Belmont University Holds Spring Commencement Ceremonies May 4

Degrees conferred during two ceremonies Saturday

Belmont University will hold its spring 2013 commencement ceremonies for graduate and undergraduate students on Saturday, May 4 in the Curb Event Center.

For the third consecutive year, the University will have two ceremonies on the same day. At 9:30 a.m. candidates from the College of Business Administration, Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and College of Visual and Performing Arts will have their degrees conferred. At 2:30 p.m. candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences, Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences and Nursing, College of Pharmacy, University College and Interdisciplinary Programs and School of Religion will have their degrees conferred.

Belmont celebrates the graduation of a total of 955 students. During the graduation ceremonies, 765 undergraduate, 105 master’s and 85 doctoral degrees will be conferred.

Tickets, which have been distributed to the graduating students, will be required for guests wishing to attend either event.

Dr. Robert C. Fisher, president of the University, will preside over the events and present the commencement address at both ceremonies. In addition, the Office of Alumni Relations will sponsor receptions–one at 7:30 a.m. prior to the morning commencement and another immediately following the 2:30 p.m. ceremony–for all graduates and their families in the Beaman Student Life Center.

Baccalaureate will take place at 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 3 in the Curb Event Center.

 **Updated May 6, 2013: Online video streams of the May4 graduation ceremonies are now available for viewing here.

Diversity in Higher Ed Expert to Offer BURS Keynote on ‘Creating a Culture of Discovery’

Named by TIME magazine in 2012 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, comes to Belmont next week as the keynote speaker for the 23^rd annual Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium (BURS) April 17-19. Each year BURS provides undergraduates an opportunity to conduct independent research and present it to a community of peers.

During BURS more than 200 student presenters from 27 different fields across campus will offer glimpses of their research in sessions scheduled to be held Wednesday and Thursday. Click here for a listing of all sessions by department. BURS will conclude on Friday with a 10 a.m. convocation address in MPAC by Hrabowski on “Creating a Culture of Discovery: The Excitement & Benefits of Undergraduate Research.”

Belmont Math Professor Dr. Glenn Acree chairs this year’s BURS. He said, “Belmont has a rich tradition of engaging students in research as a vital and energizing element of the undergraduate experience. BURS provides our campus an opportunity to celebrate the efforts and abilities of these students, impassioned by disciplines that provide them with tools and the expertise to explore our humanity and the world around us. I am delighted to have Dr. Freeman Hrabowski as this year’s keynote speaker as he challenges our community to ‘… explore the benefits and excitement of undergraduate research.’  I hope that our entire university will take this opportunity to experience the wealth of research talent our students will share during BURS 2013!”

Hrabowski’s research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He spoke in February at TED2013 offering his thoughts on setting high expectations for all students. Hrabowski chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the recent report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads, and he was recently named by President Obama to chair the newly created President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and universities and school systems nationally.

With philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, he co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program in 1988. The program is open to all high-achieving students committed to pursuing advanced degrees and research careers in science and engineering, and advancing underrepresented minorities in these fields. The program is recognized as a national model, and based on program outcomes, Hrabowski has authored numerous articles and co-authored two books, Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds (Oxford University Press), focusing on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science. He and UMBC were recently featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes, attracting national attention for the campus’s achievements involving innovation and inclusive excellence.

A child-leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Hrabowski was prominently featured in Spike Lee’s 1997 documentary, Four Little Girls, on the racially motivated bombing in 1963 of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, Hrabowski graduated at 19 from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received his M.A. (mathematics) and four years later his Ph.D. (higher education administration/statistics) at age 24.

Belmont Breaks Ground on New Academic and Dining Services Complex

Dining services partner Sodexo invests in project; Extensive campus growth contributes to University’s significant economic impact in Middle Tennessee

This afternoon Belmont University broke ground on a new academic and dining services complex that is anticipated to cost $55 million, bringing the University’s total investment in construction projects since 2003 to a staggering $442 million. In addition, campus dining services provider Sodexo announced today that the company is investing in the construction as part of their ongoing partnership with Belmont University.

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Like all of our projects, this new complex is being designed to add to the quality of life and the improvement of learning for the entire Belmont community, especially our students. I’m proud that these additions to our physical campus also impact our local economy and culture, creating thousands of jobs right here in Nashville and further cementing our city’s reputation as the Athens of the South.”

