October 30, 2009

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Belmont Students Join Hanson’s ‘Take the Walk’ Tour to Raise Awareness of Poverty and AIDS in Africa
On Tues., Oct. 27, students from Belmont and Vanderbilt universities joined the band Hanson for its ‘Take the Walk’ tour, a barefoot optional, one-mile walk to raise awareness of poverty and AIDS in Africa. About 300 participants gathered in Belmont’s Beaman Student Life Center where Hanson addressed the crowd and started the walk. Walkers, many of whom chose to go without shoes, started at the Bell Tower and ended at the Vanderbilt University bookstore where Hanson signed their book, Take the Walk, and performed three acoustic songs. Click here to view video of the event on Belmont’s official YouTube channel.
The walk raised funds to support one of five causes, with one dollar donated by the ‘Take the Walk’ campaign for each walker. The band educated students on the issues surrounding the walk and also promoted existing efforts on the Belmont and Vanderbilt campuses and in the Nashville community such as United: For Change. To see a gallery of images from this event, click here.

BELMONT NEWS

Belmont’s Steve Lasley Wins CFO Award
Steve Lasley, Belmont’s vice president of finance and operations, was named today as a winner in the Nashville Business Journal‘s (NBJ) inaugural CFO Awards in the Nonprofit category. The awards banquet was held downtown at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.
NBJ‘s CFO Awards honor financial professionals in Middle Tennessee for outstanding performance in their roles as corporate financial stewards. The nomination letter for Lasley noted, “[Steve’s] financial management skills have supported the university’s core functions and resulted in significant achievements in the areas of revenue generation, cost savings, new construction, debt management and endowment growth.”
Lasley was chosen as one of 23 finalists in five categories who set the standard of excellence for Middle Tennessee CFOs. Judges then selected one winner from each group of finalists. Other nominees in the Nonprofit category included Robert K. Stillwell, Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority; Michael Kirby, Nashville Symphony; Mary Jo Wiggins, American Red Cross, Nashville Area Chapter; and Spence Maners, Fisk University.
Belmont Launches Extensive ‘Be a Fan’ Campaign to Promote Basketball Season Ticket Sales
With the start of basketball season only weeks away, Belmont University has launched the most extensive marketing campaign in Athletics history to promote men’s and women’s basketball and sell season tickets. Numerous efforts are underway in the “Be a Fan” campaign to raise awareness of Belmont basketball. For the first time, all season ticket buyers will receive the “Bruin Edge,” a coupon book with an estimated $250 value, double the price of the ticket itself. Deals include discounts to numerous local hotels and restaurants as well as to entertainment venues like the Nashville Zoo and TPAC.
“While the ‘Bruin Edge’ certainly adds extraordinary value, it’s only one of a number of reasons fans should consider purchasing a season ticket to Bruin basketball,” said Pamela Johnson, director of university marketing and special initiatives. “Most importantly, the proceeds the university receives from season tickets go toward athletic scholarships, making those tickets an easy, affordable way to support Belmont’s fine student-athletes. Plus, anyone who’s ever attended a Bruins game will tell you that it’s hard to find a better night of competitive sports and family-oriented fun.”
In addition to the “Bruin Edge” coupon book, the “Be a Fan” basketball campaign includes 10 billboards placed around Nashville, all featuring Belmont mascot Bruiser holding a mask of his own face. Similarly themed ads will soon begin running in Nashville’s City Paper and on the Belmont.edu Web site with numerous celebrities appearing with their own Bruiser masks as part of a season-long contest. Individuals will be asked to guess who is behind the mask in each monthly advertisement, Nov.-Feb. They can then turn in the official form with their guess at any Belmont home basketball game for a chance to win a getaway weekend for two to anywhere in the continental United States. The prize will be given away at the Bruins’ last home game on Feb. 27, 2010. Click here for more on this story.
IEBA Provides Scholarships for Curb College Students
Belmont University announced this week that the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) is funding new scholarship opportunities for students in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. In addition to the Harry A. “Hap” Peebles/IEBA Scholarship Endowment established in 1998, IEBA has established three new endowed scholarships at Belmont: The J.P. Williams/IEBA Scholarship Endowment, The Don Romeo/IEBA Scholarship Endowment and the George Moffett/IEBA Scholarship Endowment. Collectively totaling more than $200,000, the IEBA scholarships will provide much needed financial support to Curb College students. Picture l-r in the photo are Clyde Rolston (CEMB), Tiffany Davis (IEBA), Barry Jeffrey (IEBA), Gil Cunningham (IEBA) and Harry Chapman (Development).
“IEBA is proud to support the next generation of music industry leaders while paying homage to those that have shaped live entertainment into the force that it is today,” said Tiffany Davis, executive director, IEBA. “We are so happy to partner with Belmont University through the Harry A. Peebles, Don Romeo, J.P. Williams and George Moffett Scholarships. Our goal is to nurture students to become thriving members of the entertainment community, and Belmont is a perfect partner.” Click here for more on this story.

ACHIEVERS

Click here for stories on the recent accomplishments of Belmont’s students, faculty, staff and alumni.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Enter to Win Dollar General Gift Card and $10,000 for a Literacy Organization
The holiday season is quickly approaching, and you can help out children in the local community by donating your new and gently used books, or by entering a contest to win a $10,000 prize for a literacy organization.
You can enter the Improving Life Sweepstakes for a chance to win a $250 Dollar General gift card for yourself, as well as enter to win one of three $10,000 prizes to help literacy programs in the local community. If you win a $10,000 prize, you can select Book’em, a local literacy organization that gave out more than 7,500 books to children last holiday season to receive the donation. Visit Dollar General Improving Lives Sweepstakes to enter the contest. You can enter once every day until Nov. 13.
You can also donate new or very gently used books directly to Book’em. For more information, visit www.Bookem-kids.org.

