Interim Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos, the Rev. James Lawson and others gathered yesterday to discuss Vanderbilt's past, present and future relationship with the Nashville community.
The event, hosted by the Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies, featured speeches by Zeppos and Lawson, who both discussed the continued need for Vanderbilt to be a vital part of Nashville and to serve as a model for urban areas around the world.
"Our growth and our struggles have been very much tied to the Nashville community," Zeppos said. "We need to attain mutual betterment, and (Vanderbilt) and Nashville will continue to grow together."
Zeppos also highlighted the vision of The Commons, where freshmen will live both at Vanderbilt and in Nashville, to change students in and outside the classroom.
"The Commons is a launch pad for this unique, intertwined relationship between Vanderbilt and Nashville," Zeppos said. "The Commons will change the way students interact with the Nashville community."
Lawson also shared his views on the need for both Vanderbilt and Nashville to embrace the model set forth from the movement of the '50s and'60s.
Lawson described his experiences during the civil rights era being ousted from Vanderbilt due to his numerous civil rights protests as well as his recent return to Vanderbilt and how his presence on campus has served to remind others of racial injustices.
"The university must take a great deal of pride in present path, but recognize the shame of our past," Lawson said. "We have come a long way, but the journey is far from over."
Lawson emphasized that the primary goal of a school like Vanderbilt is to prepare young minds to be leaders.
"Taking young people and preparing for the future is not merely a monetary affair," Lawson said. "We must make sure young people become involved in the entire community, not just its wealth."
Lawson also spoke about the old Nashville, where exclusionary structures of racism and sexism hurt the city.
He said he hopes in the future "Nashville can become a place where the human can be celebrated and acknowledged and where an inclusive urban area can blossom."
