An Enduring Legacy for Belmont’s New Student Orientation

Cultivating Community for Over 40 Years

The first moments of becoming a Belmont Bruin are filled with excitement, joy and an overwhelming sense of community. From the moment incoming freshmen arrive on campus, a select group of students called Towering Traditions (TT) leaders are ready to make their first week unforgettable.  

“It is hard to explain TT to someone that has no context for Belmont or TT, because we do so much,” orientation student ambassador Jess Finny said. “We create a whole world for [freshmen] that is unique to Belmont.”  

The one-of-a-kind TT experience officially begins with move-in. Eager students and their loved ones are met by cheerful TT leaders who are ready to carry their college essentials up to their dorm rooms once they arrive to campus for move-in. Welcome Week festivities last four days and the new Bruins participate in many events and activities including campus tours, get-to-know-you games, information sessions and more.  

Towering Traditions: Laying the Foundation

In the fall of 1986, Suzanne Matheny, former dean of students, wanted to start a program that oriented students to life in Nashville. The original idea was to break incoming students into small groups and find mentors for them on campus.  

“We were just so worried about them knowing where Kroger was,” Matheny recalled. The inaugural program was originally named Student Orientation and Registration (SOAR). Instead of TT leaders, Guides and Orientation (GO) leaders welcomed the incoming freshman, wearing uniformed yellow T-shirts. In 1990, Matheny decided to give SOAR a theme. She called it Towering Traditions because she “sensed in the students that there weren’t a lot of traditions that were being passed down from year to year.”  

Fast forward to 2024, the Welcome Week schedule is filled with traditions that students have come to cherish with the start of every semester including group singalongs, a large-scale game that sends students around campus to compete in challenges and gathering beneath the bell tower the night before classes begin.  

This year, nearly 350 student volunteers participated in leading during Welcome Week, whether that be through the Office of Leadership Development, University Ministries or as a Towering Traditions leader. “We had just under 400 students apply... we are simply turning people away,” remarked Finny. “Everyone wants to be a part of this community.”  

Welcome Week Originates with the Pilot Guy

Dane Anthony, former university minister, began leading parent programming for orientation in 1998. He expanded Towering Traditions to include specific programming for parents that helped with the emotional weight of sending a child off to college. Each year he piloted new programs to make the orientation experience better and more impactful than the last. Anthony, nicknamed “Pilot Guy,” is also credited with starting “Welcome Day” – an event that invited internal Belmont offices to set up stations around campus for freshmen to get involved on campus as early as their first day.  

Welcome Day would eventually evolve into what freshmen experience now as Welcome Week. In the fall of 2024, there were over 200 TT leaders, 12 Orientation Council members and more than 1,900 incoming freshmen and transfer students involved in the Welcome Week process - not to mention the Summer Orientation program, where freshmen come to campus for a day in June and register for their classes in person, guided by around 25 volunteer Summer Staff. 

 

In 2015, Ryan Holt joined the orientation team as assistant dean and director of new student orientation programs. He was joined this past year by Caroline Morgan, and together they lead the Orientation Council (OC), a select group of student leaders who serve as informed point-people for students and their families. The impact of this work is reflected in impressive data: 

• 98% satisfaction rate for Welcome Week and move-in experiences 

• 96% of families confirm their choice of Belmont after orientation 

• 240 Orientation Council, Summer Staff and Tower Team leaders trained annually 

• • 5,000 students and guests participate in orientation each June and August 

TT continues to evolve, but the core mission remains the same. "We wanted to create something that would stand the test of time and continue to be malleable enough to meet the needs of students that are changing the world," Anthony said. With each passing year, the TT program continues to ensure that this cherished experience keeps the same sense of belonging, connection and joy that has defined the tradition for decades.