Strong Inside

Nashville Children’s Theatre will present the world premiere of Strong Inside, a stage adaptation of Andrew Maraniss’ acclaimed biography of SEC basketball and civil rights pioneer Perry Wallace, in a unique collaboration with Vanderbilt University. Tickets are on sale now, and members of the Vanderbilt community can receive a 50 percent discount to select performances. Read More

More than 200 people gathered in front of Vanderbilt University’s Memorial Gym Feb. 22 for the dedication of Perry Wallace Way, the portion of 25th Avenue South recently named in honor of Vanderbilt trailblazer and Nashville native Perry Wallace, the first African American to play varsity basketball in the Southeastern Conference. Read More

The Tennessee General Assembly unanimously passed a joint resolution honoring the memory of Vanderbilt alumnus Perry Wallace on April 11. Wallace, who grew up in North Nashville, integrated Vanderbilt varsity basketball in 1966 and made history on Dec. 2, 1967, as the first African American basketball player to compete in a varsity game in the Southeastern Conference. Read More

The extraordinary courage that Distinguished Alumnus Perry Wallace displayed as the SEC's first African American basketball player was remembered during a celebration of life service Feb. 19. Read More

A public celebration of the life of Vanderbilt alumnus Perry Wallace, who integrated Vanderbilt athletics and SEC varsity basketball, is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 19 at Benton Chapel. Read More

Perry Wallace, BE’70, the Vanderbilt University student-athlete who integrated Southeastern Conference varsity basketball, died Dec. 1. He was 69. Read More

On the latest episode of "The Zeppos Report," Vanderbilt writer-in-residence Andrew Maraniss tells Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos about his personal journey to Vanderbilt and how it led him to write Perry Wallace's biography. Read More

Experts from disciplines including divinity, education, law, medicine and nursing will come together at Vanderbilt Nov. 10 to collaborate strategically on achieving racial justice. Read More

Resilience—the ability to adjust to change, recover from setbacks or overcome life’s challenges—is a key theme being explored by first-year students on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons during 2017-18. Read More

"Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South" will serve as the Commons Reading for a second year in 2017-18, with members of the incoming first-year class exploring additional themes of the book and participating in new and expanded programming. Read More

Vanderbilt faculty and staff are invited to a performance event inspired by the 2016 Commons Reading "Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South" that will feature the book's author, Andrew Maraniss, and acclaimed singer-songwriter Marshall Chapman. Read More

Faculty and staff at The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons are kicking off the newly revised Vanderbilt Visions curriculum for first-year students with an interactive activity that will give students, faculty, staff and visitors to campus an opportunity to learn more about African American athletics pioneer and Vanderbilt alumnus Perry Wallace. Read More

The Commons Reading for the 2016-17 academic year will be "Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South" by Vanderbilt alumnus Andrew Maraniss, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Wente and Vanessa Beasley, dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, announced today. Read More

Vanderbilt alumnus and first-time author Andrew Maraniss will receive the 2015 Lillian Smith Book Award for his acclaimed work "Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South." Read More