Belmont University

While many families will be sharing holiday meals together this Christmas, there are also many who will be celebrating alone. That's why on Tuesday, Belmont welcomed local senior citizens to join the campus community for a special holiday brunch in the Harrington Place Dining Hall. Arielle Markowicz, a junior music business student, helped spearhead the whole project and rallied the campus together to pull off the event for the community. The idea was born during a shift at Nashville's beloved Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, when Markowicz began helping an elderly woman with her order. The customer told Markowicz about an ice cream recipe she used to have, and when Markowicz suggested she make it for her family over the holidays, the woman responded, "It's just me." "As I returned back to behind the counter, I began to think about all the people who don't have any family or friends to spend the holidays with and what I could do to change that," said Markowicz.

Jace T. Wilder, a senior at Belmont, has been named to GLSEN's inaugural Freedom Fellowship Program cohort. GLSEN is the leading national organization working to guarantee LGBTQ+ students safe and affirming education. After a national search and competitive application process, Wilder was selected to join GLSEN's Freedom Fellowship, a one-year program for 18-25 year olds across the country to build their leadership skills while advising GLSEN national headquarters on decisions impacting the LGBTQ+ youth in their region. Wilder will serve the Southern region.

Savannah Stover, a junior public relations and corporate communications transfer student, was recently published in the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society's national literary journal, Nota Bene. Stover's essay "In My Death, I was Born" competed against 440 submissions to be one of 28 published stories. Stover's journey is unlike most others. After her husband of nearly twenty years tragically passed in 2018, Stover became a single mother to seven children. Shortly after her husband's passing, Stover returned to school. Starting at Volunteer State Community College then transferring to Belmont this semester, Stover discovered a new passion: writing. Through her poetry and short stories, Stover found a way to fully express herself and process her grief. To read more about Stover's recent accomplishment, visit the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society website.

Vertically-mounted television screens allowed passersby to stop and hear about Belmont University President Dr. Greg Jones's "Five Ways of Being" during the Presidential Inauguration celebration November 3 - 5, thanks to an interactive art display created by Watkins College of Art students. The digital kiosks showcased the overarching theme of "Hope" that Dr. Jones so highly values from the students' perspective. Watkins College of Art Dean James Pierce assigned the project to his Experiential Design Studio I students and let them run with the idea on their own so the end result would be a true interpretation from and reflection of the student voice. The student artists included Abby Connolly, Emily Johnson, Natalie Krause, Nathan Marken, Grace Massey, Silas Mosley, Mary Beth Parkinson, Cooper Scobey and Belle Weaver.

On Wednesday November 17, Belmont students had the opportunity to compete in the Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship's Business Pitch Competition. The winners of this year's competition are Hannah Rodriguez and Emily Heneger in first and second place respectively, with Chandel Shanklin and Penny Kapadoukakis tying for third. The pitch competition helps bring students' business dreams to life by allowing them to give a one-minute, shark-tank style business pitch to a panel of four judges with the first place winner receiving $2,000, second place receiving $1,000 and third place receiving $500. Each of the winning students plans on using the prize money to help grow their business.

Robert Montano, a freshman at Belmont, played teenage Artie Bucco in the newly released film "Many Saints of Newark." The film is a prequel to "The Sopranos," an HBO hit television series that aired for six seasons from 1999-2007 and is one of the network's most successful shows.

Caroline Cole, senior marketing and creative and entertainment industries major at Belmont University, recently became one of six international finalists in the MPI-IMEX Future Leaders Forum. Every year Meeting Planners International (MPI), a global organization for all meeting planners, in collaboration with IMEX, another event production and networking company, holds six Future Leaders Forums. At those forums, selected students participate in a competition where they are given an event description from which they create an event brief. Students then present their briefs to industry professionals at the forums. Following those presentations, one winner from each of the six forums is chosen to compete in the larger University Challenge at the International Future Leader Forums, which is being held next spring in Frankfurt, Germany. Cole is set to compete at the Frankfurt Future Leaders Forum April 26-28, 2022.

John Armbruster, Belmont University accounting student and member of the Belmont Men's Soccer Team, has been named the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Scholar for the 2021-2022 academic year. The PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation that oversees auditors of issuers and broker-dealers. The nonprofit has been awarding academic scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students since 2011.

After a year of heightened anxiety, less socialization and increased Netflix binging, a group of 12 Belmont University students launched a plan to help their peers begin feeling less isolated and get back on track to a life of wellness. This plan came in the form of opening the campus's newest student-run business: Where the Well Things Are. The team of 12 were responsible for the conception of the business, the selection of products and now the daily management of the store, with oversight from the Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship. Together, the students combined their various skills and interests to create a store solely focused on college students' wellness journeys.

With minimal budget, a small crew and only 13 weeks, eight Belmont University students rose to the challenge and produced an extraordinary 32-minute documentary during the Spring 2021 semester. "How Did We Get Here? Nashville Surviving 2020" was recently announced as an official selection for the upcoming Nashville Film Festival. Chronicling the impact of multiple crises on the city of Nashville, the documentary features interviews with nationally renowned infectious disease experts Dr. William Schaffner and Dr. James Hildreth; Nashville Mayor John Cooper; Metro Councilwoman Zulfat Suara; Belmont officials and more.

Belmont University College of Health Sciences and Nursing Dean and Professor Dr. Cathy Taylor and Belmont public health students Genevieve Delano and Deviyani Bajpai conducted online research and interviews to make recommendations to the Chronic Disease Prevention Task Force for the State of Tennessee. Their recommendation to allow local authorization to limit tobacco smoking and vaping in public spaces was passed into legislation by the 112th General Assembly.

