Belmont University | FYI


January 18, 2008

BELMONT NEWS


Click on the headlines below to read the full stories behind each news brief.

Hall of Fame Alumnus Discusses 'A Christian Perspective on Race'
Al Allen.jpgAlumnus and Athletic Hall of Famer Alaric (Al) Allen graduated from Belmont in 1996 after an outstanding basketball career and began working in mortgage banking. Allen and his wife Jude volunteer with an inner-city ministry, and he also serves as the executive director of Pass the Salt, a marketplace ministry that encourages Christians to be Jesus in their jobs. Allen has published two books, A Father’s Epistles and The Salt Journal, but his talk focused on the root causes of racism and the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Introduced by Coach Rick Byrd, Allen began by acknowledging all the supposed sources of racism—economic, social, cultural, moral and civil rights issues—before confirming that the real root is a spiritual problem. "The problem is not racism, it's rejection," Allen said. "We were created, every single one of us, to be a child of God, but everything this world tells us says otherwise. It's a spiritual problem, and the world can't solve a spiritual problem." (For more on this story, click the headline link.)

Nashville Shakespeare Festival Begins 20th Season with ‘Hamlet’ at Troutt Theater
nashvilleshakes.jpgThe Nashville Shakespeare Festival kicks off its 20th anniversary season this weekend with a winter production of Hamlet in Belmont University’s Troutt Theater. The production, the Festival’s first public winter production since 2002 and its first as a professional theater in residence at Belmont, “promises to be friendly to first-time viewers and intriguing to the seasoned Shakespeare fan,” said Hamlet director Denice Hicks.

The cast, which includes four Belmont students in addition to seven professional actors, will present their characters such that each is focused on helping Hamlet tell his story. This is the first time that the Festival has worked with Belmont on a production, and by making the Troutt Theater its new winter home, the Festival will be able to further its mission of not only entertaining, but also educating. (For more on this story, click the headline link.)

Senior Journalism Student Named 2008 Chips Quinn Scholar
Senior journalism major Jeannette Ceja was recently named a 2008 Chips Quinn Scholar, a distinction awarded to only 20 students nationwide each year. The Chips Quinn program is sponsored by the Freedom Forum and provides internships, training and scholarships to college students of color who are pursuing careers in print journalism. The program offers special support and encouragement that will open doors to news careers and bring greater diversity to the nation's daily newspaper newsrooms.

Chips Quinn Scholars spend two weeks in Washington, D.C., for training, experiential learning and mentoring by news veterans. The Freedom Forum then matches nominees with participating newspapers from across the country for paid internships. Upon Ceja’s return from Washington, she will spend ten weeks reporting and editing at The Tennessean newspaper. (For more on this story, click the headline link.)

ACPE Authorizes Next Step for School of Pharmacy Accreditation Application
The American Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) informed Belmont University leadership today that its application package, which was presented to the council at last week’s Board of Directors meeting in Tampa, satisfies all established criteria, paving the way for ACPE to schedule a site visit on campus between mid-March and early April. ACPE is the official regulatory body that accredits all colleges of pharmacy in the United States, and the early spring site visit will be the last hurdle Belmont’s School of Pharmacy (BUSOP) must clear before seating its first class in August 2008.

Belmont’s School of Pharmacy Dean Dr. Phil Johnston, who was one of the key university leaders to present the BUSOP application to the accreditation council, said, “Our meeting with the accreditation council went very well, and we are gratified to have reached this milestone. Our faculty is now hard at work preparing our academic program and our facilities. We are all very excited about the opportunity we have to serve the people of Tennessee by training professional pharmacists to serve in their communities." (For more on this story, click the headline link.)

Entrepreneurship Program Wins National Awards
USASBE.JPGBelmont University’s Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business Administration was recently selected by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) as the winner of the National Model Undergraduate Program. USASBE, which presented the award at its national conference in San Antonio, recognizes excellence in entrepreneurship education in seven categories including undergraduate, MBA and Ph.D. programs. The USASBE Excellence in Education Awards are sponsored by Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE).

Belmont Professors Dr. Mark Schenkel and Dr. Jeff Cornwall along with Chris Gray also won the Outstanding Case Study award for the instructional case, “The Bun Lady,” a study of Cordia Harrington, president and CEO of the Tennessee Bun Company in Dickson. Harrington, who delivered a keynote address at the conference, was named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. (For more on this story, click the headline link.)


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