Academic accolades
Vanderbilt, within these past few months, has added many accomplishments to its resume. Still boasting a Top 20 title, Vanderbilt shared spot No. 18 with Emory and Notre Dame in U.S. News and World Report's annual ranking. This distinction was then supplemented with an index of international universities compiled by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in which Vanderbilt was named as No. 42.

Other accomplishments of the university include Vanderbilt being named as a minority leader in Ph.D.s, as well as one of the top 10 places to work in United States academia.

Individual professors and schools were also recognized with prestigious awards, as political science professor David Lewis received the Simon Book Award, poet and assistant professor of English earned the Whiting Writer's Award, and several Peabody faculty members were given awards for contributions within their respective fields.

Election 2008
Vanderbilt also shared a spot in the national spotlight this semester. With the second of three presidential debates hosted at neighborhood Belmont University, Vanderbilt took a prominent role in the world of politics.

Former Congressmen Harold Ford and Vin Weber joined other esteemed faculty in teaching U.S. Elections, a special topics political science course.

During the weeks preceding the election, professors and experts were invited to speak on various topics and their influence on politics, such as feminism, media and religion. Vanderbilt hosted an alternative third party debate, during which presidential candidates from parties such as the Socialist Party and U.S. Pacific Party stated their platforms.

Student organizations, such as Election Alliance, SAVE, College Republicans and Democrats, also energized students by launching voter registration drives, hosting debate watches and students debates, and throwing the Election Game Day event.

Faculty run-ins with crime
However, among all of this positive news, it is necessary to note that unfortunate events also plagued the academics section. During the first month of the semester, Vanderbilt lost young anthropology associate professor, Pierre Colas, after he and his sister Marie Colas were shot during a violent robbery at his resident. Four suspects are still under investigation for their deaths, and the Vanderbilt community held a memorial ceremony for the brother and sister.

Associate professor of sociology James Lang was arrested in September on charges of possession of child pornography. After a court appearance in Nashville, his case was subsequently transferred to federal courts. More recently, associate professor of Slavic languages and literature David Lowe was charged with harassing a Metro Nashville councilman in opposition of his English-Only initiative.