Editor’s Note

Thousands of chairs line Alumni Lawn in anticipation of Commencement day. (Steve Green/Vanderbilt) The other day, my friend Kelly mentioned something about attending her son’s graduation before she and her family leave for summer vacation. I did a double take. Graduation? Our sons are the same age. They’re in… Read More

Kissam will be a construction zone for two years starting May 14. (John Russell/Vanderbilt) For a short time, there was a rumor going around the office that took water cooler chatter to an all-time high. The six dormitories at Kissam Quadrangle would be blown up the day… Read More

(Susan Urmy/Vanderbilt University) A friend once told me about a man he met while on a church mission trip to Haiti. A friendship was formed, and the church later paid for the Haitian man to visit America. After a whirlwind tour of shopping malls, amusement parks and all-you-can-eat buffets,… Read More

The editor (left, with cat) and her twin sister, circa 1967. When you were a child, did you dream big dreams? When I was no more than 3, I remember spending cold winter evenings huddled with my twin sister under our family’s massive antique roll-top desk, making believe we… Read More

Elsie Yordy, circa 1950 (image courtesy of Eleanor Yordy Dooner) My paternal grandmother, Elsie, always wanted me to become a nurse. She told my sisters and me time and again that if we were to make anything of ourselves, we needed to go to nursing school. An orphan adopted… Read More

Sounds of the Season: The Vanderbilt Community Chorus performed works by Italian composers Nov. 20 in Blair School of Music's Ingram Hall. (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) December is here, and I already feel the pace picking up. Once we get to this point in the year, it’s a downhill slide to… Read More

Another example of outstanding work produced at Vanderbilt: this photo by staff photographer Joe Howell. He captured members of the Vanderbilt swim team at the bottom of the Centennial Sportsplex pool. Pictured (l-r) are Zoe Cooper-Surma, Laura Dillon and Stephanie Falcone. (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt) Before coming to Vanderbilt, I worked… Read More

A rooftop view of a Vanderbilt LifeFlight helicopter making its approach. (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) I recently updated my Facebook status to read “I’m thinking of going off the grid.” I wasn’t planning to disappear into the wilderness sans smart phone to live off the land. But I was experiencing a… Read More

(image courtesy of Helene Dunbar) Ten years ago, tragic events took place that changed America forever. There is no getting around that. There exists in our memories the time before Sept. 11, 2001, and the time after it, and those time periods are profoundly different. The enormity of the… Read More

As you can see, the Vanderbilt View underwent a transformation over the summer. Not a full-blown overhaul by any means, but a little nip and tuck nonetheless. As you might imagine, we’re doing our best to save trees and money. But that’s not our only motivation. Since the View launched… Read More

Learn from the cicadas and live your life to the fullest. Read More

"View" Editor Joan Brasher reflects on Vanderbilt’s symbols of strength and constancy. Read More

It’s one thing to get a paycheck. It’s quite another to turn around and give some of that paycheck back to your employer. I mean, please. Who does that? Read More