Titans linebacker David Thornton was the guest speaker at an annual alcohol and drug awareness seminar held by Belmont University’s Athletic Department for student-athletes on Feb. 20. Thornton addressed more than 200 student-athletes on the importance of good decision making and the impact of decisions on both their athletic and personal lives.
Thornton shared his personal journey, describing his upbringing and his long and arduous road from a non-recruited walk-on for the University of North Carolina football team to NFL stardom. Thornton said that having to earn his way onto the team and earn the respect from his teammates and coaches through hard work taught him the value of perseverance.
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Titans Linebacker Speaks to Belmont Student-Athletes
Burchett, Spring Present at Conference in San Diego
Matt Burchett, Director of New Student & Parent Programs, and Dr. Ken Spring, Assistant Professor of Sociology, recently presented at the National Conference for the First Experience and Students in Transition in San Francisco, California. Their presentation, titled “Seemingly Unrelated Experiences: Integrating the First Year and Institutional Leaders,” highlighted the partnership between New Student Programs in the Dean of Students Office and the First Year Seminar in creating seamless learning experiences for new students at Belmont University. The conference is hosted annually by the National Institute for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition.
Lee and Ageleke Zapis Sponsor First Endowed Songwriting Scholarship
Belmont University announced today that Lee Zapis, president of Zapis Capital Group, and his wife Ageleke will offer the first fully funded endowed scholarship in the new Songwriting Major being offered through the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. The couple’s $25,000 gift will be used to establish an endowed fund to be known as the “Leon and Ageleke Zapis Songwriters Scholarship.” Scholarship recipients will be determined annually based on a review process by the Curb College in consultation with Belmont Student Financial Services.
Lee Zapis said, “I’ve always admired the power of a great song and the songwriters who write them. My hope is that this scholarship will help a young person fulfill their dreams of becoming a professional songwriter. I’d also like to acknowledge Roger Murrah and the Board of Directors of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation who inspired me to give this scholarship.”
Dr. Bo Thomas, Belmont’s Vice President of University Advancement, said, “This first fully endowed scholarship for Belmont’s new songwriting major adds more energy to our premier Entertainment and Music Business program. Scholarships like the Zapis scholarship will help make aspiring songwriters’ dreams come true here at Belmont in the songwriting capital of the world. We are so grateful to Lee and Ageleke.”
Country Music’s Biggest Artists Scheduled to Appear at ‘2008 CMT Awards’
Country music’s biggest stars will rock the Curb Event Center at Belmont University when the show premieres live on Mon., April 14 at 7 p.m. Central on CMT and CMT.com. CMT recently announced that father/daughter duo Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus will host the “CMT Music Awards” and offer a special performance. Other previously announced performers for the evening include chart-toppers Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith, with more artists to be announced soon.
CMT’s seventh annual awards show honors country music’s elite for the year’s most outstanding music videos and performances and continues to be the genre’s only fan-voted awards. Tickets to the “2008 CMT Music Awards” go on sale Sat., Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. Central and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 615-255-9600, and online at CMT.com and ticketmaster.com. Belmont University students will be eligible for a ticket discount, and additional information can be found online at CMT.com.
Fan voting for the “2008 CMT Music Awards” is currently underway and continues through Feb. 25, only at CMT.com. On Thurs., March 6, CMT will announce the four finalists in each of the 13 categories, except Video of the Year. Fans can then vote online at CMT.com through Fri., April 11 to determine the winners. The final nominees for Video of the Year will be announced at the beginning of the live show, and fans can vote at CMT.com throughout the live broadcast (ET/CT only) to determine the night’s big winner.
Dansby Earns Second A-Sun Player of the Week Honor
In leading his team to two key road victories this past week, Belmont Basketball junior Shane Dansby (Pegram, Tenn.) has been named Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week. The 6-4 swingman averaged 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game on a sparkling 68 percent shooting from the floor as the Bruins won at East Tennessee State Feb. 14 and at USC Upstate Feb. 16.
Dansby tied his career-high with 28 points on 12-for-15 shooting and added eight rebounds in the 87-75 win at ETSU Thursday – the Bruins’ ninth consecutive win at the Memorial Center. He followed that up with his fourth career double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds in a come-from-behind victory at USC Upstate two days later.
Dansby ranks among the league leaders in five statistical categories: 5th in field goal percentage (.526), 11th in defensive rebounding (4.00), 12th in rebounding (6.1), 15th in offensive rebounding (2.13), and 15th in scoring (14.3 ppg). Dansby joins East Tennessee State’s Kevin Tiggs as the only players to receive multiple weekly awards this year.
Pharmacy Faculty Published, Involved in Testing
Dr. Elinor Chumney, Assistant Dean of the Belmont School of Pharmacy, has recently published a manuscript in the current Journal of Pharmaceutical Technology with colleagues at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. The article titled “Preadmission Predictors of Graduating Grade Point Average in a Professional Pharmacy Program” evaluates which criteria act as predictors of academic success in a pharmacy program, thereby providing valuable tools in the student admissions process.
