Marjorie and Hal Roberts of Lakeland, Florida, are passionate about supporting children with dyslexia and their families. Through generous gifts they have established two other transitional schools to help students with dyslexia excel: the Roberts Academy at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, and the Roberts Academy at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Though the Roberts family has not been previously affiliated with Vanderbilt University, they recognized Peabody College — with its outstanding reputation and capacity to transform education and research — as the ideal home to establish a new academy and dyslexia center.
We will plant a tree symbolizing the power and beauty of growth...the growth of our university, the growth of the Roberts Academy and Center, and most important, the growth of the children whose lives will be so profoundly shaped by the work we officially begin here today.