Publications

Books written by alumni that have recently been published Read More

University Archivist Kathleen Smith, University Librarian Jon Shaw and Vice Provost for Arts and Libraries Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting offer tips on how to design a time capsule of your own as they design one that will convey a message to the future university community. Read More

At Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, the three-dimensional history of the university is collected and lovingly maintained by the staff of Special Collections and University Archives. Their mission is to “preserve the historical memory of the university”—memory that is found in the objects that, by their survival, attest to a timeline grounded in the space between West End Avenue and 21st Avenue South. Read More

An interactive map showing the locations of sculptures around campus and offering accompanying information about each piece is now available to the Vanderbilt community. Read More

Joseph C. Hough Jr., who led the Vanderbilt Divinity School from 1990 to 1999, died May 15 in Claremont, California, after a long illness. He was 89. Read More

"Spring Procession," a poem by Didi Jackson, assistant professor of English, read at Vanderbilt's Sesquicentennial launch in March. Read More

In 2022, as Vanderbilt’s 150th anniversary approached, recent graduates Allen Zeng, BA’23, and Richard Zhang, BA’23, set out to capture the essence of the university by photographing its community members. Collaborating with Professor of Art Vesna Pavlović and librarian Yvonne Boyer, the two developed the “Vanderbilt Self-Portrait” project, supported by a Sesquicentennial Grant from the chancellor’s office and a Buchanan Library Fellowship. Read More

The Black Vanderbilt University Career Accelerator Program recently concluded its inaugural semester, and 12 participating students were recognized at a celebration dinner. Black Vanderbilt alumni envisioned and partnered with the Career Center to develop and present the program, which aims to empower Black students in their career journeys. Read More

Jane Hughes Coble, BA’64, and Bill Coble, BE’54, contributed to conservation efforts in the 1990s led by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency by allowing the TWRA to use their farm in the Bells Bend area to reintroduce bald eagles to the environment. After a few years of anxious waiting, a pair of mature eagles returned and have raised their young there for 25 years. Read More

Dr. Bob Matthews recently established a planned gift in support of the Rugby Club at Vanderbilt, where he made some of his best friends in life. He hopes to inspire others to consider a planned gift in support of a cause they are passionate about.  Read More

The Vanderbilt Fusion Project, an initiative involving 40 undergraduates from 22 majors across three schools, is seeking to build a miniature nuclear fusion reactor—and make history. Read More

The Vanderbilt University jazz program has been awarded three DownBeat Student Music Awards. Founded in 1976 by the music industry’s preeminent jazz publication, the Student Music Awards are considered among the most prestigious honors in jazz.  Read More

Mason Richards, BS'97, continues his quest to turn 'The Seawall' into a feature film. Read More

Derrick R. Spires, an associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University, has a talent for making 19th-century newspapers and pamphlets feel as accessible as the latest social media feed. He explores the culture of the early 19th-century Black press in his 2019 book 'The Practice of Citizenship: Black Politics and Print Culture in the Early United States' (University of Pennsylvania Press), which was recently released in paperback. Read More

Carolyn Peck, BA'88, was a standout student-athlete who helped the Commodores beat Pat Summitt’s mighty Lady Vols. She also was the first Black women's basketball coach to win an NCAA Division I women’s basketball national championship—and, at 33, she was the youngest women’s basketball head coach to win a Division I title. These days she can be found behind a microphone for ESPN and the SEC Network. Read More

Dawn Bennett has found paths to servant leadership throughout her life, but it was decades before she made a leap of faith and enrolled in Vanderbilt Divinity School. In January 2020, she was ordained by Bishop Kevin Strickland to remain in Nashville and build The Table, a faith collective centered on LGBTQIA+ people and vulnerable identities. Read More

The Pulitzer Prize–winning drama Sweat by Lynn Nottage is being performed on both the Fisk and Vanderbilt campuses in April, thanks to a new arts partnership created by the universities’ theatre departments. The show will take place at Vanderbilt’s Neely Auditorium April 13–15. Read More

By Jenna Somers Richard Welsh Racial inequality in school discipline is a major problem across the United States. Black students experience disproportional office disciplinary referrals and out-of-school suspensions, which lead to greater losses in instructional time. Reducing the use of exclusionary discipline is critical for improving academic achievement and educational… Read More

Michael Quillen, BA'72, took the wheel, literally and figuratively, to deliver ambulances to the front line of the war in Ukraine. The undertaking was launched in spring 2022 when Rotary International raised $15 million in relief funds for Ukraine. Longtime Rotary member Quillen worked with two Rotary districts in Virginia to apply for a $50,000 grant to buy three ambulances. Read More