Dare To Grow

How well do you know VU? Try your hand at Vanderbilt trivia with our Dare to Grow crossword puzzle. Read More

Vanderbilt University will expand its presence, reputation and impact around the world with the appointment of its first senior director of global engagement and external partnerships. Read More

See some of the bold and collaborative actions Vanderbilt University accomplished this year an innovator and leader in solving the world’s most pressing challenges. Read More

More than 150 alumni and parent volunteers gathered on campus March 1–2 for Vanderbilt’s seventh annual Volunteer Leadership Weekend. Attendees of the weekend events included representatives from many alumni and parent groups across the university. Read More

Vanderbilt University officially launched the McGee Applied Research Center for Narrative Studies at a campus event on Feb. 7. Board of Trust members, university leaders, alumni and invited guests gathered at Rothschild College to celebrate the new interdisciplinary center, which will promote media literacy by providing resources to evaluate the objectivity of news coverage, digital media and other narratives. Read More

The Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency has launched, with the goal of exploring the presidency through an innovative, comprehensive lens. Housed within the College of Arts and Science, the center will serve as a nationally recognized hub for innovative scholarship about the workings of the presidency. Read More

The tournament, scheduled for Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, is recognized as the largest college debate competition in the world, attracting more than 400 teams from educational institutions across the globe. This is the third time Vanderbilt Debate will participate in face-to-face debates at the WUDC, having previously represented the university in 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand, and in 2022 in Madrid, Spain. The team’s participation underscores Vanderbilt’s commitment to fostering intellectual rigor and global engagement through the art of debate.  Read More

From celebrating its 150th anniversary to launching the most ambitious fundraising campaign in university history, from reaching new heights in research funding to fostering civil discourse and a culture of belonging on campus, take a look back at some of the ways Vanderbilt dared to grow this year. Read More

The Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, led by Erin Calipari, advances research to understand how addiction and substance use disorder develops in the brain. VCAR’s goals are to develop new pharmaceutical strategies and to destigmatize addiction as a personal failing. Read More

Vanderbilt has announced the addition of the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery into Discovery Vanderbilt as well as an initiative within the Dare to Grow campaign to inspire philanthropy with a one-to-one match for gifts of $100,000 or more. Read More

A landmark gift from current Vanderbilt parents Allison and Larry Berg will establish the Berg Global Artist-in-Residence program to bring visiting artists to campus, as well as two Berg Dean’s Faculty Fellowships in the College of Arts and Science. Read More

More than 3,500 alumni and their guests returned to campus for Reunion and Homecoming events Nov. 2–5, capping off a year that—by many measures—stands out as Vanderbilt’s best ever. Read More

A $6.8 million gift from an anonymous donor will support Immersion Vanderbilt and provide funding to students to carry out creative and ambitious projects that deepen their intellect and broaden their horizons. Read More

A $1.25 million pledge from the Conway-Welch Family Foundation will establish the Conway-Welch Second Degree in Nursing Scholarship at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. This milestone gift, awarded to a student enrolling in Vanderbilt’s new Master of Nursing program, was made in honor of Colleen Conway-Welch, the former dean of the school who died in 2018. Read More

During the month of October, make a gift to impact your favorite area of Vanderbilt, and we’ll thank you with a limited-edition thank-you gift of your choice—this year choose from one of four Vanderbilt 1873 Collection items. Supporting students and faculty is the perfect way to show off your Commodore pride and help fund the Dare to Grow campaign. Read More

In April, at the outset of its yearlong Sesquicentennial celebration, Vanderbilt launched a bold giving campaign called Dare to Grow, which aims to empower and support students, advance pathbreaking discoveries and promote radical collaboration across the university. As its volunteer co-chairs, trustees Steven Madden and Mark Mays will help bring the campaign’s goals to life. Read More

In celebration of Vanderbilt’s Sesquicentennial, these pages are part of a story that’s 150 years in the making. It begins in 1873—a pivotal time in our nation’s history—when our visionary founders teamed up to build a great university in a war-torn city in Tennessee. In 2023, the story continues with Vanderbilt today and looks toward our global future together. Read More

Stronger than at any other time in our history, we are positioned to do more than just meet the challenges of our times. We have what it takes to thrive and lead—to define and become the great university of this century. Read More