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Belmont Abbey College Launches Ten New Specializations in a Fully Online Business Studies Undergraduate Program for Working Professionals

Belmont Abbey College Launches Ten New Specializations in a Fully Online Business Studies Undergraduate Program for Working Professionals

Belmont, N.C. (October 23, 2025) – Belmont Abbey College announces the launch of a fully online Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies program, specifically designed to meet the needs of working professionals seeking to advance their careers. The new program will begin enrolling students for the upcoming spring term.

With a flexible and affordable format, the program offers concentrations in General Business, Marketing, Accounting, Hospitality Management, Project Management, Supply Chain Management, Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Human Resources, and Motorsport Management.

Each concentration is designed to help professionals gain practical, industry-specific experience that aligns with their career goals and existing expertise. Whether students aim to lead a marketing team, grow within their current profession, manage operations, or transition into a new industry, each track delivers targeted skills with real-world applications.

“Today’s professionals need flexible, career-focused education that meets them where they are,” said Dr. Brad Frazier, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies at Belmont Abbey College. “This new online business studies degree is built to help students grow their skills, complete their degrees, and prepare for leadership roles—without putting their lives on hold.”

The program accepts transfer credits, allowing students to accelerate their degree completion. The curriculum focuses on core business competencies, including communication, finance, and legal studies, preparing graduates to thrive in today’s competitive business landscape.

Courses are delivered in eight-week sessions, providing maximum flexibility for students balancing work, family, and other responsibilities. The program is taught by experienced faculty who offer personalized guidance and support throughout the academic journey. Tuition is competitively priced at $349 per credit hour, making the program an affordable option for students investing in their future.

For more information about Belmont Abbey College and its programs, visit www.belmontabbeycollege.edu.

About Belmont Abbey College: Founded in 1876, Belmont Abbey College is a private, Catholic baccalaureate and liberal arts institution. Our mission is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things God may be glorified. Guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Benedictine spirit of prayer and learning, we welcome a diverse body of students and provide them with an education that will enable them to lead lives of integrity, to succeed professionally, to become responsible citizens, and to be a blessing to themselves and to others. Our beautiful and historic campus is conveniently located just 10 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., and is currently home to more than 1500 students. For more information, visit belmontabbeycollege.edu.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sarah Bolton

P: 704-461-7016 E: sarahbolton@bac.edu

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Emma Fradd – Authenticity in Modern Music

Australian musician Emma Fradd joins host Morgan Alemy to share her journey of conversion, creativity, and calling. From grunge rock beginnings to writing faith-inspired indie music, she reflects on the challenges and joys of staying true to her craft and her Catholic faith. Discover how authenticity and artistry can meet in today’s music world.

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Belmont Abbey College Finalizes Reidy Tennis Center Construction with Alumni Gift

Belmont Abbey College Finalizes Reidy Tennis Center Construction with Alumni Gift

Belmont, N.C. (October 7, 2025) – Belmont Abbey College has received a significant donation from alumnus Doug Ehmann, class of 1985, enabling the completion of the Reidy Tennis Center and Pavilion, a facility honoring the late Coach Michael “Mike” Reidy.  

Doug Ehmann, a longtime supporter of the College, has contributed significantly to campus life over the years. A former member of the Board of Trustees, Ehmann helped build the Abbey’s golf team and served as its coach, supported improvements to the Wheeler Center, and played a pivotal role in the development of the tennis facilities. In 2008, he was honored with the Br. Gregory Corcoran Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award—recognition that not only highlights his personal accomplishments but also exemplifies the meaningful ways Belmont Abbey alumni continue to give back. Personally acquainted with Coach Reidy and inspired by his legacy, Ehmann’s recent $1.4 million donation provides the final funding needed to complete the Reidy Tennis Center and Pavilion.

Coach Mike Salomon, head tennis coach at Belmont Abbey, expressed his gratitude, stating, “Our mission in Abbey Tennis is to build up our student-athletes in mind, body, and soul. We’re grateful for the generosity of Doug Ehmann and hope to exhibit the legacy of Mike Reidy on the courts for years to come.”

“Doug’s impact on our community has been instrumental to the Abbey’s progress and success. We are deeply grateful for his continued support of Belmont Abbey College,” said Dr. Joseph Wysocki, Interim President of Belmont Abbey College.

