Belmont severed its ties from the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 2007, when the university announced it would be a Christian university without any denominational affiliations. On November 14, 2007, Nashville media reported that a settlement of this suit had been reached before trial. Under its terms, the TBC and Belmont would disaffiliate amicably, with Belmont agreeing to pay one million dollars 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.