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Stowe Hall: 136 Years of History

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, John Walker

We walk past it every day, but how often do we think about Stowe Hall’s history? Built in 1898, Robert Lee Stowe Hall has been a vital part of Belmont Abbey College’s campus as an academic building, a dining hall, a residence hall, and even more. Named for local entrepreneur Robert Lee Stowe, the building is on the National Register of Historic Places as a part of the Belmont Abbey College Historic District, having been added in 1993.

Construction began under Abbot Leo Haid and Brother Wolfgang Trexler in 1886, taking twelve years to complete the building. In those days, it was called the College Building. It was built directly attached to the monastery for ease of use by the monks. The building features a Gothic-style tower on its western side, while the front entrance features a neo-Classical portico.

In 1900, a fire burned through the inside of the College Building, destroying much of the inside. Work to restore the inside began immediately, and fundraising efforts helped return the building to its former state. Classes were able to be held in the building again the next academic year. As the college grew in the 20th century, the College Building was used for classes, dining, and residence. There was even a rifle range in the building at one point.

Eventually, the name was changed to Robert Lee Stowe Hall in 1983, honoring the textile magnate and Gaston County native. The Stowe family has been vital to the development of the town of Belmont and our college. Over 136 years since the beginning of its construction, Stowe Hall remains our main academic building and one of the most iconic buildings on campus.

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.

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Belmont Abbey College Awards Justice Clarence Thomas the Benedict Leadership Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Belmont, N.C. (February 6, 2023) –

In March of 2020, Justice Clarence Thomas was named the fourth recipient of the Benedict Leadership Award for his outstanding role as a Catholic leader. Just one day before the scheduled presentation ceremony at Belmont Abbey College, the event was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The mission of the Benedict Leadership Institute is to develop and inspire Catholic leaders to transform society in light of their faith. A particular emphasis is placed on those leaders who reflect the heroic leadership of St. Benedict. This includes those characters who exemplify enduring greatness in their community, are leaders through their own success, and who utilize the principles of faith in their leadership role. The candidates for this award come from a variety of industries, not always specific to the Catholic faith. Showing that Catholic values are not reserved for activities only involving a church community, these Benedictine Leaders demonstrate courage and integrity as they allow their Catholic morals to permeate every aspect of their lives and careers.

Conor Gallagher, Executive Director of the Benedict Leadership Institute, made the following comment to Justice Thomas: “While your life displays numerous reasons for being worthy of the Benedict Leadership Award, the Committee wishes to honor and highlight your leadership in defense of our nation’s Constitution and your personal witness as a man of faith.”

Justice Thomas has a particular fondness for Belmont Abbey’s tradition, for he was educated and loved by Benedictine nuns, which he affectionately refers to as “my nuns”. Coming from dire poverty in a segregated world, it was the compassion and faithfulness of these Benedictine sisters that helped shape the man that Justice Thomas has become.

His grandfather was an integral part of his growth as a man, and taught him how to live through hard work, faith, obedience, and common sense. All qualities which have been demonstrated by Justice Thomas’ public ministry while seated on the Supreme Court. The Institute selected Justice Thomas in recognition for his extraordinary career as a defender of the Constitution and his enduring leadership as a man of faith.The Benedict Leadership Institute was founded to acknowledge such individuals who exemplify the virtues of St. Benedict as they develop and inspire other Catholic leaders to transform society.

Press inquiries can contact Rolando Rivas, AVP of Marketing and Communications, at rolandorivas@bac.edu. For information about the Benedict Leadership Institute, visit https://benedictleadershipinstitute.org/.

Download the press release.

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Softball to use Communication to Improve Record

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Ellie Ripchik

Did you know that Belmont Abbey College has two softball teams? There is the main softball team that plays in Conference Carolina and then there is a developmental team that plays different junior colleges and community colleges. This is the first year that there is going to be a conference tournament for the developmental team. The main softball team is coached by Tony Mele and the new assistant coach is Samantha West. This will be Tony’s fourth year with the team with a 32-win streak in the 2022 spring season.

