McWhorter Giving Society Established to Support Health Sciences

Belmont University’s Office of Advancement recently established the Clayton McWhorter Society, a giving society intended to further the work of Belmont’s health science programs. The new group, which held its inaugural membership lunch on May 2, is named in honor of long-time Belmont supporter Clayton McWhorter and will directly benefit the College of Health Sciences & Nursing, the College of Pharmacy and the new MBA for Healthcare Professionals.

Clayton McWhorter (left) and Dr. Richard Treadway (right) presented the first McWhorter Society Distinguished Service Award to Barbara Massey Rogers (center) at the close of the May 2 luncheon.

Clayton McWhorter’s leadership and role in the development of healthcare industry giants HealthTrust, Inc. and HCA have made a strong impression in the field of healthcare. In 1996, Clayton, his son Stuart, and a close business friend created the venture capital firm Clayton Associates, which quickly evolved into a hub of strategic business development activities related to new firms in healthcare, technology and diversified services.

His relationship with the University began in the late ’80s through an invitation from Jack Massey “to get involved with Belmont,” and 25 years later, Clayton McWhorter continues his generous response to Massey’s challenge through his support of a variety of programs and initiatives.

Belmont Vice President for University Advancement Dr. Bo Thomas said, “While Clayton’s many achievements are based on sound business principles and bone-deep ethical standards, in the end it is his commitment to making a difference in the lives of others and giving back to the community that has sealed his enduring success and legacy. Belmont University counts itself fortunate to be among the many who have benefited from Clayton’s generous spirit and friendship. Through the McWhorter Society, Clayton is now challenging others to ‘to get involved with Belmont’ just as Jack Massey encouraged him to do years ago.”

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Coaches Discuss How ‘Win At All Costs’ Mentality Can Compromise Integrity

Men’s basketball coaches from Division I private universities Belmont, Vanderbilt and Butler, along with ESPN college basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes, shared their perspectives on being truthful in athletics as the Edward C. Kennedy Center for Business Ethics and Belmont University Athletics hosted their first Integrity in Sports panel discussion Wednesday in the Maddox Grand Atrium.

NewsChannel 5 sports anchor Steve Layman moderated the discussion among the men he dubbed “caretakers of the game.” The panel debated the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics and maintaining integrity and honor amidst growing pressures to win. Participants also discussed how integrity spans recruiting, practice, scheduling, road travel, balance with academics, NCAA compliance, coaches’ personal conduct and student behavioral issues.

“Things aren’t going to change until the coaching heroes talk about doing things honestly and decently,” said Belmont University men’s basketball head coach Rick Byrd. “College athletics is supposed to be a part of the college educational experience, and coaches should be held just as accountable as the mathematics professor.”

Byrd added a university’s athletic integrity starts with its hiring of coaches.

Butler University men’s basketball head coach Brad Stevens said instead of simply sitting in the rows behind athletic teams in arenas, university presidents and athletic directors  should not “waver in accountability in day to day” and be the “tone setters” to trickle down the way they want student athletes to be treated and to behave.

The coaches also discussed a “win at all costs mentality” that pushes some coaches into compromising to keep their positions and how social media and bloggers amplify wins and losses taking them beyond the court. (more…)

World Culture Fest Showcases Belmont’s Diversity

Belmont hosted its first World Culture Fest on March 22 in Neely Dining Hall in an effort to showcase the campus’ diversity.

The event was an opportunity for students and employees to demonstrate culture and heritage through dance, music, fashion and other art forms. Several student organizations had booths representing different world cultures for students to learn, ask questions, examine study abroad opportunities that would immerse them in the culture and participate in a cultural activity.

The Black Student Association, Rumi Club and International Business Society co-sponsored the festival in partnership with the Student Government Association and Student Activities Programming Board.

Among the performances were spoken word, the Argentine Tango, a Latin American dance medley,  a New Zealand Spinning performance art, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. step performance as well as songs in Spanish, Japanese and Swahili. Booths and tables represented Southeast Asian, Irish, Caribbean, Persian, Japanese, Russian, African, Latin American, Chinese and Middle Eastern cultures, and students served food and provided activities including origami, calligraphy and Henna tattoos. (more…)

Belmont Ranked Among Top Undergraduate Business Schools

For the fourth time , Belmont University’s undergraduate School of Business achieved a Top 100 national ranking in Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s annual report on “The Best Undergrad B-Schools” in the U.S. Belmont is now the highest ranked business school in the state of Tennessee. Belmont bumped up two spots from its 2011 ranking to No. 97.

To identify the top undergraduate business programs, Bloomberg Businessweek uses a methodology that has not changed much from its first ranking in 2006. It includes nine measures of student satisfaction, post-graduation outcomes and academic quality. BusinessWeek uses a comprehensive methodology for its rankings calculations that includes nine distinct measures. Overall, the magazine surveys around 85,000 graduating seniors, who describe the quality of teaching, and more than 500 corporate recruiters, who report which business schools produce the best graduates. The magazine also researches the median starting salaries for recent graduates and the number of graduates from each program who go on to attend national top tier MBA programs.

BusinessWeek’s complete rankings of the “Best Undergraduate B-Schools” including the full rankings methodology, interactive tables, in-depth profiles and a discussion forum are available at www.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate.

Spring Break in Cuba? Students Explore Emergence of Private Enterprise

In the first of its kind for Belmont, 21 undergraduate students spent their Spring Breaks in one of the few remaining communist countries, Cuba, studying  “The Emergence of Private Enterprise within the Boundaries of a Communist Economy.” The purpose of this course was to expose students to a unique study abroad academic experience.  Cuba’s economic model has struggled since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and its centrally controlled, state-run economy was in trouble even before the global financial crisis hit in 2008-09.

“During the week the group had the opportunity to hear from professors at the University of Havana, from a retired Cuban  Supreme Court Justice  and other officials who shared their own perspectives about the challenges and opportunities [recent economic] changes mean for Cuban society,”  said Jose Gonzalez who teaches entrepreneurship and led the trip jointly with Dr. Marieta Velikova.

In September 2010, the Cuban government announced the elimination of up to 1.3 million jobs at state-run companies. To counter these massive cuts President Raul Castro instituted a range of economic reforms intended to allow greater private economic activity to reduce government expenditures, increase productivity and raise wages. These free market reforms are aimed at kick-starting the island’s economy.

Castro also opened up the door to private ownership of small business by creating 178 categories of self-employment. Since then, more than 371,000 private business licenses have been issued to micro entrepreneurs, and especially in Havana the number of small businesses ranging from beauty shops, mechanics and small retailers has swelled. After more than 50 years of restrictions, these small private enterprises have been granted the freedom to market some products and some flexibility to hire employees. However, few, if any of these new entrepreneurs, has had any experience with capitalism after 50 years in a Marxist economy.

Gonzalez added, ““The Study Abroad program was a unique opportunity to explore and experience first-hand how this nascent entrepreneurial activity is playing out in the marketplace. While these initiatives  are not a return to capitalism and remain a long way short of the Chinese and Vietnamese market reforms, they are fast taking root around Havana’s prompting Cubans all over to ponder how to get in on the wave.”