Picture this: Success!

Dean Camilla Benbow (left) joins Susan Gray School’s Ashley Pascarella with her students Grace Kahnle and Landon Fuqua (front), Peabody senior Harrison Hunter Breakstone, and Laurie Cutting (far right), Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Special Education, to thank everyone who has made the Shape the Future campaign a resounding success at Peabody.

Educators know that when many people are on board to help teach students, success is the most likely result. At Peabody, the tangible support of the many segments of our community—alumni, donors, parents, faculty, staff and friends—have all contributed to the enormous success of Vanderbilt’s Shape the Future campaign. Launched in 2003, the campaign received $1.94 billion in donor gifts and pledges in an historic initiative focused primarily on investing in people through scholarships and endowed faculty chairs.

Thank you, Peabody community

Peabody’s numbers in the campaign attest to your
generosity. During Shape the Future:

  • Nearly 12,000 donors gave $72 million in gifts and pledges to Peabody College
  • 41 new scholarships were established, 39 of them designated for need-based students
  • 14 endowed faculty chairs were established
  • More than $10 million in bequests were made

Thank You…

…from Peabody students like Harrison Hunter Breakstone, Class of 2012, recipient of the Adam Young Scholarship, which was endowed during the campaign.

…from outstanding professors like Laurie Cutting, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Special Education, associate professor of psychology and human development, pediatrics, and radiology and radiological sciences, whose interdisciplinary work on the brain and language acquisition offers hope to students with dyslexia.

…from teachers and students at the Susan Gray School like teacher Ashley Pascarella and students Grace Kahnle and Landon Fuqua, who have an accessible playground for both typically developing and developmentally disabled students due to the Finan family and other contributors.

…for your contributions that have supported Peabody’s programs and research making it the most lauded graduate school of education in the United States.

Ongoing support for scholarships continues

More than 62 percent of undergraduates at Vanderbilt receive financial aid. For many Peabody undergraduates, being able to attend college without incurring debt is paramount. For the 2011-12 year, Vanderbilt has set a goal of receiving $20 million in gifts for Opportunity Vanderbilt scholarships. With your support and that of others committed to having the best graduates available for educational reform, Peabody will meet that goal, to continue its role in advancing research in education and human development initiatives at Vanderbilt and beyond.