Dr. Cathy Turner, Assistant Professor and Director of the Pharmacy School’s Drug Information Services, recently published the inaugural edition of INQUIRY a publication of the Belmont University Drug Information Center. This newsletter is part of the School of Pharmacy’s vision to serve as a “…resource for training and supporting competent, compassionate practitioners with a passion for life-long professional improvement.” Newsletter articles will include new drug summaries, clinical trial reviews, consumer product updates and faculty contributions. The newsletter will be published routinely and distributed to all college of health sciences faculty. Suggestions for improvements and faculty contributions are welcome.
In addition, Dr. Steven Stodghill, Associate Professor and Director of Assessment of the Belmont University School of Pharmacy, is currently serving as the lead beta tester for the OutcomesRx Pharmacy Student Assessment Program developed by RxInsider Inc. of West Warrick, Rhode Island. The program was developed exclusively for schools of pharmacy. OutcomesRx allows for detailed student and institutional outcomes management and assessment.
Cornwall Quoted in U.S. News and World Report
Jeff Cornwall, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, was recently quoted in a U.S. News and World Report story titled “Entrepreneurs Might Not Rise to Stimulus Bait.” Click here to read the story.
Ocean Way Announces New Director of Operations
The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business announced that it has named Pat McMakin Director of Studio Operations at Ocean Way Nashville Recording Studios. Pat, a 1978 alum of Belmont’s Music Business program and founding Chair of Belmont’s Music Business Advisory Board, will take the helm the first week of March.
Ocean Way Nashville, designed by award-winning recording engineer Allen Sides and purchased by Belmont in 2001, is the No. 1 tracking room in Nashville and a world-class teaching laboratory that also serves an impressive client roster including Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Bob Seger, Three Doors Down, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, matchbox twenty, Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Stevie Nicks and Gretchen Wilson, as well as successful Belmont alumni Trisha Yearwood, Lee Ann Womack and Brad Paisley.
With more than 30 years of successful music industry experience as a recording engineer, record producer, and songwriter, McMakin has worked with a wide variety of artists including Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Brooks and Dunn, Lonestar, Brenda Lee, N’Sync and countless other artists, producers and songwriters. Joining Ocean Way Nashville after 25 years as studio manager, producer and engineer at Sony Tree Studios in Nashville, Tenn., McMakin brings both expert industry experience and intimate knowledge of Belmont to his new role.
Of his new leadership position, McMakin comments, “I’m looking forward to joining a world class team at one of the world’s premiere recording facilities. There are many great legacy studios that have come before and Ocean Way Nashville aspires to play a vital role in the continuing story that Nashville has been a part of since the inception of modern recording. As a part of Belmont’s Curb College, I am also looking forward to helping turn out the world’s finest recording engineers for the future.”
Curb College Dean Wesley Bulla reiterates McMakin’s enthusiasm, “I’ve known Pat for years and think he’ll be a great asset to the Curb College. He will help push the facility into the future of the recording business and the curriculum toward setting the standard for audio engineering education.”
Belmont Makes Impact on Grammy Night
Nashville’s biggest victories from this year’s Grammy Awards, a 50th anniversary celebration, involved some significant Belmont connections in both the classical and country categories.
With participation from a number of Belmont School of Music faculty members, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s recording, Joan Tower: Made in America, won Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Orchestral Performance. In addition, Tower, who will be speaking at Belmont March 10, won a 2008 Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for Made in America. Tower’s visit will include a morning lecture and an evening performance of her works by Belmont Camerata Musicale, in celebration of her 70th birthday.
In addition, alumnus Brad Paisley (‘95) won Best Country Instrumental Performance for his song “Throttleneck” and performed his hit song “Ticks” on the Grammy live telecast. Long-time Belmont Bruins basketball supporter Vince Gill, who has a room named in his honor at the Curb Event Center, won the Grammy for Best Country Album for his highly-acclaimed, four-disc set These Days.
Hare Earns Academic All-District Honors
For the third consecutive year, Belmont University senior Justin Hare has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Men’s Basketball First Team. The 6-2 guard from Cleveland, Tennessee sports a 3.87 GPA in his chosen major of exercise science and health promotion. He plans to attend medical school upon graduation in May. Hare, who also earned Second Team Academic All-America honors last year, joins former Bruin greats Adam Mark and Wes Burtner as the only Belmont players ever to have received Academic All-District and Academic All-America distinction.
“Justin has displayed a consistent excellence on the floor and in the classroom since the day he arrived at Belmont,” Belmont head coach Rick Byrd said. “He is a great representative of our team and our university, and we are proud of this third straight selection to the Academic All-District First Team.”
