Belmont University
Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College.[1]
This article is about the university in Tennessee. For the college in Ohio, see Belmont College.
Former names
Belmont College for Young Women (1890–1913)
Ward–Belmont College (1913–1951)
Belmont College (1951–1991)[1]
"Purpose Character Wisdom"
1890
$356.8 million (2022)[5]
534 Full-time and 401 Part-time (2023)[7]
8,910 (Fall 2022)[7]
7,384[7]
1,526[7]
Urban, 75 acres (30 ha)
Belmont Vision[8]
Red and blue[9]
Bruiser the Bruin
Belmont Blvd.
Nashville, Tennessee
1850
Greek Revival; Italianate
May 6, 1971
With expansion of programs, it became Belmont University in 1991. Belmont's current enrollment consists of approximately 8,900 students representing every state and 28 nations.[11] Although the university cut its ties with the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 2007, it continues to emphasize a Christian identity.
Academic rankings
236 (tie) of 394
367 of 442
401 (tie) of 600
Student life[edit]
Belmont has over 190 student organizations. These include the Student Government Association (SGA), The Student Activities Programming Board (SAPB), Greek organizations, as well as other special interest organizations.[64]
The largest student organization on campus is Service Corps, which focuses on volunteer work inside the music industry and is open only to students enrolled in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.[65]
Belmont's Greek community consists of five sororities and four fraternities. The sororities are Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, Delta Sigma Theta, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Phi Mu.[66] The fraternities include Phi Kappa Tau, Alpha Phi Alpha, Phi Mu Alpha, and Phi Beta Sigma.[67] In the spring of 2017, approximately 17% of full-time undergraduate students at Belmont were members of fraternities and sororities.[68]
Belmont has a large music program, and a variety of musical ensembles exist on the campus. There are currently 15 vocal ensembles and 23 instrumental ensembles.[69] In addition, there are three student-run a cappella groups: The Beltones (mixed ensemble), Prismatics (mixed), and Pitchmen (TTBB). All three a cappella groups compete in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) regularly. The Beltones have advanced to ICCA finals three times and placed 4th at the event in 2014. The Pitchmen qualified for ICCA finals in 2020 but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2023, The Pitchmen won 1st place at the ICCA Finals, taking home their first championship. In 2020, The A Cappella Archive ranked The Beltones at #8 amongst all ICCA-competing groups since 1996.[70] Belmont is home to two Greek-lettered music fraternities, Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, as well as a chapter for the national theatre fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega.
Belmont operates one student newspaper called The Vision, published monthly.[71]
