Belmont had its best year ever at the Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference. Twenty-eight Belmont business students competed in the international competition hosted by DECA, April 13-16 in Orlando. Of the 28 Belmont participants, 20 reached the finals in their respective events.
With nearly 1,500 students in attendance, Belmont students won numerous awards in the following categories:
Entrepreneurial Business Plan: Tim Smith won 1st place, and Jake Jorgovan won 3rd place.
Entrepreneurial Challenge: Jerell Harris, Areej Rabie and Josh Gilreth won 2nd place. Kathleen Bond, Matt Madden and Lindsay Ricker won 3rd place, and Mandy Thompson, Hillary Unis and Jenna Owen also finished in the top 10.
Sales Management: Jerrell Harris won 2nd place.
Restaurant Management: Clark Buckner won 2nd place for the second year in a row. Max Magura finished in the top 10, and Julia Cecere was a national finalist.
Business Ethics: Lindsay Ricker and Kathleen Bond finished in the top 10, and Aubree Phillips and Charles Williams were national finalists.
Retail Management: Hillary Unis was a national finalist.
This is the third consecutive year Belmont placed first in the Entrepreneurship Business Plan category and won second place in the Entrepreneurial Challenge.
Collegiate DECA is the college division of DECA, Inc. More than 1,400 students from 230 college campuses participate in the organization. Collegiate DECA enhances the student’s college experience by providing recognition and leadership activities directly related to academic study.
Belmont University junior Hope Cooper was named at the College of Arts and Sciences Award Ceremony on Monday as the fifth recipient of the AT&T Advertising Solutions Scholarship in Public Relations (formerly known as the AT&T Real Yellow Pages Scholarship in Public Relations). AT&T Advertising Solutions is supporting Belmont University’s public relations program with a five-year scholarship commitment, with the inaugural award given in 2007. The $2,500 prize is presented annually each spring to the public relations major who demonstrates academic excellence, campus service and professionalism. Applicants must also write an essay that effectively responds to the question, “What role should public relations play in corporate social responsibility?”
Belmont University recognized students and faculty at Wednesday’s annual Scholarship and Awards Day ceremony in the Massey Performing Arts Center. 
In addition to student award winners, Dr. Jennifer Thomas, associate professor of biology, was named the 2011 Chaney Distinguished Professor. The Chaney Distinguished Professor Award, determined on the basis of superior teaching, is presented each year to a faculty member who best represents the vision of the university to be a “premier teaching institution.”
The student team from Belmont University won the Grand Prize for the first ever “Values & Ventures Business Plan Competition” held April 15 at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Entrepreneurship students Emily Hollingsworth and Emilie Lico and Finance and Accounting student Ayesha Ghaffar presented their business plan for Mattress Works – a mattress recycling venture created to provide employment opportunities for local homeless men while also diverting waste from landfills – to a panel of experienced new venture investors and consultants. The Belmont team impressed the five judges with their concept, presentation and business plan and was awarded $10,000 for the Grand Prize. They also were honored for Best Oral Presentation and Best Values-Based Concept.
Belmont Greek Life recently held another successful Greek Week, resulting in more than $10,000 raised for the Rose Park scholarship recipients. Using the theme of “The Greek Network” to help bring chapters together for the week, the Greek organizations came together to raise money to provide the Rose Park scholarship recipients with laptops, as well as computers for the Easley Community Center and underprivileged high school seniors attending college in the fall.
The Belmont University Guitar Ensemble performed on WPLN’s “Live in Studio C” program on April 13. The program and photos from the event are available 
On Sat., April 2, the Belmont Department of History in partnership with the Belmont Mansion hosted its Second Annual History Teaching Symposium, “Nashville and the Civil Rights Movement: A Teaching Symposium.” Social studies teachers from Metro-Nashville, Sumner County and Rutherford County schools earned professional development credit through attendance at panel presentations and participation in discussions. Department of History faculty Brenda Jackson-Abernathy and Pete Kuryla co-chaired this year’s symposium.