Belonging & Communities
Belonging and Communities within Student Affairs works to create an environment where all students feel supported, connected, and empowered to grow. We recognize that each student brings a unique perspective to the Vanderbilt community, and we aim to help them connect, grow, and access the resources and support they need to succeed while challenging them to reflect and engage with different perspectives and to explore and express their unique identities.
Learn more by visiting the centers' sites linked below.
Belonging Initiatives
Belonging Initiatives include support of groups such as first-generation college students, Indigenous and Native students, Latin American and Hispanic students, low-income students, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American students, Muslim students, Jewish students, and students who identify with visible and invisible disabilities.
Residential Colleges
Residential colleges are a type of on-campus student residence in which the academic experience is integrated into residential life, creating communities and opportunities for learning outside the classroom among a diverse study body. Led by faculty heads who live in residence, Vanderbilt’s residential colleges create an intentional, mutually-beneficial educational experience for our students, faculty and staff, promoting the development of intellect, community, personal well-being, self-discovery, and cultural awareness.
First-Year Experience
The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons
The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, often simply called “The Commons” for short, is comprised of 10 houses, each led by a faculty member. Your house will be your home away from home and provide endless opportunities for creating meaningful connections with other students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars. Meet the residential faculty members (faculty heads of house).
Vanderbilt Visions
Vanderbilt Visions is a mandatory nine-week program that creates the chance for groups of new students to discover college life together. All first-year students are automatically assigned to a Visions group, which will meet weekly. Led by both a faculty mentor and upper-division peer mentor (VUceptors), the discussion will help you transition to life at Vanderbilt, find community, and connect with campus resources.
Upper-Division
There are five residential colleges for upper-division students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors): E. Bronson Ingram College, Moore College, Nicholas S. Zeppos College, Oliver C. Carmichael College, Rothschild College, and Warren College. Just as each first-year house on The Commons is led by a residential faculty member, the residential colleges for upper-division students each have their own live-in faculty member (faculty heads of college).
Campus Community
Arts and Student Activities
Arts and Student Activities (ASA) supports the major arts and campus programming initiatives on Vanderbilt’s campus: Vanderbilt Programming Board, Vanderbilt Performing Arts Community, Sarratt Art Studios, Sarratt Gallery, and the Sarratt Youth Art Institute. The mission of ASA is to facilitate and promote diverse programming for the Vanderbilt and Nashville community that cultivates social engagement, cultural enrichment, artistic exploration, and intellectual growth.
Athletics
Competing at the NCAA Division I level, Vanderbilt University is a member of the Southeastern Conference. You can purchase tickets and view schedules online.
Intramural Sports
The David Williams II Recreation and Wellness Center Intramural Sports program is an opportunity to play sports, build friendships, improve health, relieve stress, develop skills, and have fun! With a variety of team sports and tournaments offered throughout the year, come out and join an IM team today.
Greek Life
Membership in the Greek community provides students the opportunity to be part of a campus tradition dating back to Vanderbilt’s founding. The roughly thirty Greek organizations are rooted in founding principles that foster academic achievement, student involvement, service within the community, and lifelong friendships.
Student Organizations
Vanderbilt has over 475 opportunities to help you connect with our community, from organizations focused on service, culture, arts, and religion, to groups for sports, Greek life, student government, and other special interests. Explore our organization directory on Anchor Link to find the group(s) for you.