When I asked my college French professor for permission to take classes at Belmont University in the summer of 1992, he replied by asking, “What the hell is Belmont?” He eventually agreed to let me study away from my alma mater after I explained, but he had no idea that Belmont was a small Baptist school in Nashville. Very few people who lived outside of Tennessee did, unless they had a direct connection to the city or the school.

On the heels of major campus upgrades, back-to-back NCAA basketball tournament appearances and next week’s Presidential Debate, people are taking notice of Belmont here and around the country. U.S. News and World Report recently named Belmont one of two schools that “everyone should be watching” because of its “striking improvements or innovations.”

That’s a far cry from the quiet, insular institution that was Belmont College when I was growing up in the 80s and early 90s. I’m proud that Belmont is playing an active role in our community and emerging on the national scene. It wasn’t that long ago that Belmont and its peer, Lipscomb University, had largely inward focuses that called for little, if any, relating to the greater public. It’s no coincidence, in my opinion, that both universities are enjoying unprecedented success and accolades during an era where they are engaging people and organizations outside their campuses.

(It should be noted that Lipscomb hosted today’s annual meeting of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and that the school is routinely hosting nationally prominent speakers, many of whom don’t necessarily agree with its conservative Christian philosophy and mission. Regarding the latter, I’m encouraged to see Lipscomb respectfully consider points of view that it may or may not align with its own.)

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