The new dining services complex will be one part of a four-story 116,000-square-foot building, and it will provide a seating capacity that is 2.5 times larger than the current campus cafeteria. Beyond supporting the construction costs, Sodexo also announced today that it would provide 20 full meal plans at no cost to support the University’s “Bridges to Belmont” program that was officially launched at an event this morning.

In discussing Sodexo’s 20-years as Belmont’s dining services provider, Sodexo Senior Vice President Fred Formichella said, “From day one we’ve been considered a partner, not a vendor like what sometimes occurs at other campuses. [Belmont’s] vision and mission talk about excellence, and you really work to be the best at what you do. We at Sodexo get that, and we look forward to being your partner for many years to come.”

Belmont Vice President and Chief of Staff Dr. Susan West added, “Focus groups were conducted with students, faculty and staff to get their ideas about dining options and the overall aesthetics for this new facility. That information was compiled and shared with the parties responsible for the building’s design. I am proud to report that, due to those good efforts, our campus community will benefit greatly from improved dining services in this facility. Anyone with additional suggestions or input is welcome to contact me as this project begins to take shape.”

Classrooms and faculty/staff offices will comprise approximately 70 percent of the building. Several academic programs—including music business and media studies—have been invited to submit proposals for how occupying the new space could creatively enhance their efforts or provide opportunities for greater innovation within their units.

The new facility will also include the construction of a 1,000 space underground parking garage. With this addition, Belmont will have added a grand total of more than 4,800 new parking spaces to campus since 2003. Site preparation has begun, and blasting for the garage is scheduled to begin April 1. The complex, which is aiming for LEED certification, is expected to open for the fall semester of 2015.

In addition to this project, Belmont continues to invest in the physical campus to enhance the resources the institution can offer its growing student body. The University reached a record-breaking enrollment of 6,647 students last fall, more than double the counts from a mere decade ago.

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Belmont Announces NCAA Tournament Watch Party

Belmont University announced today an NCAA Tournament Watch Party for Thursday evening, March 21, in the Curb Event Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the game, which will be broadcast live on TNT, is scheduled to tip-off at 6:20 p.m. Central. Refreshments will be available while they last, and the Watch Party will include in-game promotions and giveaways. This event is free and open to the public.

On March 9, Belmont men’s basketball team defeated Murray State, 70-68, in overtime to claim the 2013 OVC Men’s Basketball Championship and earn an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The victory marked win No. 1000 for the Belmont program, and the Bruins (26-6) will appear in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in eight years.

On Sunday, the team and their fans discovered their first opponent in the Big Dance will be the No. 6 seeded Arizona Wildcats during the annual nationally televised CBS “Selection Sunday” bracket broadcast. The Bruins, enjoying their highest NCAA seeding to date at No. 11, departed campus Tuesday morning for their flight to Salt Lake City, Utah where they’ll play Thursday’s second round game at the EnergySolutions Arena.

For the latest NCAA Tournament information, visit www.belmontbruins.com.

Belmont Mansion Showcases Restored Master Bedroom

After 40 years of planning and four years of labor, the Belmont Mansion has opened the restored master bedroom suite where Adelicia Acklen rested and stored clothes as well as where her children studied.

The mansion hosted a grand opening Friday morning with Executive Director Mark Brown (’77) answering questions on the restoration project. Renasant Bank is sponsoring a free open house with cake, storytelling and children’s craft at the mansion from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday to celebrate Adelicia Acklen’s 196^th birthday and the major restoration of Adelicia’s bedroom suite.

To return the suite to its original condition, workers reproduced faux wood grain, installed silver plating on door knobs and purchased drape trims, lace curtains and upholstery. Hand-woven carpet for Acklen’s bedroom was imported from England. Brown also spent the last few months searching for a free-standing towel rack, a school table for the School Room and another mid-19th century wall map, as the inventory listed two old maps.

The bedroom’s original furniture was returned to the bedroom suite. The high Victorian furniture was auctioned off when Acklen sold the residence in 1887 and stayed within 15 miles of campus for more than a century before Nashvillians Margaret Smith Warner and Overton T. Smith donated the pieces to the mansion.

“The wall papers were probably the most challenging project because it was impossible to reproduce with more traditional methods like silk screening,” Brown said. (more…)