COMING UP

Friday, October 30, 8 p.m.
Wait Until Dark
By Frederick Knott, this mystery thriller’s heroine is Susy Hendrix, a blind Greenwich Village housewife who becomes the target of three thugs searching for the heroin hidden in a doll. Tickets are $4 for faculty, staff, alumni and non-Belmont students. Additional performances will be held Sat., Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. as well as Sun., Nov. 1 at 2 p.m.
Black Box Theater
Saturday, October 31, 3-5 p.m. and 8-10 p.m.
Fall Follies
MPAC
Sunday, November 1, 4 p.m.
Chorale
Belmont Heights Baptist Church Sanctuary
Tuesday, November 3, 4 p.m.
Paradise in Change: Antarctica’s Life and Ecosystems Past, Present and Future
Dr. Molly Miller from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Vanderbilt University has a long history of Antarctic research. As part of Belmont’s Paradise Lost theme, she will comment on her experiences in one of the most pristine landscapes on earth and how even this landscape has changed over the years.
HSB 408
Tuesday, November 3, 7:30 p.m.
Wind Ensemble and Concert Band
Massey Concert Hall (MPAC)
Wednesday, November 4, 10 a.m.
Lakota Author Richard Twiss: The Creator Came to Earth
Richard Twiss is the founder of Wiconi International, which proclaims that the Creator came to earth as a human being from the tribe of Judah to bring all creation back into harmony. His book, One Church, Many Tribes, shows how First Nations Christ-followers can open us to new ways of living with nature and one another. Neely Dining Room
Thursday, November 5, 6 p.m.
Meet the Bruins
Curb Event Center
Friday, November 6, 10 a.m.
Chapel
Neely Dining Room
Friday, November 6, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
2009 Fall Choral Institute Concert
Oratorio Chorus, the University Symphony Orchestra, Belmont Chorale and regional high school choirs present a major work from the Twentieth Century.
Massey Concert Hall (MPAC)
Saturday, November 7, 7-9 p.m.
CEMB Urban/Pop Showcase
Curb Event Center
Monday, November 9, 7-8 p.m.
Vaughn Science Lecture
The Vaughn Science Lecture is held annually and serves to highlight scientific research and its ramifications to both undergraduate science majors and the more general audience of non-science students and faculty. This year Dr. Julio Ramirez from Davidson College in North Carolina will be the keynote speaker, and his talk will focus on “Are Broken Brains Doomed to Dysfunction?”
Beaman Meeting Rooms A&B
Monday, November 9, 7-8:30 p.m.
Ambassador Thomas Miller, president of the United Nations Association
Ambassador Thomas Miller will speak on “The Obama Administration’s Foreign Policy Challenges and the Role of the United Nations: A Practitioner’s Perspective.” Ambassador Miller devoted 29 years to the US Foreign Service, working on policy issues in the Balkans, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Massey Boardroom
Monday, November 9, 7:30 p.m.
Faculty Concert Series
Belmont Heights Baptist Church Sanctuary

IN OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

Belmont is a Christian community of learning and service that strives to support its members through prayer. The following concerns have come to our attention recently. Thank you for including them in your prayers:
Former Belmont employee Stephanie Babb, who worked in the Office of Human Resources, passed away Thursday morning at her home in Nashville after a long battle with cancer. Information on services will be sent to campus when it becomes available. Please keep Stephanie’s family in your thoughts and prayers.
Lewis Wiseman, 94, father of Betty Wiseman (Athletics), passed away Wednesday. The funeral was held today in Portland, Tennessee. Please keep Betty and the Wiseman family in your thoughts and prayers.
John Paul Ribar, father of David Ribar (Art Department), passed away Oct. 9 in Louisville, Kentucky. Please keep David and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

BIRTHDAYS

If you notice an incorrect or missing birthday, please e-mail the update to communication@belmont.edu.
Happy Belated Birthday to Kelly Rockey (Physical Therapy) who celebrated on Oct. 29.
October 31
Kelly Moreland Jones, ACIT
November 1
Lori LeBleu, Business
Andrea Stover, English
November 2
Al Baugh, Conference Services
Linda Holt, English
Judy Johnson, Custodial Services
Lorraina Scholten, Social Work
November 4
Gerald Phillips, Custodial Services
November 5
Dewayne Lee, Campus Security
November 7
Sharon Gregg, Music
Joyce Ann Watson, Athletics
November 8
Nancy Darr, Physical Therapy

October 23, 2009

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

The “topping out” ceremony included a time capsule in which students from the health sciences inserted various mementoes.
Belmont Tops Out New Health Science Building, Home for Schools of Pharmacy and Physical Therapy
Ceremony celebrates completion of $30 million building’s frame
Nearly one year after breaking ground, Belmont University celebrated the “topping out” Wednesday of its new $30 million health sciences building, which will serve as the future home for the School of Pharmacy, a Belmont program which welcomed its second class this fall. The building, which has an anticipated completion date of June 2010, will also house the School of Physical Therapy and will include expansion space for the Schools of Nursing and Occupational Therapy as well as the Social Work and Psychology programs. (Click here to view a photo of gallery of Wednesday’s event.)
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “In addition to providing a time to celebrate and thank all the workers behind this immense project, a topping out is also a time to look forward to when this structure is complete. This building will be a model, 21st century academic facility, providing a venue where our students and faculty resources can intersect in service to help meet the medical needs of our community and our world.” Click here for more on this story.

The building will include a campus pharmacy to serve students, faculty and staff and to provide another training site for student pharmacists.