Belmont University

The Belmont Tower and Carillon The university originated with the founding of the Belmont Women's College in 1890 by Susan Ledley Heron and Ida Emily Hood, [ 12 ] on the site of the Belmont Mansion , built by Joseph Acklen and Adelicia (Hayes) Acklen . Upon the retirement of Heron and Hood, Belmont Women's College merged with Ward Seminary in 1913 and was known as Ward—Belmont College , which included both a junior college and college-prep (or high) school for women. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] The Belmont Mansion is owned by Belmont University but maintained by the Belmont Mansion Association, a non-profit group. The mansion is open for tours. It features Victorian art and furnishings. The water tower , gardens, with surviving gazebos and outdoor statuary from the Acklen era, are part of the college campus. [ 15 ] In 1991, the school became Belmont University. [ 16 ] The university was awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister 's Commendation for their contributions to the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and the US on December 1, 2020. [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Nashville's first radio station Nashville's first radio station The first radio station in Nashville went on air in May 1922 when John "Jack" DeWitt Jr., a high school student, installed a transmitter at Belmont. The station, WDAA, was born when Dr. C. E. Crosland, Associate President, realized the potential advertising value to the college of a radio station. The WDAA program on April 18, 1922, marked the first time a music program was broadcast in Nashville. The broadcast could be heard 150 to 200 miles (320 km) from the school. [ 19 ]

In 1951, the Tennessee Baptist Convention bought Ward–Belmont College , the finishing school operated in Nashville by Ward–Belmont, Inc., which was facing severe financial difficulties. [ citation needed ] The convention established the co-educational Belmont College in March 1951, selecting R. Kelly White as president. [ citation needed ] In 1959, Herbert Gabhart succeeded White and Belmont was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . [ citation needed ] Enrollment rose from 365 students to 2,000, and the college launched a music business program. [ citation needed ] He was succeeded by Bill Troutt in 1982, who, at 32, was the youngest college president in the nation. [ citation needed ] In 1991, it changed its name to Belmont University. [ citation needed ] In 2005 Belmont's board of trustees sought to remove Belmont University from the control of the Tennessee Baptist Convention while remaining in a "fraternal relationship" with it. [ 20 ] Advocates of this plan presented a blueprint for change in which all board members would be Christians, but only 60 percent would be Baptists to affirm a Christian affinity while acknowledging the diversity of both the faculty and the student body. [ citation needed ] The head of the TBC would continue to be an ex officio board member. [ citation needed ] The TBC rejected this plan. In November 2005, TBC said it wanted to shift its financial support to two other institutions, Union University and Carson-Newman College . Belmont would replace the three percent of its budget that was funded by the TBC. [ citation needed ] However, on April 7, 2006, TBC sought to oust the existing board and replace it with one consisting entirely of Southern Baptists and amenable to ongoing TBC control. [ 21 ] After settlement talks failed, the Tennessee Baptist Convention Executive Board filed a lawsuit on September 29, 2006, against Belmont seeking the return of approximately $58 million.

[ 22 ] Belmont severed its ties with the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 2007, with the announcement that it would be a Christian university without any denominational affiliations. Under its terms, the TBC and Belmont would disaffiliate amicably, with Belmont agreeing to pay $1 million to the convention immediately and $250,000 annually for the next forty years, for a total cost of $11 million. [ 23 ] The university has stated its intent to maintain a Christian identity but no longer a specifically Baptist one. [ 24 ]

Belmont University became a catalyst for anti-discrimination protests in December 2010, when women's soccer coach Lisa Howe allegedly lost her job at the university on December 2 after announcing that she was having three children with her same-sex partner. [ 25 ] Howe's dismissal sparked protests from students and local and national gay-rights advocates. These events led to a citywide anti-discrimination ordinance being passed by the Nashville City Council in January 2011. [ 26 ] On January 26, 2011, President Bob Fisher announced that Belmont has added sexual orientation to the university's non-discrimination policies. [ 27 ] Belmont is a Christian university that was widely regarded for its progressive ideals until the controversy broke out over Howe's departure. [ 28 ] The college was criticized for not allowing a group with a mission to support gay students and explore the intersection of Christianity and homosexuality called Bridge Builders to officially form as a student group. At a news conference, Fisher stated that they had resubmitted the application. [ 28 ] On February 27, 2011, Belmont University officially recognized the gay student organization for the first time. Belmont Provost Thomas Burns and Bridge Builders President Robbie Maris announced the decision to recognize the student group in a joint statement. [ 29 ] In February 2018, Belmont University took ownership of the O'More College of Design . [ 30 ] On March 6, 2019, Belmont University announced that its current College of Visual and Performing Arts will be separated into two distinct colleges with defined areas of focus: the College of Music and Performing Arts will include all music, theatre and dance programs while the O'More College of Architecture, Art and Design will house architecture, art, fashion, interior design and design communications. [ 31 ] Two years later, Belmont University announced that they would merge with Watkins College of Art, Design & Film , located in Nashville.