Vanderbilt Magazine
Commodore Community
Aug. 3, 2020—Tremendous engagement and volunteer opportunities are available for alumni. Please check into them at vuconnect.com.
Script Change: The road to Hollywood is sometimes paved through Wilson Hall
Jul. 29, 2020—For television writer and producer Saladin Patterson, MA’96, an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from MIT was not the start of his career—at least not as he’d initially planned. Thanks to his on-campus job in tech support at Wilson Hall, Patterson plotted a career that led straight to Hollywood.
American Experiment: Professor hopes to inspire the vision of indivisibility for which the American flag stands
Jul. 29, 2020—The symbolism of frayed, worn flags in "Flag Exchange" by Mel Ziegler, Paul E. Schwab Professor of Fine Arts, raises questions about the capacity of the American experiment to be sustained through national triumphs and shortcomings, including our own time of divisiveness.
‘Sacrifice and Toil’: During the Great Depression, Chancellor Kirkland urged strength in adversity
Jul. 23, 2020—In his opening address to the university Sept. 24, 1930, Chancellor James H. Kirkland shared his thoughts on the serious purposes of university life during a time of country-wide unemployment and financial devastation.
‘Know Better, Do Better’: Charlane Oliver, BS’05, focuses on educating and energizing the Black electorate
Jul. 23, 2020—Oliver is a co-founder of the Equity Alliance, an organization dedicated to educating and energizing the Black electorate.
Committed to Memory: VU319 may hold the key to improving memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients
Jul. 23, 2020—VU319, an investigational drug product developed by Vanderbilt researchers, targets one of medicine’s most bedeviling challenges: improving memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Catalyst for Change: Shan Foster, BS’08, has found success off the court in working to end violence against women
Jul. 23, 2020—Foster, the vice president of external affairs at YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee, leads the AMEND Together initiative, a prevention program dedicated to ending violence against women and girls by engaging men and boys to be part of the solution.
New Aspirations: Vanderbilt welcomes Daniel Diermeier as the university’s ninth chancellor
Jul. 1, 2020—In a wide-ranging interview, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier discusses growing up as a first-generation student in a divided Germany, taking the helm during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the collaborative culture that has fueled Vanderbilt’s success.
Vanderbilt jazz program honored by ‘DownBeat’ magazine
Apr. 28, 2020—Blair School of Music’s budding jazz program earned top ranking in the category of Best Blues/Pop/Rock Group for "Commercial Break," a self-titled debut album written and recorded by an ensemble of Vanderbilt undergraduates.
Visit ‘Dream for Light Years’ visual/musical exhibition online
Apr. 15, 2020—"Dream for Light Years," a collaboration between contemporary artist Ali Smith and Blair School of Music's Michael Alec Rose, can now be enjoyed online.
Happy Helping Others: Robby Perry, BE’19
Apr. 11, 2019—From an Alternative Spring Break trip to renovate houses with Habitat for Humanity, to a Home Depot–sponsored web-coding hackathon, to a semester of study abroad that took him to cities such as Madrid, Marrakesh and Istanbul—Robby Perry’s time at Vanderbilt exemplifies just how much you can pack into four years.