BELMONT NEWS

Student-Athletes Recognized Nationally for Academic Achievement
Four Belmont University athletic teams were honored by the NCAA Wednesday in its annual Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Award.
Belmont men’s basketball, men’s soccer, baseball and women’s golf each ranked in the top 10 percent within their respective sports nationwide among NCAA Division-I programs for their academic progress rate as determined by the NCAA. The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
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Curb College Presents Best of the Best 2009
April 25 event to honor longtime Music City executive Donna Hilley
On Sat., April 25, the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business will present its annual Best of the Best Showcase. The show will honor Donna Hilley, first recipient of the Robert E. Mulloy Award of Excellence, an annual award to be given to an individual who has achieved a level of excellence in the music business and entertainment industries with notable service to Belmont University and the Nashville community. As longtime CEO of Sony/ATV Nashville, Donna established herself as one of the top female executives in Music City, and during her service on Belmont’s Board of Trustees, she introduced Mike Curb to Belmont, sparking the expansion and growth of the music business program into a free standing college.
The Best of the Best Showcase, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will include tribute performances by legendary singer/songwriters Tom Douglas and Leslie Satcher and country music’s Lee Ann Womack as well as an announcement of the establishment of an endowed scholarship in Hilley’s honor. As always, Best of the Best will also highlight some of Belmont’s remarkable student talent with performances from the winners of the CEMB Showcase series—Future (Urban/Pop), Stephen Whitfield (Christian), Jenna Basso (Country) and The Hollywood Ten (Rock)—and from the ASCAP Writers’ Night series–Stephanie Lambring, Brooke Annibale, Matt Wright, Josh Johnson, Chase Foster and Lindley Wolfgram.
Best of the Best is free to the public and is sponsored by ATT The Real Yellow Pages, ASCAP, BMI, Bandit Lites, Clair Audio and Orange Thread Media. For more information on this event, visit www.belmontshowcaseseries.com.
Belmont to Discontinue Bottled Water Sales
Campus kicks off Earth Week by deepening commitment to sustainable practices
In an effort to deepen its commitment to the ongoing “Belmont Goes Green” campaign, Nashville’s Belmont University announced Monday that all bottled water sales would be discontinued on campus as of May 16. The announcement, made at the start of the university’s annual celebration of Earth Week, furthers Belmont’s commitment to sustainable practices. Bottled water will no longer be available in the university’s fast food outlets or vending areas, and purifying filters are being added to any water fountains on campus that did not already have them.
Dr. Judy Skeen, professor of religion and head of Belmont’s Environmental Initiative, said, “As we surveyed ways that Belmont could improve its practices, the impracticality of bottled water came up over and over. Bottled water is shockingly expensive to the consumer and the environment. And given what we know about the quality of water from the tap and in the bottle, it’s completely unnecessary. Recycling the bottles doesn’t solve the larger problem of excessive resources needed to produce and transport something that is solely a convenience. We are delighted to move toward more learning and better practices as we care for the planet.”
At the start of the fall 2009 semester, students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to purchase inexpensive, BPA free, reusable containers for obtaining and carrying water on campus. In addition, other beverages—such as juices, sodas and vitamin waters—will still be available in the campus dining venues in their standard packaging. Click here for more on this story.
Belmont Faculty Offer BURS Keynote Address
The 2009 Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium (BURS) will be held Thurs., April 30, with faculty members from across the university providing the keynote address in Troutt Theater, offering insights into their current research. In addition, student presentations will be held throughout the afternoon and evening at locations across campus. Click here to view the complete BURS schedule.
Assistant Provost Glenn Acree said, “Undergraduate research is at the center of Belmont’s mission to provide an academically challenging education for our students. As students collaborate with faculty members and peers to explore their areas of interest more deeply, they engage their minds as active learners, complementing their classroom experiences. I hope the university as a whole will join together as we celebrate the explorations and discoveries of our students and faculty through their research presentations.”
Dr. Joseph Byrne (Honors), Dr. Mark Schenkel (Entrepreneurship), Dr. Jennifer Thomas (Biology) and Dr. Andy Watts (Religion) will be the speakers at Thursday afternoon’s keynote address, which is held in honor of Dr. Donald Ramage, former dean of the School of Sciences. Their 5:30 p.m. presentation will follow poster presentations and a 4:30 p.m. reception in Troutt Theater.
From Belmont to Africa, Kabia Fosters Education and Hope
Samuel Kabia, who works as an exterior gardener in Belmont’s landscaping department, recently spoke to a Belmont Entrepreneurship class, sharing stories from his recent trip to Africa and the work of his Rufoindo Education Project in Sierra Leone.
Kabia and his family came to the United States in 2001 after being forced to flee from their village in Sierra Leone because of the bloody civil war occurring in the country. Kabia, a high school economics and geography teacher in Sierra Leone, and his family moved to Nashville, where the Catholic Charities of Tennessee helped him find his current job at Belmont. He started taking classes in business administration in 2002 and graduated in 2005. He is in graduate school at Belmont and will graduate in August with a Master’s of Education degree.
After graduation, Kabia started the non-profit organization Rufoindo Education Project for Orphan Children to help his war-torn village Rufoindo in Sierra Leone. The organization’s major project is the building of a school for the children in the village. “I felt so sorry for them, many of them had lost their parents and other things,” said Kabia. “I wanted to help put them on the right track and open the school for them.” Click here for more on this story.
Curb College Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary of Belmont West
Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its Belmont West program in Los Angeles Monday night with an event at 20th Century Fox studios. The celebration brought together Belmont representatives, alumni and industry partners to commemorate the program that provides students with opportunities to learn and work in the L.A. entertainment industry at record labels, television sets and movie studios.
Following the vision of Belmont benefactor and chairman of Curb Records, Mike Curb, Belmont University expanded its music business program from Nashville to Los Angeles with the launch of Belmont West in the spring of 1999. After several years of success in L.A., the Curb College branched out again in 2003, starting the Belmont East program in New York City.
“We all are very proud of the fact that Nashville has joined Hollywood and New York as one of the three major music centers in the United States,” Curb said. “The exciting part of the Curb College Belmont West and Belmont East programs has been opening doors to other music-related areas of the entertainment industry, such as film music, TV music and many other new music opportunities that exist on the East and West Coasts.”
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