#Behindthebruin

Mar 24, 2022
2 min

Behind the Bruin: Volleyball’s Kailee Bass on her quest for the quintessential coffee shop

When in search of your next favorite coffee shop, Kailee Bass has got your back. Whether you’re looking for the perfect cup of joe or the optimum table size and lighting for a productive study session, Bass’ Instagram report cards break down the factors of some of the most popular — and many lesser-visited — coffee spots in Nashville. The junior and her friends rate cafes around town, bringing together her obsession with java and her desire to explore Music City. “I started w

Behind the Bruin: Belmont’s cheer team brings strength, stamina and smiles to the court

Belmont Vision

Mar 18, 2022
4 min

Behind the Bruin: Belmont’s cheer team brings strength, stamina and smiles to the court

Basketball season is coming to an end, but at its peak, Belmont’s Curb Event Center explodes with energy. Obviously, the men’s and women’s basketball teams bring the heat of play, the fans bring the decibels in response to ebb and flow of the game and the Bruin Blast Pep Band keeps the show going. But there is another piece of the puzzle that sustains the spirit: the Belmont cheerleading team. If you’ve attended a basketball game or two, chances are you’ve noticed some pompom

Behind the Bruin: 62-year-old freshman and veteran Phillip Bender on making life fun

AJ Wuest

Mar 9, 2022
5 min

Behind the Bruin: 62-year-old freshman and veteran Phillip Bender on making life fun

For all 62 years of his life, Phillip Herbert Bender has truly desired one thing. Fun. And as a Theta Chi at Penn State University in the early 80s, he admits he may have had a little too much of it. “I just went there and partied,” he said. “You know the movie ‘Animal House?’ It’s supposed to be a comedy. It’s really sort of like a documentary. That was my life,” he said, closely comparing himself to Bluto, the frat brother played by John Belushi in the college-romp film. “I

As Belmont’s postseason begins, the Bruin Blast Pep Band is still playing

Jaymey Hedberg

Mar 3, 2022
3 min

As Belmont’s postseason begins, the Bruin Blast Pep Band is still playing

Ranging from Bruno Mars hits to ’50s classics like “Johnny B. Goode,” Belmont’s Bruin Blast Pep Band can play it all. Composed of 20-plus student musicians in a sea of brass, woodwind and percussion, the pep band combines two of the most sacred Belmont pastimes: music and basketball. Recognizable by their red polos with white stripes down the sides, students and fans can find them in the west-end stands of the Curb Event Center on basketball and volleyball game days — and soo

Ben Sheppard is Belmont basketball’s strong and silent superstar

Landen Secrest

Feb 23, 2022
4 min

Ben Sheppard is Belmont basketball’s strong and silent superstar

Let the game do the talking. That’s the simple motto of Belmont basketball junior Ben Sheppard, who has ascended to become one of the top players in the Ohio Valley Conference. “I’m not a big rah-rah type guy. I just let my humbleness and my game speak for themselves,” said Sheppard, who is tied as the team’s leading scorer in the 2021-22 season. Modeling his game after several of the more well-known 3-and-D players in the NBA, including Jaylen Brown, Caris LeVert and Kentavi

Behind the Bruin: Pop/Rock Showcase winner Bridey Costello on breaking out of boxes

Meagan Irby

Feb 21, 2022
4 min

Behind the Bruin: Pop/Rock Showcase winner Bridey Costello on breaking out of boxes

Bridey Costello rocked the Curb Event Center on Feb. 12, earning her the 2022 CEMB Pop/Rock Showcase crown. This redheaded Chicago native captivates with her genre-blending tunes, candid lyrics and down-to-earth demeanor — qualities that make her an artist true to her generation and easy to pay attention to. Freckle-faced with a sugary smile, Costello rocks a laid-back, effortlessly cool vibe that doesn’t make you feel lesser than. Her “super Irish” family thrust her into mus

Behind the Bruin: University photographer Sam Simpkins on snapping a story

Meagan Irby

Feb 9, 2022
6 min

Behind the Bruin: University photographer Sam Simpkins on snapping a story

If you look closely at any given Belmont event, you might just catch the blur of a figure darting through the crowds and slithering along the sidelines. If you listen even closer, you will hear the faint click, click, click of his Sony camera capturing the scene. The blur is Sam Simpkins — Belmont’s beloved university photographer. Blink, and you might just miss him. When Belmont posted the job opening for a photographer in 2016, Simpkins jumped for joy. “I was like, ‘Ooo me!

Behind the Bruin: Vira Williams on the road to architecture excellence

Landen Secrest

Feb 8, 2022
3 min

Behind the Bruin: Vira Williams on the road to architecture excellence

Architecture was never something Vira Williams considered when weighing her options on potential college majors. She chose graphic design as her desired field of study when she arrived on campus, but during her first year, she decided she wanted to switch things up and began a search for something that would challenge her skills and thinking in a whole new way. From there, she turned her focus to architecture and hasn’t looked back since — and her work has earned her the Kevi

Behind the Bruin: Kingston Gardner plays hard and cheers loud for Belmont sports

Landen Secrest

Feb 1, 2022
3 min

Behind the Bruin: Kingston Gardner plays hard and cheers loud for Belmont sports

Belmont University’s love of sports runs far deeper than its 15 Division I athletics teams. Just ask Kingston Gardner, a creative and entertainment industries sophomore and Nashville native who’s been playing sports since he could walk. Though he’s not a student-athlete, sports are a big part of Gardner’s life. And whether it’s watching games or playing in them, sports-loving Bruins like Gardner find ways to get involved in Belmont’s passionate athletic community. “There’s n

Belmont Confessions founders talk past, present and future of their infamous Twitter account

Allison Fedorchek

Jan 16, 2022
4 min

Belmont Confessions founders talk past, present and future of their infamous Twitter account

When students want to share experiences at Belmont, chat about Belle the campus cat, offer up a silly story, ask for advice or say what’s on their minds anonymously, the Belmont Confessions Twitter account is the place to go. But one of Belmont Confessions’ biggest tweets of the year answered a question on a lot of students’ minds: who started it all? The founders behind Belmont Confessions, which has become a buzzing part of Belmont’s online community, revealed their identit

Behind the Bruin: Keita Suzuki ties for second in 50-mile Nashville Ultramarathon

Connor Daryani

Nov 10, 2021
3 min

Behind the Bruin: Keita Suzuki ties for second in 50-mile Nashville Ultramarathon

Belmont senior Keita Suzuki ran 50 miles in 7 hours, 21 minutes, but that’s not quite fast enough for him. “I wanted to break the course record, which is 6 hours and 32 minutes,” said Suzuki. Maintaining an average pace of 8 minutes, 30 seconds per mile to tie for second place, the music business senior merely cracked the top-20 male Nashville Ultramarathon finishers — of all time. Suzuki’s dedication to the sport only really kicked off in 2018 when he graduated high school.

Behind the Bruin: Dr. Judy Skeen on being one with nature

Alexandra Lanz

Oct 8, 2021
5 min

Behind the Bruin: Dr. Judy Skeen on being one with nature

Seven acres of land, home to a dog and four horses and covered with trees. This is Dr. Judy Skeen’s personal sanctuary. In a time when staying busy and being a workaholic is normal, Skeen chooses a different route. Outside of her teaching role in Belmont’s College of Theology and Christian Ministry, she finds herself in the isolation of the Tennessee countryside, where being surrounded by nature has helped make her a better person and a better Christian. “Nature can restore u