Belmont University | FYI


January 30, 2009

BELMONT NEWS


Women’s Basketball Celebrates 40 Years
5.JPGFrom Striplin to the Curb Event Center, Belmont College to Belmont University, Rebels/Rebelettes to Bruins and NAIA to the NCAA, it's been quite a 40-year ride in Belmont’s women's basketball program.

Women's basketball's history and growth were recently celebrated at a Jan. 24 reunion in the Maddox Grand Atrium that found 81 former players from 12 states in attendance along with their families and Belmont's current team.

Betty Wiseman, assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator, established one of the first women’s basketball programs in the state at Belmont in 1968. At only 23, she entered then-President Herbert Gabhart's office and pleaded for a women's basketball program. He not only approved her idea, but he put her in charge. "Thinking now about 40 years, I ask myself, 'Can it be?' It is!!"

Belmont_WomensBasketball_reunion09_198.jpgWiseman (pictured in the middle of players from Belmont's first women's basketball team) and current head coach Tony Cross both entertained the more than 200 individuals at the reunion with stories and highlights from the program's 40 years. During her 16 seasons as head coach, Wiseman compiled a record of 248-152 and led the team to four consecutive berths in the NWIT from 1973-1977. Wiseman recalled how the early teams ate sack lunches for pre- and post-game meals and traveled in used station wagons. Not all of her memories were humorous, however, as she also noted how one team faced segregation when a restaurant refused to serve the team’s black players. “We all got up and left, didn’t eat and I didn’t pay.”

Cross, who has been at Belmont since 1984 and has more than 500 wins with the program, joked about his own dedication to winning, remembering how one former team feared they might not get dinner after a particularly bad loss. He also talked about the long history and tradition of Belmont’s women’s basketball, praising the alumnae for their role in building such an exceptional program. “Take pride and honor in what you’ve added to this program. Your presence is still being felt.”

Former players enjoyed the reunion as well, mingling with old friends and telling stories from their college days. Dianna Burton Lewis ('71), who brought with her to the reunion the Chuck Taylor athletic shoes from her playing days, said, "What I remember most about Belmont's first year of women's basketball is the fun we had! I remember how we got ‘trampled’ by Midwestern in Iowa but then improved so much together as a team that we beat them by three at our place. We didn't realize then what an important journey we were helping to start. The reunion was wonderful! As I sat in the gym watching the games with friends from Belmont days, I really felt at home.” Click here to read the rest of this story.

Belmont Senior Prepares for White House Job
s34103718_30028392_1945.jpgSenior political science and journalism major Ameshia Cross received an unexpected but extraordinary gift the week before Christmas: an offer to work in the White House.

Cross, a Chicago native, admits her lofty political aspirations started at an early age, but she never anticipated having them realized so soon. In fact, she planned to continue her education in the fall at the University of Chicago Law School, where she was recently accepted. All that changed when David Axelrod, a senior advisor to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for his campaign, called in December to offer Cross a job working in the West Wing as an assistant to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

“At first I didn’t believe it was him,” Cross said with a laugh. “I hadn’t applied for a position at the White House or with the new administration so the call was completely unexpected.”

An Engaged Scholar who is involved in numerous organizations across campus, Cross caught the attention of Axelrod and others through her experience to date. She first interned for Barack Obama when he ran for Senate in 2004, and she was chosen as one of 35 university fellows to travel the country campaigning for Obama last summer. As president of Belmont’s College Democrats, Cross met briefly with Obama during his campus visit for the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate. The new president and his road to the White House are also the subject of Cross’ senior thesis. Click here for more on this story.

Scarlett Leadership Institute Hosts Judy Woodruff on Campus
JudyWoodruff.jpgThe Scarlett Leadership Institute at Belmont University recently hosted esteemed broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff on campus for guest lectures for members of their Executive Learning Networks. Speaking Thursday morning in the Frist Lecture Hall, Woodruff tackled the topic "Inside Politics 2009: The New President's First 100 Days."

A long-time Washington, D.C. and White House correspondent, Woodruff congratulated the university on successfully hosting the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate but also admitted to knowing about Belmont well before Oct. 7. "Belmont came on my radar screen last March when my alma mater Duke was scared within an inch of its life by your basketball team."

She opened her talk with an analysis of how the United States is currently experiencing both "the best of times and the worst of times." Though journalists covering the political arena are notoriously jaded and cynical, Woodruff commented that she and her colleagues have never seen such excitement and hope surrounding a new administration. However, the country is also experiencing an economy in shambles and numerous international concerns.

In addition to surrounding himself with "smart stars," Woodruff noted that President Obama himself exudes a confident calm in the midst of crisis though he and his counterparts must avoid the temptations of arrogance. "He by all accounts is an exceptionally secure man: no drama Obama," she said. "Writing his first book, Dreams From My Father, may have been a kind of catharsis, enabling him to overcome any self-doubts from his history."

Woodruff has covered politics and other news for more than three decades at CNN, NBC and PBS. Most recently, she signed on as a senior correspondent and 2008 political editor for the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." "After four decades in journalism, I can't recall a time more exciting or more perilous, and I can't wait to cover it."


    For more stories from the Belmont News Archive, click here.