Junior track and field standout Lynette Rives was profiled in Wednesday’s Tennessean in a column by David Climer. Click here to read the full story.
Athletics Earns Two National Marketing Awards
Belmont University Athletics received two national marketing and promotion honors Tuesday as the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) announced its 2007-08 awards. Belmont earned the gold medal in the category of ‘Best Student Promotion’ for its conception and integration of Ned–the alter ego of team mascot Bruiser–into basketball gameday promotions. The voting panel cited how the mystery and intrigue of Ned’s existence spread around the Belmont campus via Facebook and MySpace social networks.
The department also earned the bronze medal in the category of ‘Best Single-Day Attendance Promotion–Olympic Sports’ for an overwhelmingly successful fan turnout at the 2007 Atlantic Sun Conference Cross Country Championships. Blanketing the Vaughn’s Creek Cross Country course in red, white and blue, hundreds within the Belmont community cheered on as the men’s and women’s cross country teams again won team conference championships. For more on this story, click here.
Rupright Recognized by Congressman for Community Service
Alumnus Jeff Rupright (’05) was recently awarded special recognition from Congressman Jim Cooper for his four-year involvement with VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which helps prepare Federal Income Tax returns for low-income families in Middle Tennessee. Rupright accumulates 50-70 hours of volunteer service on Saturdays each year. “I got involved in VITA during my senior year at Belmont while taking a federal income tax class with Dr. Marilyn Young,” Rupright said. “She encouraged her class to volunteer their experience, and I loved it so much I came back every year since.”
Rupright remains active in the Zeta Alpha chapter of Phi Kappa Tau, which he helped form on Belmont’s campus several years ago. He was the chapter’s first president and initiated brother and now serves as a financial advisor to its Board of Governors.
Rockwell Profiled in Tuscaloosa News
Amber Rockwell, a sophomore guard on the Belmont women’s basketball team, was recently profiled in the Tuscaloosa News. Click here to read the story.
Three Belmont Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Athletes Named Academic All-District
Elizabeth Smothers, Lauren Williams Weaver and Brittany Thune of the Belmont women’s track & field/ cross country teams were each named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Team. It marks the first time in program history an athlete has received the honor as well as the first time in Belmont history that three athletes from the same program have ever earned the honor in the same season. Smothers and Weaver were named to the First Team while Thune received Second Team recognition. For more on this story, click here.
Testa, Wiley Selected in 2008 Major League Baseball Entry Draft
Juniors Carlo Testa (Tallmadge, Ohio) and Derek Wiley (Dublin, Calif.) were selected in the 2008 Major League Baseball Entry Draft on Friday. Testa was selected 535th overall by the Kansas City Royals in the 18th round. Wiley was selected 1489th overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 50th round. For more on this story, click here.
Woodard Writes Editorial for Tennessean
Dr. Beth Woodard, Assistant Professor of Management in the Massey Graduate School of Business, recently contributed an editorial to The Tennessean concerning the Presidential Candidate’s proposals for health care. Click here to read the article.
Ocean Way Hosts Country Artists Video Shoots
Belmont’s Ocean Way Studios played host recently to a concert from country music’s Phil Vassar. The concert will be part of a premiere episode of a new show, “Origins,” on Great American Country (GAC). Vassar said, “I cut my first two records at Ocean Way Studios and I’ve always wanted to come back and perform a concert here.” “Origins: Phil Vassar – Prayer of a Common Man” is set air June 20 at 6 p.m. Central. Click here for more information. In addition, Ocean Way is also heavily featured in the new Trisha Yearwood video, “This Is Me You’re Talking To,” airing now on CMT and featuring actor John Corbett.
Cox Performs with Klugh on Atlanta’s FOX Morning Show
Jeff Cox, Adjunct Faculty Instructor of electric bass in the School of Music, recently performed with guitarist Earl Klugh’s in Atlanta on the Fox 5 morning show. Click here to see the performance. Cox also played on Klugh’s CD, Spice of Life, which won a Grammy and was the top contemporary jazz seller on iTunes this week.
Weibel Wins Research Opportunity Award from National Science Foundation
Dr. Jason Weibel, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, recently won a Research Opportunity Award (ROA) from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $20,000. As a part of the NSF-wide Research at Undergraduate Institutions program, ROAs enable faculty at predominantly undergraduate institutions to pursue research as visiting scientists with NSF-supported investigators at other institutions. Weibel will be a visiting scientist at the California Institute of Technology this summer collaborating with former mentors, Professors Yuk L. Yung and Geoffrey A. Blake, on an NSF project titled: “Isotopic Composition of Nitrous Oxide and Carbon Dioxide.” The NSF funding enables Weibel to continue research in which he was immersed while at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech immediately prior to his joining the Belmont faculty in 2006.
