Belmont University | FYI


April 3, 2009

BELMONT NEWS


McCullough Enchants Large Crowd with History Lesson
McCullough1.jpgDavid McCullough, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and New York Times’ best-selling author, appeared Monday night to more than 3,000 people in the Curb Event Center arena, enchanting them all with his charm, historical knowledge, educational philosophy and, surprisingly, even his singing. The final keynote presenter in Belmont’s “Art of Being Free” lecture series celebrating the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate, McCullough spoke on “Leadership and the History You Don’t Know.” The crowd was populated by numerous special guests including Mayor Karl Dean, former Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist and McCullough's wife, Rosalie.

McCullough, who opened his remarks by commenting on how smitten he was with Nashville, focused his attention on the need for a much stronger emphasis on history in children's education. He noted that revitalizing history education in the U.S. is part of his life's mission because it is through the lens of history that Americans can truly find identity. "The history of our country is the most enthralling subject imaginable, but it's often made tedious and irrelevant... We're raising children in every part of the country who are by and large historically illiterate."

Quoting from Dr. Margaret McFarland, the mentor of Fred Rogers, McCullough said, "What matters most in the classroom is attitude, and attitude isn't taught, it's caught." Rather than increased salaries alone, McCullough advocated that educators deserve more respect and should be required to major in a subject, becoming experts in a specific area of knowledge beyond education alone. Still, he also strongly encouraged that education must occur outside classrooms; parents and families must actively engage. "We have to show [our children] what we love."

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SIFE Students Reign for Fourth Consecutive Year as USA Regional Champions
Team now prepares for national exposition, competition in May
The Belmont University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team returned to Nashville as SIFE USA Regional Champions for the fourth consecutive year after participating in competition in Atlanta on March 30. The event was one of the 17 SIFE USA Regional Competitions being held across the United States during March and April. SIFE is an international organization that mobilizes students around the world to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. The Belmont team will now advance to the SIFE USA National Exposition to be held May 10-12 in Philadelphia.

Dr. John Gonas, assistant professor of finance and the 2008 Tennessee Professor of the Year, serves as a Sam Walton Fellow responsible for advising Belmont's SIFE students. “I am so blessed to be affiliated with these SIFE students,” Gonas said. “To me they embody the Belmont spirit – taking what they’re learning in the classroom and unconditionally serving those around us. Every day I’m amazed at how passionately they engage and strive to build meaningful and sustainable relationships with our community partners. I think this opportunity is a wonderful added dimension to the college experience and can’t wait to see what these students do after graduation.” Click here for more on this story.

Ninth Annual Family Literacy Day Set for April 4
‘Read With Me’ event, book giveaway 1-4 p.m. in Edgehill’s Rose Park
Belmont University's Ninth Annual Family Literacy Day will take place, rain or shine, on Sat., April 4 from 1-4 p.m. at Rose Park in the Edgehill community. The event, called “Read With Me,” is aimed at children from pre-K through grade 6 and their families and is designed to celebrate the joys of reading with a free afternoon of interactive story times, crafts and games. The primary focus of the event is Reading Circles, hosted by various campus groups such as the Student Government Association, fraternities and sororities, the Black Student Alliance and the Student Athlete Council. Each group picks a different theme and offers a variety of books for all ages.

Tim Stewart, Belmont’s director of service-learning, said, “Every year, more and more Belmont groups and students get involved. This year we’re especially excited to have Book ‘Em, Dollar General and General Mills as sponsors since their new partnership will provide free books on Saturday to hundreds of kid in attendance.” Click here for more on this story.

Belmont Supports 'Earth Hour' With Darkened Campus
EarthHourLight.jpgBelmont University and student organization Service Corps celebrated Earth Hour this past Saturday by hosting a special event featuring live acoustic performances from student acts Chadasha and Robert Kelly. The March 28 Earth Hour was a global movement in which millions of people around the world turned out their lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. local time to make a statement of concern about the planet and climate change. The Belmont celebration took place on the sixth floor of the Curb Event Center garage, providing a perfect view of the downtown Nashville skyline. Click here for more on this story and to see photos from Saturday night's campus event.


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