Nearly 50 BOLD Leaders joined the Belmont Landscaping team for tree planting
Planting a single tree on a 90-acre campus may seem like a small thing, but for 50 students, the experience was a powerful lesson in community.
Known for cultivating undergraduate and graduate student leaders, Belmont’s Office of Leadership Development hosts dozens of workshops for students led by leaders all across campus. This month, BOLD’s Leadership Lately series continued through a workshop led by the Belmont Landscaping team. During the workshop students plant a salisburia adianthifolia tree outside of Hail Hall, reflecting on the importance of leadership, collaboration and being rooted in leadership.
More Than Planting a Tree
The Belmont Landscaping team shared the origin of the Arbor Day Foundation and invited students to picture someone standing in an open field over a century ago. No shade. No large trees.
“There was no promise that anything they planted would help them personally, but they planted anyway,” the team shared.
Planting trees reflects the belief that communities grow stronger when thinking about the future and not just about oneself.
The Landscaping team encouraged students to think of a tree that mattered to them: one that they’ve climbed, one outside of their childhood home, a place of rest where they’ve developed memories. As the students thought of trees they had enjoyed, they were reminded that at one point, someone planted that tree regardless of whether they were able to see it grow.
“Someone we’ll never meet made a choice that shaped how we experience the world,” one member of the Landscaping team stated. “That is leadership. No tree grows alone and no leader succeeds alone.”
The Belmont Landscaping team continued by reminding BOLD leaders that every generation has a choice: solely enjoy the results of work done by others who came before you or plant more trees.
The single tree planted outside of Hail Hall by students and landscapers is now a reminder of leadership and a collective decision to do something that has a lasting impact.
“You chose teamwork over individual credit,” a member of the Landscaping team said, acknowledging the student leaders. “You chose service over recognition. You chose the future impact instead of an immediate reward. That is what real leadership looks like.”
BOLD History: Rooted in Service
The Leadership Lately series is one of many impactful programs offered through Belmont’s Office of Leadership & Engagement, which provides a holistic approach to student development that continues to gain recognition beyond campus.
Belmont’s Division for Student Formation’s Leadership & Engagement team was recognized on a national stage in February when they presented BOLD Moves at the National Association for Campus Activities in Columbus, Ohio.
Twenty institutions of higher education were present to learn how service through the BOLD Moves Leadership Challenge ignited an ongoing desire for character formation and student leadership development for the past eight years at Belmont.
Shelby DeLay, Kelvin Kelley, Jordan Cooper and Derian Hamblin represented the Belmont Office of Leadership Development and facilitated an engaging workshop for practitioners and students from across the country.
BOLD By the Numbers
Belmont has consistently met challenges with high impact programming that doesn’t just seek to fix a problem — it prioritizes the student experience.
BOLD’s 4-level leadership development framework was established under the leadership of Dr. AdriAnne Sternberg in 2017 at a time when there was a great desire for a Christ-centered, student-focused leadership development program that would be available to every Belmont student.
Since 2018 BOLD has guided more 500 students from ten academic colleges at Belmont through a 7-day leadership program during Welcome Week.
The BOLD Moves Leadership Challenge has led to the ongoing engagement of 3,200 graduate and undergraduate students pursuing their co-curricular certificate in leadership, a distinction awarded to Belmont student leaders alongside their diplomas.
In addition to the BOLD Moves Leadership Challenge, Belmont consistently supports Leadership and Engagement offerings like, It Must Be Wednesday, Build-A-Bruin, SOUL Series, Fraternity & Sorority Live Philanthropy Event, Throwback Prom and the Pulse Getaway and Student Leadership Advance. Each of these experiences helps students embrace belonging, practice leadership, promote whole-person formation and advance student well-being.
Discover more impactful stories of leadership at Belmont.