A reporter from The French Protestant recently interviewed Don Cusic on the history of gospel music. The story will publish this fall.
The Gordon E. Inman Center Unveiled at Belmont University
The Gordon E. Inman Center, the new home of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing, officially opened this morning at Belmont University. After 20 months of construction, the $22.5 million facility will house Belmont’s nursing, social work, occupational therapy and physical therapy programs.
Gordon E. Inman, a successful Tennessee business leader, donated $10.5 million to the project -the largest single donor gift at Belmont – and HCA’s TriStar Health System contributed $7.5 million. Belmont has also joined with three area colleges and universities – Volunteer State Community College, Trevecca Nazarene University and Nashville State Technical Community College – in the Partners in Nursing consortium. Through the consortium, students at these area schools will divide their time between their respective schools and Belmont where they will complete their nursing education.
According to a study by the Tennessee Independent Colleges & University Association (TICUA), by the year 2020 there will be a shortage of nearly 9,500 nurses in Tennessee. With the opening of The Center, Belmont will be able to increase its enrollment of student nurses from 250 to 600, giving access and opportunity to the next generations of health care leaders.
“This is a great and important day in the city of Nashville,” Mayor Bill Purcell said. “This new health care connection will bring the best and the brightest health care professionals to our community.”
Students will receive their education in state-of-the-art labs and classrooms that include lift equipment to teach student safety, simulated mannequins that respond to basic stimuli and apartments to teach social work students how to work with clients with special needs. Equipment for The Center was provided through The Memorial Foundation of Hendersonville, Tenn., through a $500,000 technology grant.
“The building is beautiful,” Gordon Inman said. “But it’s not the main purpose. It will provide for many nurses and health care professionals for many years to come, long after we are all gone. That is why we’re here.”
Click here for slide show of June 9, 2006 opening event.
- Video of remarks from the opening event are available here in the following formats:
- Windows Media
- Quicktime Movie
Past Watchful Dragons Nominated for Two Awards
Belmont University’s Past Watchful Dragons conference, held on campus last November, is a finalist in two categories for the international Imperishable Flame Awards given by the Northeast Tolkien Society, Heren Istarion. Past Watchful Dragons is repesensented in the Tolkien/Inklings Scholarship category and the Tolkien Inspired Creation Category.
Click here to vote for Past Watchful Dragons. Voting will be open for the next three weeks.
Belmont/Rose Park Update
The Tennessean reports today on a recent development between Belmont University and Metro’s Rose Park and Belmont’s proposal to renovate and use the Rose Park facilities for athletic events. Click here to read the latest news.
Alumni Named Executive Director of Philharmonic
School of Music alumnus J. L. Nave III (’94) was recently named executive director of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Indiana. Prior to his appointment, Nave served as director of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.
Volman Named to Leadership Music Board of Directors
Mark Volman, adjunct instructor in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, has been accepted as a member of the Board of Directors for Leadership Music. Leadership Music brings together an experienced group of music business leaders to exchange ideas and viewpoints to further their understanding of current issues and future opportunities. They provide the infrastructure which, through education and networking initiatives, promote the health of this industry and inspire and motivate leaders to action.
Men’s Athletic Teams Place Second in Atlantic Sun
Belmont University came in second behind East Tennessee State University (ETSU )for the Jesse C. Fletcher Trophy, an award for the top men’s program in the Atlantic Sun conference. The award is based on a points system that calculates teams’ performances in the regular season.
Sturgis Named Award Finalist
Dr. Amy Sturgis, adjunct instructor of interdisciplinary studies, is a finalist for the inaugural Northeast Tolkien Society’s Imperishable Flame Award for Tolkien/Inklings Scholarship in 2005. Sturgis was nominated for her work in managing the Past Watchful Dragons International Conference held at Belmont University in November. She has also given talks about J.R.R. Tolkien at various venues, including The One Ring Celebration and assorted radio programs such as NPR’s “Talk of the Nation.”
