and did face painting so the kids enjoyed Halloween. I think the grown people had more fun than the children because I saw adults walking around with costumes and door prizes,” said Edgehill resident Sandra Chandler.

“It was amazing and a huge success. It was a positive experience to have a night to play and face paint and color with the kids and give them free candy. This was the start of something really good, and we want to make it an annual event,” said Brock Fuller, social chair and chaplain for Phi Delta Theta.

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Belmont Best Buddies Chapter Hosts Event at Centennial Park

Paul Chenoweth
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The Best Buddies Chapter at Belmont University hosted an event on Oct. 22 to welcome new members. Best Buddies is an international organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships between persons with and without disabilities. This is the second year for the Belmont Chapter. Best Buddies officers, Cait Walker (President, sport science major) and Azad Karim (Membership Coordinator, biology major) with faculty advisor, education Department Chair Sally Barton-Arwood, welcomed our newest Belmont and community buddies at Centennial Park. The group participated in the annual Buddy Walk sponsored by the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee.

Littlejohn to Present at Confucius Institute Lecture Series

Paul Chenoweth
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Director Asian Studies Program and philosophy Professor Ronnie Littlejohn will present a lecture on Nov. 14 at the University of South Flordia Confucius Institute Lecture Series. His talk will explore the topic of Daoism and Sustainability. Daoism or Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao, which is everything that exists, the origin of everything. Littlejohn’s presentation introduces themes from the classical Daoist texts and then turns to little known sectarian religious texts and beliefs of Daoism which give evidence of the great importance of the environment.

Speech and Debate Team Has Impressive Showing at Berea College

Paul Chenoweth
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The Speech and Debate team succeeded their best ever showing at the University of Alabama on Oct. 22 with an ever showing at Berea College in Bera, Ky. Top national teams such as Western Kentucky, Eastern Michigan  and George Mason, were in attendance. The Belmont Speech and Debate team came in 3rd place overall. Awards were as follows:

First half of tournament
Eric Schoen
– Dramatic Interpretation, 1st place
– Informative Speaking, 6th place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 5th place
Nicole Bright
– Prose Interpretation, Semi-Finalist
– Poetry Interpretation, 2nd place
– Programmed Oral Interpretation, 3rd place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 3rd place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 2nd place
Katie Callaway
– Duo Interpretation, 5th & 3rd place (partners listed above)
Matthew Roberts
– After Dinner Speaking, 5th place
– Extemporaneous Speaking, 3rd place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 4th place
Team Awards
– “Small School” division – 1st place
– Overall Team – 3rd place

Second half of the tournament
Eric Schoen
– Dramatic Interpretation, 1st place
– Informative Speaking, 3rd place
– Impromptu Speaking, 4th place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 3rd place
Nicole Bright
– Prose Interpretation, 6th place
– Programmed Oral Interpretation, 1st place
– Duo Interpretation (with Katie Callaway), 4th place
– Poetry Interpretation, 1st place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 2nd place
Katie Callaway
– Duo Interpretation, 4th & 3rd place (partners listed above)
Matthew Roberts
– After Dinner Speaking, 2nd place
– Impromptu Speaking, 6th place
– Rhetorical Criticism, 6th place
– Overall Competitor (pentathlon) Award, 4th place
Team Awards
– “Small School” division, 1st place
– Overall Team, 3rd place

SMACS Receives Award from American Chemical Society

Paul Chenoweth
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The Belmont University chapter of Student Members of the American Chemical Society was recently notified that they have been selected to receive a Commendable Award for the 2010-11 activities of their local chapter at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego, CA in March 2012. Lists of the award winning chapters will be published in Chemical & Engineering News and in inChemistry, the student member magazine. The Belmont chapter also received a Commendable Award at the ACS National Meeting in March 2011. Chemistry Associate Professors Alison Moore and Rachel Rigsby are the faculty advisors of the chapter.

COBA Students Bring Home Awards in International Business Competition

Paul Chenoweth
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Belmont had four representatives, Ayesha Gaffar, Jordan Holt, Patrick Hurt and Rami Nofal, from the College of Business Administration compete in the Eighth Annual CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research) Case Challenge in late October. Mixed in with students from universities across America and abroad, the students formed new teams and competed against each other by analyzing and presenting an international business case to judges.

Competitors Ayesha Gaffar, Patrick Hurt, Jordan Holt, and Rami Nofal

Ayesha Ghaffar’s team won their preliminary round competition of five teams and competed in the final round to place third, out of fifteen, in the competition overall. Two other Belmont students were awarded individual awards in the preliminary round among their five teams. Jordan Holt was named “Best Presenter” and Patrick Hurt was named “Best Q&A.”

Belmont was the only university with two students recognized for individual awards.

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