The new addition to the softball team is assistant coach, Samantha West. She played at Tusculum University for 4 years as an infielder. This is her first year as a coach at Belmont Abbey. These two coaches are ready for some softball.

In the last season, the main team went 32-15 overall and was 15-9 in the conference. Mackenzie Allison, an infielder believes, the main team “exceeded coach Tony’s expectations from the fall”. They went through some adversity throughout the season with pretty bad injuries that affected the team tremendously. In the end, they pulled through and finished with a high ranking. One of the best Mackenzie Allsion said during her sophomore year her favorite part was “beating Mount Olive a (top-ranked team) in the conference tournament.”

Mackenzie believes that this year will be even better. The Devo team had a rough start. According to midfielder Elizabeth Tucker, “we didn’t start off the season as well as anyone hoped, but after some long hours of practice and conditioning, we learned how to communicate about things that needed to be fixed and eventually then ended the season with a long win streak”. Due to a lot of postponed games and cancellations, they ended their season being 8-6.

During their season they went through a lot of injuries, these injuries led to some of the girls moving to different positions but everyone rallied and worked hard to have a fun season. Saige Stanley, a junior infielder, has high hopes for the developmental team’s upcoming season. She said, “I’d like to think that our record would be more than positive this year.” She feels if “we communicate with one another on and off the field and share a strong bond with each other throughout the season we won’t have to worry about losing.” With the new assistant coach, that means a new head coach for the Devo team. There are some improvements that Stanley thinks the team needs to work on, “putting down bunts and being more vocal in the dugout.” Overall, she is very excited to start the upcoming season strong and win softball games.

Maddie Phillips, a sophomore midfielder, is ready to play some softball. Maddie believes, “this season is a whole different culture than the previous year.” She has high expectations that they will win the conference championship this year. She says that “the dedication and hard work of this team all play a tremendous role in how we will perform this year. Believing in one another and performing to our best ability, they will be hard to beat.”

This fall the main team gets to play the University of North Carolina Charlotte, they are part of Conference USA and are a high-ranked division one school. Maddie says that “UNCC is definitely going to be a tough school to play in but I think we have a very good chance of beating them.” Maddie is excited and ready to crush UNCC because they beat them badly last year.

Please come out and support these women as they strive to have a great winning season on both teams.

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.

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Coaches Job from The Athletes Perspective

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Miles Gutzman

The track and field team has recently hired Coach James Thierfelder, a former Belmont Abbey track and field athlete who is now a well-respected and very dedicated coach with many records to his name that hopes to advance the program further. This past year he graduated and accepted a job to help coach the track teams sprinters. I got the chance to interview him and get an insight into the key differences he has noticed and experienced since becoming a coach for his past team.

“What influenced you to want to become a coach?” 

“I wanted to offer the skill and knowledge I learned from being a part of the team along with bringing a new sense of coaching and further developing the team’s abilities.” 

Previous teammates of Coach James stated that he has experience in his training through practicing as a teammate, proving his form of practice has been very beneficial.

With the freshman class coming in, the team has picked up a handful of talented athletes in all events that have come to further their abilities and help improve the team’s ranking. One freshman athlete, Miles Gutzman, is a long jumper and short sprinter from Marietta, GA. Miles’ personal records include 21ft 11.75″ in the long jump and 11.3 seconds in the 100 meters. He hopes to increase both of these personal records substantially and possibly even break the school long jump record of 22ft 5 1/4″ in the up-and-coming season with the help of Coach Dan, Coach Tomas, and Coach James.

Many more outstanding freshman athletes add to the amazing team, steadily improving and performing to the best of their ability. With these athletes coming to the school, providing their strengths, and being guided by amazing coaches, there is no doubt that the team will finish conference ranked higher than ever before.

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.

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