(left to right) Belmont Board of Trustees Chairman Marty Dickens, School of Religion Dean Darrell Gwaltney and CAS Dean Bryce Sullivan unveil an artist rendering of the new Wedgewood Academic Center at a groundbreaking ceremony on May 4.

The Consulate-General of Japan in Nashville recently donated a Japanese cherry blossom tree to Belmont University to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the gift of cherry blossom trees from Japan to the United States. The tree was one of 20 trees donated this year in Tennessee to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the first cherry tree gifts. Those trees were planted on the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. They are a symbol of the continued close relationship between the two countries. The tree donated to Belmont and planted near the Leu Visual Arts building is a direct offspring of the Yoshino cherry trees.