Vanderbilt Visions

This summer, Vanderbilt’s incoming first-year students will take on a new challenge: learning to listen with curiosity. As part of the 2025–26 Martha Rivers Ingram Commons programming theme, “Stories that Connect Us,” students will conduct interviews during the summer with members of their communities, practicing the skills of thoughtful listening and engaged dialogue.  Read More

A key component of first-year student support is Vanderbilt’s six-week extended orientation program, Vanderbilt Visions. Vanderbilt Visions is co-facilitated by an upper-division peer mentor and a faculty member, called VUceptors. VUceptors support students throughout CommonVU Orientation and for the duration of the Vanderbilt Visions program. Faculty who would like to learn more about serving in the role of a faculty VUceptor are invited to an interest breakfast on Wednesday, Jan. 29, from 9 to 10 a.m. at The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons dean’s residence, located at 1235 18th Ave. S. Read More

Residential Colleges invites all Vanderbilt faculty, students and staff to nominate a book for the Campus Reading for the Class of 2029; next year’s theme is Stories that Connect Us.   Read More

The ability to engage with others in highly divisive times is a particularly timely topic, one that Mónica Guzmán, senior fellow for public practice at Braver Angels, spoke about with first-year students on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at a packed Langford Auditorium. Guzmán delivered the 18th annual Lawson Lecture, named in honor of the Rev. James Lawson, a renowned civil rights activist, professor, theoretician and pastor. Lawson also served as a Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt from 2006 to 2009. Read More

As part of its annual review of policies and guidelines, Vanderbilt University has updated the Student Handbook. The update includes revisions to the freedom of expression and use of university space policies, which are a vital part of the university’s commitment to discovery and learning.  Read More

The Campus Reading for the 2024–25 academic year will be I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times by Mónica Guzmán. The book was chosen by a committee of faculty and students and launches community-wide dialogue that begins during orientation and continues throughout the year in houses on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, in Vanderbilt Visions groups, and across campus. Read More

Each fall Vanderbilt University admits a diverse cohort of more than 1,600 first-year undergraduate students. These students are welcomed to the Vanderbilt family with support through the transition process and a vast network of resources that can help ensure their success.  Read More

Residential colleges and the Vanderbilt Visions program invite all Vanderbilt faculty, students and staff to nominate a book for the Class of 2028 Campus Reading. Next year’s theme is “Embracing the Debate.” You may nominate up to three texts of any genre by current or deceased authors. Read More

Kevin Wilson, BA’00, the author of Now is Not the Time to Panic, this year’s Campus Reading, shared his experiences as a Vanderbilt student in the mid-1990s with more than 1,000 current first-year students on Sept. 10. Read More

Applications to serve as a faculty VUceptor are now open. Faculty VUceptors are dedicated to assisting and learning from first-year students and work to model dynamic and meaningful professor-student interaction. Read More

Residential Colleges invites all Vanderbilt faculty, students and staff to nominate a book for next year’s Campus Reading for the Class of 2027 and incoming transfer students. Nominations should support the theme “Engaging the Controversial: Making Space for Discussion and Connection.” Read More

The university is seeking faculty to serve as VUceptors for the incoming Class of 2026. VUceptors model dynamic and meaningful professor-student interaction by inviting first-year students to join the Vanderbilt family, providing support in the transition process, and showcasing the vast network of resources available to ensure students' success. Read More

While all incoming Vanderbilt undergraduates are expected to read "The Person You Mean to Be," the Commons Reading for 2020-21, the book will be particularly useful for anyone trying to understand the root causes of inequality. Read More

The Commons Reading for the 2020-21 academic year will be "The Person You Mean to Be" by award-winning author Dolly Chugh. The book will be distributed to all incoming first-year undergraduate students as well as incoming transfer students. Read More

Applications for upper-division students to serve as fall 2020 orientation leaders for new undergraduates—including transfer and international students—are now open. Read More

The Commons Reading for the 2019-20 academic year will be "The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity" by Kwame Anthony Appiah. Read More

The Commons Reading for the 2018-19 academic year will be "The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom" by Jonathan Haidt. Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente and Vanessa Beasley, dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, announced the selection March 26. Read More

Developing a formal plan to bring more librarians' expertise into the undergraduate research experience was among the winning ideas in the Wild Bunch Library Design Challenge for Vanderbilt students. 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