Founded in 1873, Vanderbilt University is a private, R1 classified university renowned for its transformative education and research that offers internationally recognized programs and an immersive undergraduate experience. The university enrolls 13,710 students in ten schools and colleges that span a parklike campus in the heart of Nashville, the capitol of Tennessee. With research and development expenditures exceeding $1 billion in 2021, Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center rank in the top 10 among private universities and in the top 25 overall on the most recent NSF Higher Education Research and Development Survey.
A university of its hometown
Known for its dedication to higher education, Nashville holds the nickname “Athens of the South” and has over 17 colleges or universities within the city limits. Vanderbilt enjoys strong ties to its hometown and views the city’s growth and flourishing as mutually beneficial to the university’s mission. Over the past 30 years, Nashville, has seen an influx of new residents from other states and other countries and has a current population of 1.3 million. The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s data indicates that Nashville grew by 35, 624 people in 2022 or roughly 98 new residents a day.
Embracing radical collaboration
Vanderbilt University is committed to radical collaboration and seeks opportunities for further civic and community connectivity through partnerships with the greater Nashville community. The phrase “Radical Collaboration” is the simplest expression of Vanderbilt’s core identity and isn’t intended to be a tagline. Instead, it serves as an internal North Star to guide all of Vanderbilt’s actions and communication efforts.
This radical collaborative spirit imbues every facet of university life: from its residential college model that empowers students to learn from classmates and friends with different backgrounds, to its fully integrated approach to Commodore athletics, which sees athletics competition and teamwork as vital means of fostering student-athletes’ lifelong learning and growth.
Connecting campus to community
Vanderbilt University values positive, ethical, and sustainable relationships and partnerships with Nashville’s nonprofit and civic institutions. Faculty, staff, and students serve on community boards, volunteer extensively with local organizations, offer and host research opportunities for Nashville residents, and hold convening programs and spaces for the benefit of their home community.
The Community Relations team serves as a facilitator, connector and convener for local external partners and Vanderbilt University students, staff, faculty, and resources. The team supports nonprofit organizations financially and in partnership through the Community Impact Fund; convenes campus partners through the Vanderbilt University Community Engagement Collaborative; facilitates collaborative programming with nonprofit and neighborhood partners; and encourages radical collaboration between cross-departmental entities on campus and community partners through various funding opportunities.
Schools, offices, centers, and initiatives that work to advance civic and community engagement and the anchor mission at Vanderbilt University include:
- The Division of Government and Community Relations is responsible for the university’s advocacy with all levels of government and for setting advocacy goals and influencing policy.
- The Community Engagement Collaborative, a dedicated group of staff and faculty who lead community partnerships, serves to share knowledge and best practices for community engagement.
- Social Innovation at the Wond’ry prepares leaders to co-create opportunities for social change in their communities using the tools of equity-centered design and systems thinking.
- The Nashville Partnership for Educational Equity Research (Nashville PEER) is a research-practice partnership between Metro Nashville Public Schools and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College focused on the district’s core commitment to identify and eliminate educational inequities.
- Both the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy and the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities hold programs and events and provide educational opportunities for both the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities to explore interdisciplinary research and public scholarship in a cultural and creative environment.
- Vanderbilt Divinity School has a legacy of local engagement through community organizing and social justice activism, while cultivating ethical and moral leaders across the disciplines through the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions.
- Vanderbilt School of Engineering engages in hands-on research and partnership with experts in transit, mobility, and emergency response throughout the city, state, and region to assess needs and create collaborative solutions through centers like Vanderbilt Engineering Center for Transportation and Operational Resiliency (VECTOR).
- The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy is a project that seeks to supplant ideology with fact to reshape the national conversation, offering solutions beyond reflexive ideological assertions. It was established with premise that the country has become disconnected from evidence and aims to heal societal divisions.
- Dialogue Vanderbilt is an initiative that brings together resources to help re-establish norms of civil discourse, constructive conversation, and mutual respect.
Radical collaboration sets Vanderbilt apart, enabling faculty, staff, and students to transcend boundaries and have greater impact in everything they do.
Join us in welcoming Vanderbilt University to the CUMU membership.