Vanderbilt University Plans a College System
Posted by R. J. O’Hara for the Collegiate Way
13 November 2001 (collegiateway.org) — Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, one of the top-ranking universities in the United States, has recently announced its intention to establish a system of residential colleges. The “renewal of student life” is one of the stated priorities of Vanderbilt’s new chancellor, E. Gordon Gee, who took office last year. According to Vanderbilt news reports, officers of the campus student government have said that the “establishment of a residential college system could be a ‘crucial step’ in strengthening the relationship between students and faculty and that it would also strengthen the University’s commitment to diversity, not just racial diversity but ‘diversity of ideology.’” And a member of the University’s board of trustees sees residential colleges as a way for Vanderbilt “to educate, build community and stay competitive.” In developing a system of residential colleges Vanderbilt will join many of the other leading research universities in the United States that have adopted or are in the process of adopting a collegiate structure.
