Four Belmont University athletic teams ranked in the top 10 percent nationwide among NCAA Division-I programs for their academic progress rate (APR) as determined by the NCAA. The APR measures how well a team retains scholarship athletes from semester to semester, maintains their eligibility from semester to semester and graduates scholarship student-athletes within a five-year window. The Belmont Bruins men’s basketball, men’s soccer, men’s tennis and women’s tennis teams each placed in the top 10 percent within their respective sports.
Over the past two years, Belmont is one of only six institutions in Division-I men’s basketball to make the APR top 10 percent list and earn a berth to the NCAA Championship Tournament both years: Belmont, Davidson, Illinois, North Carolina, Penn and Villanova. In the 2006-07 season, 35 institutions boasted APRs in the top 10 percent, 10 of which made NCAA tournament appearances; for 2005-06, 36 institutions made the top 10 percent list with only 11 of those making the NCAA tournament.
“Belmont student-athletes have a proven record of success in the classroom,” Belmont President Bob Fisher said. “Our men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball, men’s tennis and men’s basketball teams have not only earned Atlantic Sun conference championships, but have also been recognized by the A-Sun and the NCAA for their academic achievements as well. Our outstanding coaches and athletics staff provide the focus and leadership for the academic successes of our student-athletes. The type of student-athletes our coaches recruit understand and respect the ‘student’ aspect of being a student-athlete and take their work in the classroom just as seriously as they do their time in the weight rooms and playing fields.”
Along with its recent recognition for its teams with APRs in the top 10 percent, five Belmont teams (men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, women’s softball and women’s basketball) have each earned “Top 10” and “Top 15” rankings among all Division-I programs as a result of their team GPAs. In the fall semester of 2006, the athletics department posted a 3.19 GPA, marking the 18th consecutive semester that the departmental GPA has exceeded a 3.00.
In June of 2006, Belmont claimed the Atlantic Sun Conference Academic Trophy for the fifth straight year, an unprecedented feat in the A-Sun. The Academic Trophy is given annually to the conference school with the greatest percentage of student-athletes receiving All-Academic honors. For the 2005-06 academic year, 65.1 percent of Belmont student-athletes earned All-Academic honors, achieving a GPA of 3.00 or higher during the semester his or her sport is officially in season. Belmont has won the Academic Trophy every year since joining the A-Sun in 2001-02.
Over the past seven years, 13 Belmont student-athletes have been named Academic All-Americans while 28 have earned All-District honors. ESPN The Magazine sponsors this program, which honors thousands of student-athletes across the country for combining the best of athletic and academic performance.
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“Belmont earns national athletic/academic honor” – The Tennessean, April 27, 2007
“Belmont hoops a model for academic success” – Nashville City Paper, May 1, 2007
“Belmont gets high marks” – The Tennessean, May 3, 2007
Belmont Student-Athletes Recognized Nationally for Academic Athletes
Belmont Entrepreneurship Students Win Awards at Two Competitions
Several Belmont University student entrepreneurs won awards recently at the Evansville University New Venture Competition and the International Competition for Delta Epsilon Chi, a college division of DECA Inc. Awards went to the following Belmont students:
Sara Loeppke
Third place and $2,500, Evansville University New Venture Competition
International Competition for Delta Epsilon Chi:
Chelsea Swab (Entrepreneurship and marketing major)
First place, Marketing Management
Top Five, Entrepreneurship Challenge
Cameron Powell
$2,000 Ken D’Angelo Foundation Entrepreneurship Scholarship for top entrepreneurship student of the year
Michelle Wilkerson (Entrepreneurship major and Feedback Clothing Co. co-manager)
Second place, Apparel & Accessories
Emily Swinson (Entrepreneurship major and Feedback Clothing Co. co-manager)
Second place, Design Presentation
Joe Drake (Entrepreneurship and finance major)
Top 10, Financial Services
Kirstin Long (Entrepreneurship major)
Top 10, E-Commerce Decision Making
Kaitlin Adams (Entrepreneurship major)
Top Five, Entrepreneurship Challenge
Tristan Egloff (Entrepreneurship major)
Top Five, Entrepreneurship Challenge
Andy Tabar (Entrepreneurship major)
National Finalist, Entrepreneurship Written Plan
Belmont University Presents Fiesta Belmont: Nashville’s Latin Street Fair
Third Annual Event Features Free Latin Music, Food and Dance
Belmont University presents Fiesta Belmont: Nashville’s Latin Street Fair, proudly sponsored by Sam’s Club/Wal-Mart, on Saturday, May 5 from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. The street fair features a daylong schedule of Latin music performances, Latin food vendors, activities for children and Latin dance groups. Admission to the event on the Belmont University campus is free.
More than 20 vendors will be supplying Columbian, South American, Caribbean and Hispanic food for this, the third annual Fiesta Belmont. Featured are traditional folkloric dancers, along with a wide variety of Latin music such as mariachi, conjunto/cumbias and salsa. Also provided are children’s activities such as piñatas, face painting and inflatables—free of charge. Local bands featured are Danny Salazar, Afinke and Ingrid Salas with her group Black Shadow.