Coach Reidy, who joined Belmont Abbey College in 1969, led the men’s tennis team for 31 years. Under his guidance, the team secured six conference titles and made seven national tournament appearances, including reaching the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 in 2001. Reidy was named conference Coach of the Year four times and also led the women’s tennis program to a conference championship in 1999. His contributions established Belmont Abbey’s holistic approach, which serves as a life-changing foundation for student-athletes that yields success on and off the court. Bonnie Reidy, Mike’s wife of more than fifty years, served as a second mom to many of the tennis players—offering encouragement, support, and a welcoming presence that made the Abbey feel like home. She continues to be a beloved friend of the Abbey and a cherished part of its extended community.

Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., reflected on Coach Reidy’s legacy, “Coach Reidy’s most enduring legacy comes from his role as a mentor and teacher for innumerable players, students, and friends. He taught his players that academics were first and that if you did not learn sportsmanship, you were not on his team. Countless alumni refer to him as a second father and acknowledge that they owe much of their success, personally and professionally, to Coach.”

The Reidy Tennis Center and Pavilion will include locker and shower rooms, restrooms, coaches’ offices, team meeting rooms, gathering spaces, and outdoor fan seating. Construction is set to begin early next year.

For more information about Belmont Abbey College and its programs, visit www.belmontabbeycollege.edu.

About Belmont Abbey College: Founded in 1876, Belmont Abbey College is a private, Catholic baccalaureate and liberal arts institution. Our mission is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things God may be glorified. Guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Benedictine spirit of prayer and learning, we welcome a diverse body of students and provide them with an education that will enable them to lead lives of integrity, to succeed professionally, to become responsible citizens, and to be a blessing to themselves and to others. Our beautiful and historic campus is conveniently located just 10 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., and is currently home to more than 1500 students. For more information, visit belmontabbeycollege.edu.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sarah Bolton

P: 704-461-7016 E: sarahbolton@bac.edu

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The Crusader Newspaper: Fall 2025, Issue 1

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How to sympathize

We don’t have to go far to find suffering. In fact, with so much violence and division confronting us from every media-saturated angle, sometimes it can feel difficult to focus on anything else. We know by faith that vitriol and darkness will not have the last word – that Love alone endures. But it can still seem overwhelming to face the immediate reality of our fallen world. It’s made me look again at the Cross. And in a way, it’s made me wonder anew about sympathy.

By one definition, sympathy is a kind of kinship, a fellow-feeling that arises from likeness. In this sense we might talk about sympathetic minds, or people being in sympathy with each other when their views, feelings, or understandings align. We can invite it, certainly, in deepening our capacity to recognize what we share with others, but this kind of sympathy isn’t really something we can make ourselves experience. It’s a natural response to affinity. We resonate with those who share our attitudes and beliefs, deriving strength and support from the communities we build together.

In its more familiar sense, however, sympathy is also a kind of “suffering with.” And while this often springs up innately, as when we contemplate the pain of someone we love, this particular definition does suggest a kind of charity we can choose, even without a natural impulse to kinship.

With the Greek word “pathos,” feeling and suffering are bound up in the same root. But to accompany someone else in suffering, to “suffer with” does not necessitate that we feel what they are feeling. (For that, we have the related word “empathy.”) Nor does sympathy require that the sufferer be blameless. Without denying the reality of evil, we can still exercise sympathy by remembering that sin and darkness do the greatest harm to those who perpetuate them.

No matter who or where we are, we remain connected to each other by our life in Christ. Through Him, no offering or prayer is ever in vain, even if we cannot see its fruit. In a supernatural sense, choosing to suffer with another person – to accompany their suffering in prayer or sacrifice, even where concrete gestures are impossible – participates by the grace of God in the sufferings of Christ Himself, Who took on the weight of all human sin, guilt, and pain, and Who accompanies us throughout our lives in our every private sorrow.

The deepest aim of sympathy is to see in another human face the face of Christ and to love it: to place ourselves along the Way of the Cross as Veronica or the Blessed Mother did. This weekend, let’s each try to remember someone who’s suffering – maybe someone for whom we struggle to find a sense of kinship. And in doing so, let’s renew our hope in God, Who transformed a sign of infamy and death, the Cross of Christ, into the sign of our salvation.

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