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Belmont Abbey College

The Catholic College of the South

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Lettie Pate Whitehead Scholarship for Women

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Iris Bertin

The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation was formed around the influential spirit of Lettie Pate Whitehead, a woman whose life was an inspiration through her immense sense of dedication and courage. The Foundation is aimed to grant scholarships to women, specifically in the South, to help them further their undergraduate education. Having gained this scholarship opportunity, I, along with about fifty other women of the Belmont Abbey College community, are encouraged to recenter our focus on our studies through the great example of Lettie Pate Whitehead’s life.

After receiving this scholarship, six of us were granted the opportunity to meet with Carrie Conway, the Senior Program Officer of the Foundation. Being able to invite Mrs. Conway to our campus and expressing our gratitude to her through the foundation that she helps to run was an enormous gift.

In being able to discuss our future academic plans, future goals outside of college, and campus life here at the Abbey, Mrs. Conway was able to get a better feeling of how this scholarship is impacting us. This feeling of putting a face to a name and having the chance to speak one on one with someone that is helping to aid your college education is a beautiful opportunity for both parties. Danashia Tucker, a student, reflected on meeting Mrs. Conway; “It was an honor being able to receive the gift of the Lettie Pate Whitehead scholarship. The scholarship has had an incredible impact on my education. I appreciated getting the opportunity to personally meet with a representative of the foundation and the other recipients. Learning about the legacy and life of Lettie Pate Whitehead was inspiring.”

The Foundation’s goals are being met through this foundation and Lettie Pate Whitehead’s legacy has spread to 200 educational institutes and to more than 12,000 women who are receiving this scholarship each year. This foundation and scholarship program is aiding bright young women in pursuing their academic dreams and I am honored to have had the ability to represent the college in this way with many other talented and courageous young women here at the Abbey.

 

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

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The Abbey Addresses Nursing Shortage

The pandemic is just one of the many reasons there’s been a mass exodus of nurses leaving their jobs, but now Belmont Abbey College hopes their new nursing program will help ease shortages in our region.

For nurses, burn out is at an all time high. Experts say its going to be a challenge to replenish the nursing workforce, but at Belmont Abbey College, they’re hopeful.

Click here to read this full article, titled “Belmont Abbey College’s new nursing program hoping to address nursing shortage,” as featured on WCNC Charlotte.

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New Nursing Program To Ease Shortages In Health Care

This is an excerpt from an article from The Gaston Gazette, written by Kevin Ellis. Click here to read the original article.

On Tuesday, November 29, many gathered on a tour of Belmont Abbey College to view firsthand the progress of the new nursing program that began in August 2022 at Gaston County’s only four-year college.

CaroMont Health, the parent company of the local hospital and multiple medical offices, partnered with Belmont Abbey College to start the nursing program just as it announced plans in 2019 to build a second hospital now taking shape adjacent to the campus.

CaroMont Cares aims to help the county’s second largest employer, only a hundred or so behind the public school system, take advantage of its investment by creating a pipeline of nursing talent and other medical professionals from Belmont Abbey College into its medical offices and hospitals.

“We’re trying to come up with some way to solve this nursing-shortage problem long term,” said semi-retired attorney T.J. Solomon, also a member of CaroMont Cares.

Also along for the tour of the nursing program at Belmont Abbey College were sisters from the Sisters of Mercy, which has a hospital in Charlotte and were the original occupants of the nursing program’s building, and several members of the Cherry family, who earlier in the day awarded two students nursing scholarships.

Hospitals and medical offices have experienced nursing shortages for about 100 years, Carolyn Harmon, the nursing program’s first dean, told the group. Despite those shortages, four new hospitals are under construction in the greater Charlotte region in addition to the one in Belmont.

“How are we going to staff these hospitals?” she asked. “Well, we’re going to try to do that.”

Early days of new program

Harmon described the start of the program as “fantastic.” There have been moments of learning from mistakes, but nothing major, she said.

“As we continue to grow, everything’s only going to get better,” she said.

The inaugural class of students seeking a bachelor of science degree in nursing that started in August of this year at Belmont Abbey numbered 21, and included two men. Hospitals and other medical groups have attempted to recruit more men into nursing for decades, so even two counts as a success, Harmon said.

In the next few years, Belmont Abbey expects to see its nursing classes filled with 80 students and then jump to 120 students in the next three to five years, Harmon said.

Those numbers may seem high considering Belmont Abbey has a total enrollment of about 1,500 students, Harmon said.

“We need those numbers (in nursing) so that we can serve the community,” Harmon said.

Belmont Abbey will start its RN to BSN (registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing) and its master of science in nursing degree programs in January 2023.

Belmont Abbey Difference

The state’s only Roman Catholic college prides itself on its spiritual aspect. Nursing students at Belmont Abbey will also get training in ethics and empathy while learning medical skills.

“I know you can’t really teach people empathy, but we’re going to try to,” Harmon told the group.

Harmon later spoke of what she has experienced at Belmont Abbey. People willing to help and kindness were just two of her experiences, she said.

“There is something about Belmont Abbey,” Harmon said after her talk. “That is a sense of peace and fulfillment and joy.”

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Motorsports Program Makes Strides and Speeds Towards Success

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Alex Mullin

The brightest minds have come from across the country and the world to study an ever-expanding world of fast cars and big money, Motorsports, both national and international. The Belmont Abbey Motorsports Program has seen a lot of change over these past couple years. The program has opened new avenues and career opportunities for both upperclassmen and underclassmen who are looking to forge a career path in Motorsports.

To start off, there are a lot of different ways one may involve themselves in Motorsports. In the first semester of freshman year, the first course in the program is Intro to Motorsports at Sacred Heart Campus in Mercedes Hall to get a good introduction to the many classes that are taught within the program. From there, there are options to choose from in pursuing a Motorsports Management Major, which includes classes like History of Motorsports, Sports Broadcasting, and many more. Some of the esteemed faculty involved in the program include, but are not limited to: Professor Quinn Beekwilder, Professor Trey Cunningham, and Professor Matt Yocum just to name a few.

The program has recently produced some great talent in graduating classes in this past decade that have gone on to work for or own a professional NASCAR team, and the current group of upperclassmen look to continue that trend. Recently, the Motorsports Program made trips to Ford Performance Racing School, and both zMAX Dragway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway, giving students an opportunity to be more hands-on in learning about how the world of motorsports brings people together out of a pure desire to go fast and have fun.

Other than the main classes in Motorsports available at the Abbey, you can also join the Motorsports Club. There are many events they are currently organizing as the Motorsports scene slows down in off-seasons for organizations such as NASCAR and IndyCar, and the more people that are involved, the better. It is a great learning experience for learning about the world of Motorsports from local short track racing to international escapades of speed and sound. The club typically meets Thursdays at 6:30 P.M. in Student Commons unless noted otherwise.

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

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