International Country Music Conference Honors Cardwell, Flippo
Academic papers examine politics, outlaws, Americana and the MuzikMafia
The International Country Music Conference (ICMC) honored longtime country music journalist Chet Flippo and also the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Nancy Cardwell Friday with the Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism, as part of the annual conference at Belmont University, now in its 27th year.
Cardwell is the Charlie Lamb honoree in the contemporary category while Flippo, currently the editorial director of CMT and CMT.com, is the Charlie Lamb honoree in the career category. The Charlie Lamb award, funded by Gary and Peggy Walker of Nashville’s Great Escape record store, is named in honor of the founder of two key early publications devoted to country music – The Music Reporter and The Sound Format. To music journalism, Lamb also introduced the “Big 100” concept and the “bullet” which identified a fast rising record.
The Music Reporter was the first to use two-color and three-color process printing. Lamb also organized the first disk jockey convention in Nashville, and played an important role in the careers of Elvis Presley, Hank Snow, Kitty Wells, Brenda Lee and Marty Robbins.
The conference featured a strong line-up of academic papers from those who study country music. The conference was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Charles Wolfe, a long time attendee and one of the premier historians of country music.
The conference also featured a special panel presentation of “The Outlaws,” celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the album by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser that was the first “Gold” album by country artists from Nashville. Key figures in the Outlaw Movement in the mid-1970s sat on the panel: Hazel Smith, Chet Flippo, Richard “Pete” Peterson, Don Cusic and moderator Ronnie Pugh.
The Belmont Book Award for the Best Book in Country Music in year 2005 was presented Friday at the conference luncheon. The “Lifetime Achievement” award for “linking books with country music” was presented to Richard “Pete” Peterson. The Charlie Lamb Excellence in Country Music Journalism Awards was presented to Flippo and Cardwell.
The keynote speaker for the conference was Lance Ledbetter who spoke on “Standing in the Presence of the Past: Dust-to-Digital and the Preservation of Old Time Music.”
Complete conference schedule: Click here.
Belmont University SIFE Team Wins at National Competition
The Belmont University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team won the Rookie of the Year award at the 2006 SIFE USA National Exposition in Kansas City, Mo., Monday. The team also was named first runner up in the Entrepreneurship competition, behind Drury University, the national champion two years in a row.
The entrepreneurship competition awards the SIFE teams that were most effective in teaching entrepreneurship skills through outreach projects in their communities. As the first runner up in entrepreneurship, Belmont’s SIFE team was recognized at the national exposition and received a $2,000 cash award and trophy.
The Belmont University SIFE team, under the leadership of assistant finance professor, John Gonas, was created a year ago and qualified for the national exposition after winning first place in the Southeast regional SIFE competition in April.
The Belmont SIFE team projects included a volunteer income tax assistance program for low-income and elderly taxpayers, raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa by generating funds to support relief efforts, assisting the Nashville-based non-profit organization, Thistle Farms, by helping employees develop a business plan, providing graduating college seniors with information regarding finances and money management and assisting minority-owned businesses in the greater Nashville area with their basic business needs. For a complete report on the SIFE team’s projects, click here.
“The Belmont College of Business SIFE team exceeded all of our expectations for their first year. The team consisted of enthusiastic, smart and truly caring students who worked hard to develop the quality and content of their presentations,” Dr. Pat Raines, dean of the College of Business Administration, said. “The projects they completed were meaningful and fulfilling and were highly valued by the organizations that received them. From helping Mama Turney’s Pies organize their financials to helping Thistle Farms at the Magdeline House develop a successful grassroots marketing program, the projects were exemplary of the SIFE mission.”
SIFE is an international, non-profit organization active on over 1,000 college and university campuses in more than 40 countries. SIFE students form teams that serve their communities by developing projects that take what they are learning in their classrooms about business and use it to solve real world problems for real people. The SIFE program concentrates on five areas: entrepreneurship, market economics, success skills, financial literacy and business ethics. Each year, the teams present their projects at competition where they are judged on creativity, innovation and effectiveness.