Chloe Collins, a junior songwriting major, recently had her song "Downpour" featured in an episode of "Heartland" on Netflix. This isn't the first time Collins's original music was featured on a TV show, as her songs have previously been featured on the 100th episode of "Nashville," ABC Family's "The Vineyard," "Bellevue" and more. Collins's brand new single "Somebody Else" can be found on all streaming platforms.

Belmont honors student Rose Kores, a freshman legal studies major, was one of 518 youth from 42 states across the nation honored at the Congressional Award Foundation's annual Gold Medal Ceremony for earning the Congressional Award Gold Medal. The Congressional Award is the United States Congress' only charity and the highest honor bestowed upon a youth civilian through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, recognizing initiative, service and achievement.

Sara Saif, a second-year student in Belmont University's College of Pharmacy, was given the opportunity to conduct research in a polypharmacy project within the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC-19), a consortium of more than 120 cancer centers and other organizations who have come together to collect data about patients with cancer who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Nicholas Arbogast, an economics major in the Jack C. Massey College of Business, recently published a paper in the journal Issues in Political Economy (IPE). In the published article titled "Examining the Effectiveness of Official Development Assistance in Sub-Saharan African Countries," appearing in the July 2021 issue of the journal, Arbogast noted that the effectiveness of foreign aid to lower income countries has often been thought to be somewhat ambiguous. Though additional funding may help to drive economic development, this may skew wealth distribution in low-income countries and drive political corruption.

Belmont University senior nursing major Veronica Bernaba was recently selected as one of six 2021 recipients of the BlueCross Power of We Scholarship. The scholarship, funded by the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation, awards $10,000 to outstanding minority students pursuing careers in the health care field with a goal of helping to reduce health disparities by improving diversity in the state's health care workforce and combating systemic racism and injustice.

Sana Fatah and Suad Mohamed, both graduates of Hume-Fogg Academic High School in Nashville, started at Belmont University this fall as freshmen recipients of the E.S. Rose Scholarship, created to honor the memory of E. S. Rose, an African-American religious and Edgehill community activist who served as pastor of Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Each year, Belmont awards two full scholarships to students distinguished by their record of academic achievement and leadership. Every other academic year, Belmont offers an additional half-tuition scholarship as funds allow. Highest consideration is given to Metro Nashville Public School students who meet the scholarship criteria and whose permanent residence is located within Metro Council districts 17, 19 and parts of 18.

Belmont students sitting in the audience of the Ben Rector performance held as part of the Presidential Inauguration festivities on November 3 may have recognized more than just the lead singer up on stage. When one of the bass players in Rector's band became ill before the show, Rector recognized the wealth of talent at the university and decided to invite three Belmont students to fill in the position. Belmont students Garret Arwood, Isaac Mauldin and Lee Williams were contacted and given only a couple days to learn the chords, each being assigned four songs to perform during the concert. Each of the students rose to the occasion and made a big impression not only on their peers cheering them on from the crowd, but Rector as well.

The Belmont University Chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America and its members received seven national awards at the society's 2021 International Conference.

Belmont University congratulates students who performed in this year's production of "Christmas at Belmont." Belmont students performed many classic holiday favorites to help ring in the Christmas season. Watch the show on December 20, at 8 p.m. on NPT and PBS stations across the country, with encore broadcasts on NPT Christmas night, Saturday, December 25, at 9:30 p.m. Check local listings for additional broadcast times.

Belmont University congratulates students who performed in this year's production of "Christmas at Belmont." Belmont students performed many classic holiday favorites to help ring in the Christmas season, orignally broadcast on December 20. Watch the encore broadcasts on PBS stations across the country on Christmas night, Saturday, December 25, at 9:30 p.m. Check local listings for additional broadcast times.

The following students achieved the Dean's List at Belmont University for the Spring 2021 semester. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours (exclusive of audit and pass/fail courses this semester) and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C (inclusive of audit, pass/fail courses and zero-credit courses).

The following students achieved the Dean's List at Belmont University for the Fall 2020 semester. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C.

The following students achieved the Dean's List at Belmont University for the Spring 2020 semester. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours (exclusive of audit and pass/fail courses this semester) and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C (inclusive of audit, pass/fail courses and zero-credit courses).

Veronica Ostroski, of Eastborough, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Performance from Belmont University during the December 13, 2019 commencement exercises. Ostroski was among more than 500 students who received degrees in December. Students who graduated with high honors completed a minimum of 30 credit hours with a minimum cumulative GPA of higher than 3.75.

The following students achieved the Dean's List at Belmont University for the Fall 2019 semester. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C.

The beginning of a new school year looks different each year. It can include moving into a new dorm room, wayfinding through campus or scoping out the best spots for future study sessions. For more than 2,000 Belmont University freshmen and transfer students, this year's new school year included all these things and a special opportunity to serve their community. During the Towering Traditions orientation program, new Bruins spend an afternoon traveling to 50 locations across the greater Nashville area for service. The event, called SERVE, allows students to immerse themselves in their new hometown.

Belmont University kicked off classes for its fall 2019 semester with a record-breaking enrollment number as the University welcomed 8,481 students to campus, tripling the 2,796 students enrolled in 2000 and marking a 57 percent increase in the last decade alone. This marks Belmont's 19th consecutive year of record enrollment.

The Belmont University Speech and Debate Team won the state championship at the Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA) competition.The tournament was held Feb. 8-10, 2019 on the campus of Carson-Newman University. With 12 universities in competition, Belmont placed first in individual events, third in debate and ranked top in the overall competition. Team members competed in debate, public speaking and literature interpretation events. Throughout the program, they hone their critical thinking, speech writing and performance skills in competitions across the country.

The following students achieved the Dean's List at Belmont University for the Summer 2019 session. Eligibility for the summer session is based on a minimum 9-hour load over 10 weeks and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C.