“This event celebrates the diversity that is becoming Nashville. It mirrors the authentic Latin street fairs, a showcase for local music and incredible food,” David Herrera, event director and instructor in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, said. “This event is becoming a major annual activity for Belmont University, providing a positive showcase for culture, food and interaction within the community. Part of the proceeds will go to the YMCA Hispanic Achievers program, benefiting area youth.”
Fiesta Belmont is Nashville’s largest Latin street fair and made possible through the generous support of Sam’s Club/Wal-Mart. “We are proud to participate in such a great event again this year,” Bill Perkins, market sales manager at Sam’s Club, said. “Our diverse communities and cultures make Nashville what it is today – a great place to live! Each year this event is getting bigger and better. Everyone needs to come out and enjoy the day! Don’t miss it!”
The Fiesta Belmont Latin music street fair takes place in the center of the Belmont campus. For more information about Fiesta Belmont or questions, please contact David Herrera at (615) 460-6908 or via e-mail at herrerad@mail.belmont.edu or check the event Web site at www.latinstreetfair.com for directions and more information.
Moore and Henderson Secure Grant for Belmont University
Pictured at right: Pat Moore, members of the Belmont University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team and Marcus Henderson
Patrick E. Moore, CLU, ChFC, of Brentwood, TN, and Marcus T. Henderson, Sr., LUTCF, of Nashville, TN, secured a $5,000 grant from the MDRT Foundation on behalf of Belmont University.
Moore, of Patrick E. Moore & Associates, Inc. and a 25-year MDRT member, and Henderson, of Henderson Financial Group Inc. and a 15-year MDRT member, are active supporters of Belmont University and nominated and endorsed the grant application. The MDRT Foundation grant will support the Belmont student-led Financial Literacy for At-Risk Youth program. The program is designed to utilize Belmont students to apply what they have learned in the classroom for the benefit of middle and high school urban youth. Members of Belmont’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) collegiate chapter work with faculty to educate youth on basic financial skills essential for lifelong success and have already had positive impacts on the lives of over one hundred at-risk children.
The program involves engaging Metro Nashville middle and high school students in hands-on activities and discussions related to building and maintaining budgets, as well as the use and potential abuse of consumer debt. Belmont’s SIFE chapter has already built a brief tool kit to supplement Junior Achievement’s Economics for Success program. This set of tools includes a budget simulation and several exercises that enable students to make real-world spending decisions that ultimately lead to understanding payment alternatives and their consequences. The goal is to expand this tool kit and ultimately make it available to students around the world. The initial target audience is Metro Nashville 9th graders in the “100 Kings” program. Created by the 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee organization, “100 Kings” is a leadership development program for middle and high school Black, male students.
This year, the MDRT Foundation will award more than $1 million in grants to more than 100 charities. Representing the MDRT Foundation, Pat Moore and Marcus Henderson presented this grant to Belmont University on April 18 at Belmont’s College of Business Administration Awards Day Ceremony.
Belmont University Hires School of Pharmacy Dean
Belmont University has named Dr. Philip E. Johnston the dean of the recently announced School of Pharmacy at Belmont. Johnston currently serves as the assistant director for education and research for the Department of Pharmaceutical Services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Johnston will begin his tenure at Belmont on June 1, 2007.
In addition to his role at Vanderbilt, Johnston also serves as clinical associate professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy, director of the Pharmacy Practice Residency Program at Vanderbilt and lecturer and course coordinator at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and the School of Physical Therapy at Belmont. Johnston has been a member of the VUMC Department of Pharmaceutical Services for the past 23 years. He has authored over 30 refereed articles in pharmacy and medical publications and two book chapters in the area of clinical pharmacy and pharmacy management.
“We are thrilled to welcome Phil Johnston to Belmont,” Belmont President Bob Fisher said. “We believe that his experience and skills make him just the right person to lead the development and operation of our new pharmacy school. The School of Pharmacy, with Phil as the inaugural Dean, will be a perfect complement to Belmont’s existing health sciences programs and we are excited to add the School of Pharmacy to our first-rate allied health offerings in the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing.”
Belmont University will open a School of Pharmacy and will begin enrolling students in the program for the 2008-09 academic year. The pharmacy program will join Belmont’s nursing, social work, physical therapy and occupational therapy programs available in the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing.
“It is my privilege to serve Belmont University, and the many students who will come here to earn their Doctor of Pharmacy degree,” Johnston said. “There is no better place than Nashville, an established world health care hub, to establish such a school. We are confident that students entering this program will acquire scientific knowledge, personal development, professional growth, management skills, and a passion for providing public needs. Many of the attributes already established at Belmont will be utilized to give our pharmacy students advantages in the health care arena, including other health care disciplines, the business program, connections with corporate health care and Belmont’s established mission.”
