Susan Barnes, instructor in Media Studies, recently received an award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). The Phoenix Award was bestowed from the Georgia Chapter of PRSA for a story Susan wrote for the Tennessee Alumnus Magazine about a former star football player at UT who was severely disabled in a car accident. The story focused on how his life turned around through connections with another football player and other UT alumni. Click here to read the story.
Julseth Named Simmons Distinguished Lecturer
Dr. David Julseth, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and the director of Belmont’s Engaged Scholars program, was recently named the Robert E. Simmons Distinguished Faculty Lecturer by selection of the College of Arts and Sciences Leadership Council. The annual lecture, begun by and now named in memory of Robert Simmons (dean of the School of Humanities and Education until his death in 1994), provides faculty members in the College of Arts & Sciences an opportunity to share significant research with colleagues. Julseth’s lecture will be on the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage in Northern Spain with a focus on the idea of community. Not only is this topic of wide interest, it also honors Dean Simmons who worked tirelessly to promote international experiences for academic, professional and personal development. The 2009 Simmons Lecture will be on Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. in LCVA 117.
Belmont East Student to Sing Anthem at Madison Square Garden
On Jan. 23, Belmont senior Shea Raye Fowler will be performing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden for a New York Knicks game. Adjuncts professor Anthony Caruso secured the audition for Fowler. In addition to participating in many Belmont showcases, she was also one of the featured student artists on the Debate08 Electronic Press Kit.
Student Pharmacists Decorate Tree for Fundraiser
“With each tone of the Belmont Bell Tower…Another Student Spreads their Wings” is the theme of the Belmont University School of Pharmacy’s sponsored Christmas tree at Gaylord Opryland’s Hall of Trees. Five pharmacy students recently gathered at Gaylord’s Opryland Resort to decorate the tree as a fundraiser for Belmont’s Academy of Student Pharmacists. This is the second year that Gaylord has donated space and artificial, lighted Christmas trees to individuals and groups supporting charitable causes.
The tree and gifts under the tree—including signed CDs, Belmont University mementoes, a Debate08 poster and Media Bag and a Christmas ornament containing soil from the recent groundbreaking of the new School of Health Sciences—are all part of the package being auctioned at www. halloftrees.com. The Belmont Chapter of the Academy of Student Pharmacists is raising funds to help underwrite leadership development programs and to defray costs for students to attend leadership development conferences and to compete in the National Patient Counseling Competition, a skills completion focusing on how to talk with patients about safely using prescribed medications.
Pharmacy Students Contribute to Food Drive
The School of Pharmacy Class of 2012 continues the Belmont tradition of service to those in need. On Monday, class representatives Tyler Ammarell, Zac Renfro and Paul Nasri provided the wheels and the brawn needed to deliver more than 600 pounds of canned goods to Second Harvest Food Bank.
Belmont Partners with WOW to ‘Feed My Starving Children’
In the spirit of the Christmas season, Belmont University is partnering Dec. 10 with the top companies in Christian music to sponsor a “food packaging event” benefitting non-profit hunger-relief organization, Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). Minnesota-based FMSC delivers food around the world to malnourished children in schools, orphanages, refugee camps and hospitals.
EMI Christian Music Group, Provident Music Group and Word Entertainment have long collaborated in the marketing and distribution of annual WOW compilation projects, which feature many of the top current songs in Christian music. This year the companies extend their alliance through a charitable event called “WOW Shares.” Hundreds of employees from each of the three companies, along with Belmont University employees and students, have signed up to work in shifts packing specially formulated meals in assembly-line fashion. Each FMSC meal provides the key nutrients a child needs to survive and thrive.
Individuals interested in volunteering should click here to learn more. Packing sessions, each beginning with a 10 minute overview of FMSC’s work around the world, will take place at the following times on Wed., Dec. 10 in the Curb Event Center on Belmont’s Campus:
Packing Session No. 1: 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Packing Session No. 2: 1-3 p.m.
Packing Session No. 3: 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Packing Session No. 4: 6-8 p.m.
Over the Noon-1 p.m. lunch break, Brandon Heath (Reunion Records/Provident Music Group), Francesca Battistelli (Word Entertainment) and Josh Wilson (Sparrow/EMI CMG Label Group) will perform a concert for volunteers.
Volleyball Wins A-Sun Title, Begins NCAA Tournament Dec. 5
Belmont volleyball will begin its second NCAA Tournament in three years in Los Angeles, Calif., to play the No. 7 seed Hawaii on Fri., Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. CST from the campus of Southern California.
The Bruins are coming off their second Atlantic Sun Conference title in three years after sweeping Lipscomb in the conference tournament final. At 25-7, the Bruins hold the most victories in program history during the Division I era and are riding a program-best 11-straight victories.
“The girls are thrilled to be going out west and flying somewhere. We certainly look forward to playing a great team in Hawaii,” Head Coach Deane Webb said at the team’s selection show watch party on Sunday night. Click here to read more on this story.
Student Chemists Enter Video Challenge
The Belmont chapter of Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SAACS) has entered a video in the American Chemical Society Presidential Video Challenge. The Challenge seeks to get students to produce a short video with the theme “Putting a Human Face on Chemistry” in an effort to educate elementary and middle school students about chemists the importance of chemistry in life. Assistant Professors Dr. Alison Moore and Dr. Rachel Rigsby are the faculty advisors for Belmont’s SAACS chapter. Click here to view the video entry.
Belmont Offers Christmas Gift to Nashville: Three Free Concerts
Belmont University announces a Christmas gift to the Nashville community with three free concerts that are open to the public, as well as the nationally televised airing of annual holiday music spectacular “Christmas at Belmont.”
The first concert will be on Fri., Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. with the Nashville Children’s Choir’s annual holiday concert at Belmont Heights Baptist Church. The Belmont Camerata Musicale will then offer its annual presentation of “A Camerata Christmas,” including a concert of holiday chamber music and a traditional holiday folk music sing-along on Mon., Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Belmont Mansion on the university campus.
The Christmas Eve Carillon Concert concludes the series on Wed., Dec. 24 at 2 p.m. at the campus Bell Tower, located just off the corner of Belmont Blvd. and Portland Ave. The concert features traditional Christmas music played on the tower’s 42-bell carillon.
Of course, the holiday wouldn’t be complete without the annual “Christmas at Belmont” special. An encore presentation will be shown of last year’s performance, which featured 400 students and faculty from the School of Music and was hosted by alumna and “American Idol” finalist Melinda Doolittle. The concert was taped live in the Schermerhorn Symphony Center by Nashville Public Television (NPT). The show is scheduled to air nationally on Dec. 23 at 9 p.m. Central. Check local listings for additional air times.
Service Corp Featured in Who’s Who
Belmont Service Corp, the university’s largest student organization, will be highlighted in an upcoming issue of Who’s Who magazine. The article focuses on the group’s recent, successful Skyline Party event, which raised $700 for Nashville Gilda’s Club and Mario Lemieux Foundation. Click here to read the full story.
