Class Of 2017

When Boston native Jarrod Shilts arrived at Vanderbilt, he brought with him a strong interest in synthetic biology—a discipline devoted to designing and creating biological molecules that don’t exist in the natural world and using them to redesign existing biological systems. Read More

Growing up outside Houston, senior Paloma Mendoza did not know a single engineer, though she knew she wanted to be one. Read More

One School of Engineering senior wants to learn how fathers in different cultures impact family dynamics, while another wonders if traditional cures are getting replaced by the spread of Western medicine and what that means for those cultures. To both, the exploration is personal. Read More

Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos will deliver Vanderbilt University’s traditional Commencement address May 12, the day after documentary filmmaker Ken Burns accepts a prestigious Vanderbilt award and offers his advice. Read More

Oren Burks is not afraid to step up when called upon, even when stepping up requires stepping out of his comfort zone. Read More

Marc Chen wants to use data to make cities work better for everyone. Chen, a math and economics major, believes there’s a wealth of untapped data out there waiting to be mined that could help public policymakers understand how their decisions affect the well-being of city residents. Read More

Senior Michael Umenta, a computer science major, has a tough decision to make. Does he accept the software engineering job at Google, or does he partner with friends to launch a startup? Read More

Lauren Pak’s passport is a map of injustices around the world. She has spent much of her undergraduate career learning about conflict resolution—not just through classroom lectures and reading, but also by doing hands-on, university-funded research on five continents. Read More

The combination of music, high academic standards and an openness to explore is what brought Blair School of Music senior Nicole Long to Vanderbilt. She knew from the beginning she wanted to double major in percussion and something academic, though she wasn’t sure what her second subject might be. Read More

After hours of thinking about theoretical physics, senior Zachary Bednarke relaxes by playing his trumpet. While running through scales on the instrument, he is also, technically, still doing schoolwork. Read More

Losing her sight at age 3 was no match for Peabody College senior Stephanie Zundel's competitive spirit. While at Vanderbilt, she took up marathon running and completed the 2017 Boston Marathon on April 17. Read More

The current discourse in this country about immigration policy and reform is much more than political rhetoric for College of Arts and Science senior Melissa De La Torre. Read More

A busy hospital emergency room—filled with life and pain and death—is not where you’d expect to find a Vanderbilt undergrad taking a class. But that is where you find Kate Sborov. Read More

Blair School of Music senior David Rodgers is graduating with a newly released album of jazz originals he composed, arranged and performed, as well as a spot in the touring band of Grammy Award-winning blues musicians Keb’ Mo’ and Taj Mahal. Read More

The Vanderbilt Class of 2017 was selected from the largest, most academically prepared and diverse pool of applicants in the university's history. Read More

Every year, the incoming class of first-year students gathers on The Ingram Commons lawn for a photo.  Zoom in to see an up-close look at the Class of 2017. You can download a high-res version of the photo on our flickr page. Read More

They came from all over the country and the world to move into The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons. Watch as Vanderbilt's first-year students move in to start their living-learning experience. Check out tweets and images from Move In Day. Read More

Students arrived on campus of the weekend and had lots to share via social media. Read More

It was a jam-packed week of excitement: More reaction from the new Class of 2017; celebrating the arrival of spring; celebrity sightings; and things got a little squirrely on April 1. [View the story "Our favorite Tweets and Instagrams of the week, March 30-April 5" on Storify]Our favorite… Read More

Regular Decision letters were mailed this week, and the excitement from the new class of ‘Dores – and their families, friends, and Vanderbilt alumni – was all over social media. Here are some of our favorite displays of Black & Gold pride. [View the story "Vanderbilt… Read More