Martha Ingram Honored With Belmont Applause Award
Pictured at right: Martha Ingram receiving Applause Award from Belmont President Bob Fisher
The School of Music at Belmont University honored arts supporter Martha Ingram with the Applause Award at the annual President’s Concert Saturday, April 21, 2007. The Applause Award is given annually to a person or organization who has greatly benefited the arts community in Nashville. The President’s Concert honored the leadership of President Fisher and celebrated the talent and diversity of the School of Music at Belmont.
Ingram has been widely recognized as a leader in business, civic organizations and the arts. Ingram currently serves on the boards of the Nashville Ballet, the Nashville Opera Association, Tennessee Repertory Theatre and is chairman of the Nashville Symphony Association board of directors and the KeyBoard for Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music.
Ingram and her family are supporters of Belmont and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The Ingram Scholars program and the Ingram Diversity Leadership Scholarship provide Belmont student recipients with an academically challenging education that prepares them to engage and transform the world with intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.
Previous Applause Award honorees are: ASCAP, Eddy Arnold, Chet Atkins, BMI, Patricia Taylor Bullard, Cheekwood Botannical Garden and Museum of Art, James Cotham, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, Donna Hilley, Ronn Huff, Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, Nashville Symphony, Barbara Massey Rogers, SESAC, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Jerry Warren and Sam Wilson.
Belmont Alum Appointed AP Bureau Chief for Arizona and New Mexico
Belmont alumna and member of the New Century Journalism Advisory Board, Michelle Williams (’89), has been named chief of bureau for the Associated Press (AP) in Arizona and New Mexico. Williams will oversee the AP’s news and business operations and will be based in Phoenix.
Williams began her AP career in 1989 as an editorial assistant in the Nashville, Tenn., bureau. She advanced to a reporting position and in 1991 moved to Milwaukee, where she covered the arrest and trial of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. She later served as a correspondent in Chattanooga, Tenn., supervisory correspondent in San Diego and news editor for Tennessee before moving to Texas as news editor in 2003. She was promoted to assistant chief of bureau for Texas in 2006.
Belmont Students and Faculty Prepare for Three-Week Travel-Study Tour of Japan
Belmont University will initiate a new relationship in May with the Japan Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU) in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, about 50 minutes away from Kyoto. A group of 10 Belmont students with Dr. Jonathan Thorndike, Honors professor, and Dr. John Paine), professor of foreign languages and English, will spend three weeks in Japan. After one week at the JCMU, they will visit Otsu, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima and Tokyo. The Belmont group will be joined with a group from Michigan State University. The Asian Studies Program at Belmont hopes to offer regular opportunities to study in Japan in the future, either for the May term or for the entire semester at the JCMU.
The purpose of the May-term travel-study course is to study Japanese history and literature and to learn how historical Samurai codes of honor and values may have influenced modern Japan. The group will tour the Nissan Oppama Assembly Plant in Kanagawa as well as the Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo. Belmont’s cooperative program with the JCMU in Hikone allows for classroom instruction at the JCMU with field trips on weekends and afternoons. Students will begin learning the Japanese language and practice speaking basic Japanese phrases. The class will maximize on the unique opportunities created in traveling to relevant field trip sites as a primary teaching and learning model. The students will participate in lectures, class discussions, student research projects and visiting Japanese educators.
The JCMU is the product of a sister-state relationship between Shiga Prefecture, Japan, and the state of Michigan. The JCMU hosts exchange programs between Japanese and American high schools and colleges as well as conferences for business leaders: to contribute to the development of closer ties between the United States and Shiga Prefecture and Japan; to promote mutual understanding of the cultures, languages and customs of Japan and the United States in a location where people can come together for study and research; to serve as a focal point for international educational exchange open to the local community; and to carry out four major programs: a) academic program in Japanese language; b) special purpose courses, seminars and workshops; c) English language program for citizens of Shiga; d) visiting scholar program for faculty and graduate students from American colleges and universities.
Belmont Alumna and Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith Returns to Belmont
Belmont University alumna and Miss USA 2007, Rachel Smith, came back to Belmont today for the first time since winning the Miss USA crown last month. Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher proclaimed today “Rachel Smith Day” in recognition of her service to the Belmont community as a student and for all her successes since graduating last December.
Smith answered questions from Harry Chapman, director of development for major gifts at Belmont, and students in the audience and reconnected with friends and former professors during a reception following the program. She spoke about the Miss USA pageant experience, her time at Belmont and her plans for the future, including the upcoming Miss Universe pageant May 28 in Mexico City.
While a Belmont student, Smith served as managing editor of The Belmont Vision, Belmont’s student newspaper, interned for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for eight months and traveled to South Africa to work with students at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy.
Smith was an Ingram Scholar while a student at Belmont, a scholarship supported by Orrin Ingram and the Ingram family. Students named Ingram Scholars receive a scholarship to attend Belmont; in return, each student must perform a set number of volunteer hours at the Boys and Girls Club each month, although many Ingram Scholars (including Smith) spend much more time volunteering than required. This unique service-learning scholarship allows Belmont to give a quality education to well-deserving students while they give back to the greater community. Smith was one of the first Ingram Scholars to graduate from Belmont.
