The conversation about the Commons living experience continues as Vanderbilt's newest round of first-year students descends upon Peabody campus.

In the past year, much of the dialogue regarding the Commons has focused on the completed construction of The Commons Center, a key symbol in Vanderbilt's green development. Now, with the class of 2012 inhabiting the special houses and common spaces built for its use, conversation is shifting back to Vanderbilt's original vision for the Commons experience.

Dr. Frank Dobson, Director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center and Gillette House's Faculty Head of House, has a personal vision for the Commons that extends beyond it being a place of belonging for first-year students.

"I would like it to help break down those artificial barriers we sometimes pursue and help us tackle tough issues we sometimes don't want to address," said Dobson.

Dobson said although there has been more intercommunity engagement in the past year at Vanderbilt, important issues still get overlooked in Vanderbilt's campus dialogue. He believes the Commons can help bring those issues to the forefront of campus consciousness.

"When we talk about diversity and tolerance, we'll be talking about diversity in respect to race and ethnicity, obviously, but also with class," he said. "There are issues of class that we are not dealing with by talking about them. We also don't really address issues of religion on this campus. What time but now, given the issues of the world today, given our issues of diversity and difference?"

Dobson brings a lifetime of academic credentials, with a Ph.D. in English and several published works of fiction and nonfiction. His directorship at the Black Cultural Center is one facet of his Vanderbilt experience he intends to apply to his work at the Commons. Like many heads of houses, he will utilize the personal connections he has made throughout his career to enhance the intellectual experience of first-year residents of the Commons' ten houses. Together, they are hoping to hold thought-provoking events that allow first year students to learn about the Vanderbilt community "communicate with a vision."

Already, students are having varied reactions to last week's orientation programming, the first test of the administration's preparation for the class of 2012. Beginning Aug. 16, students met daily for discussions with their VUcept groups and spent time socializing and networking with new peers. During the week they attended events such as Commodores in the Community, a service day designed to connect first-years with the city of Nashville, and "True Life: I Go to Vanderbilt," a forum for discussing issues of wellness, culture and sexual violence on Vanderbilt's campus. There were also special house activities, campus tours and opportunities to meet the faculty and staff at the Commons.

Laura Kaufman, a first-year student from Florida, thinks Vanderbilt is doing its part in welcoming the newcomers but does not always express its long-term vision clearly.
"I'm not really sure what their vision is, but I think the Commons is a good idea," she said after the week of orientation events.

Still, others feel that the message resonates clearly. Chavez Scott of Memphis, a first-year student on the pre-medicine track, said that the idea of the Commons is what he personally needs to adjust to college life.

"I just wanted to finally experience the real world," Scott said. "(The Commons' atmosphere) is exactly what I want. From the beginning, you all have the same common ground."

The "common ground" described by Scott is, according to the Commons' web site, the guiding principle of the Commons. Now, with one week completed and classes beginning Monday, first-year students will be putting the administration's long-anticipated vision to the test.

"As freshmen, the young people in the Commons are sometimes going to be scared, sometimes lost, and unsure," Dobson said. "I think we need to give them real answers, honest answers. We will be a better campus if we do that."