with the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 2007, with the announcement that it would be a Christian university without any denominational affiliations. Under its terms, the TBC and Belmont would disaffiliate amicably, with Belmont agreeing to pay $1 million to the convention immediately and $250,000 annually for the next forty years, for a total cost of $11 million. The university has stated its intent to maintain a Christian identity but no longer a specifically Baptist one.
=== 21st century ===
Belmont University became a catalyst for anti-discrimination protests in December 2010, when women's soccer coach Lisa Howe allegedly lost her job at the university on December 2 after announcing that she was having three children with her same-sex partner. Howe's dismissal sparked protests from students and local and national gay-rights advocates. These events led to a citywide anti-discrimination ordinance being passed by the Nashville City Council in January 2011. On January 26, 2011, President Bob Fisher announced …
