The Vanderbilt Hustler 4-22-15

vanderbilthustler WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

VOL. 127, ISS. 15

Year in

Review

From student protests and ‘the rape case’ to celebrating two national champions, we take a look back at our year of coverage PHOTOS BY BOSLEY JARRETT AND ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

2

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

campus

STAT OF THE YEAR

Vanderbilt’s ranking in the 2015 edition of the U.S. News and World Report National Universities Rankings. Vanderbilt had been ranked 17 for the past five years.

16

FOCUSING ON RACE

VUceptors receive intensive training to facilitate conversations about race The role of the individual VUceptor may have stayed relatively constant throughout the years, but this year, training has emphasized facilitating conversations about race, inspired in part by Hidden Dores.

The Hidden Dores student movement emerged last semester and sought to address racial disparities on campus through photographs posted on the movement’s various social media platforms. The images featured messages written on a whiteboard, generally by minority students who shared their experiences involving discrimination.

In the past, issues of diversity were primarily addressed in presentations and activities aimed at the student VUceptors. This year, faculty partners were required to attend a panel on diversity and engage in the accompanying activities in a joint training session, according to Warnke, who oversees Vanderbilt Visions.

The Commons Reading for the Class of 2018, Jesmyn Ward’s novel “Salvage the Bones,” was chosen specifically because it presents relevant themes in an intersectional way, according to Dean Wcislo.

Furthermore, another VUcept initiative, True Life, has been redesigned to reflect the change in the focus of VUcept training. The production will now feature a Hidden Dores-inspired scene about microaggressions; this scene will involve racial role reversals. An international student perspective will also be included in this year’s True Life.

An international student from Lebanon, junior Rani Banjarian said he enjoyed exploring his own racial identity during training, he feels that it is important to understand identity in a holistic way.

“I’m not going to give more import to certain aspects of my identity and project those onto the VUcept group just because, say, I’m an international student or I come from another culture or things like that. I’m just going to present myself as a Vanderbilt student wholly and completely,” Banjarian said.

Despite many positive reactions, a criticism that some VUceptors articulated was that the focus on race felt excessive at times and took place at the cost of discussing other kinds of diversity.

—A version of this article by Managing editor Saara Asikainen was printed in the August 20, 2014 issue

vanderbilthustler STAFF

TYLER BISHOP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Students stand with Ferguson BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

By TYLER BISHOP Editor-in-chief --------------------

Hundreds of students lined the wall of Rand Terrace as well as Library, Wilson and The Commons Center lawns Monday at noon, standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The demonstration was one of many events plannedon campus this week following protests, riots and national conversations about race and police brutality originally sparked by a Missouri grand jury’s decision to not prosecute a police officer in the deadly shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

“There were a hundred people out here on pretty quick notice, and I think that that is indicative of a growing sense of frustration and concern on the part of students and our nation about our justice system,” said Courtney Bryant, a student in the graduate department of religion.

This week’s events are being organized by Vanderbilt Students in Solidarity (VSS), a coalition of groups seeking to raise awareness about how Ferguson connects to Vanderbilt. Activism and dialogue on race at Vanderbilt, however, are not new.

Despite a clearly articulated administrative desire to make campus genuinely diverse, a host of students continually express frustration and anger with the status quo on race at Vanderbilt. The frustration stems from a number of different sources, ranging from structural inadequacies in the university to daily interactions among students.

Asher Kolieboi, currently a third-year masters student in the Divinity School, has witnessed this tension at a number of different colleges, either as a student or staff member.

“I’ve never been at a school where I felt like black students feel comfortable,” he said.

Kolieboi, who is from Ferguson and participated in protests there last week, also said Vanderbilt is not exempt from systemic issues like racism and racial profiling. “I’ve been stopped a number of times by VUPD and asked to show multiple forms of ID,” he said.

KELLY HALOM — CO-NEWS EDITOR ALLIE GROSS — CO-NEWS EDITOR PRIYANKA ARIBINDI — LIFE EDITOR MOLLY CORN — OPINION EDITOR ALLISON MAST — SPORTS EDITOR SAARA ASIKAINEN — MANAGING EDITOR KARA SHERRER — WEB EDITOR SOPHIE TO — CHIEF COPY EDITOR

Beyond structural problems within the university, evidence of racism — both overt and hidden — has been articulated by Vanderbilt students. Racially charged anonymous comments make their way onto Yik Yak. Microaggressions on campus, many of which have been brought to light byHidden Dores, continually frustrate many students.

And socio-economic barriers inevitably segregate students based on the cost of certain spheres of campus involvement, such as Greek life and community service trips.

Some efforts, including internal scholarships created by some organizations, are attempting to bridge the socioeconomic gap. And Vanderbilt Student Government (VSG) is working on an initiative called “Experience Vanderbilt,” which would establish funds for students who would otherwise be unable to participate in costly extracurricular activities.

Dean of Students Mark Bandas, who has worked at Vanderbilt for more than 30 years, said he has witnessed the development of a more welcoming environment for marginalized students. “I also recognize we must do more to fully realize the value of inclusivity in our community and nation.”

His office, along with the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center (BCC), is sponsoring the demonstrations this week, and frequently supports multicultural campus events.

Kolieboi said that the Ferguson resistance — which has led demonstrations and protests of racialized police violence in the of wake of the events in Ferguson — wants to emphasize that what happened in Ferguson is not an isolated incident.

“We need to stop thinking of Vanderbilt as an island and look beyond the Magnolia curtain,” he said. “It can happen anywhere — it has happened everywhere. We have to think beyond one community — beyond Ferguson, beyond just Vanderbilt, beyond Nashville.”

—A version of this story printed December 3, 2014

BOSLEY JARRETT — PHOTO DIRECTOR JENNA WENGLER — ART DIRECTOR PHIL DANTA — CHIEF WEB DEVELOPER MADDIE HUGHES — FEATURES EDITOR ANGELICA LASALA — SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR BEN WEINRIB — ASST. SPORTS EDITOR KAREN CHAN — ASST. ART DIRECTOR QUEEN STEVENSON — ASST. OPINION EDITOR ZIYI LIU— ASST. PHOTO DIRECTOR KATHY YUAN — EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

DESIGNERS

COPY EDITORS

ZACH BERKOWITZ ZOE SHANCER KATHY ZHOU HAN DEWAN AADITI NAIK CHRISTOPH SPROUL SHARON SI BRIANNA GALGANO ASHLEY KATZENSTEIN

ALEXIS BANKS ANDREA BLATT RACHAEL GRAHAM WESLEY LIN KATHY YUAN

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

3

4

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

STANDING AGAINST HATE

Campus reacts to hate crime at AEPi

E

arly in the morning of March 14, two swastikas were spray-painted in the elevator of the Tau Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house, and another was painted on a basement door. Several administrators and community leaders, including Executive Director of Vanderbilt Hillel Ari Dubin and Rabbi Shlomo Rothstein of Vanderbilt Chabad condemned the act. The three Greek Councils, Panhellenic, IFC and National Pan-Hellenic also issued a joint statement, standing in solidarity with AEPI. On Monday, March 30, students, faculty and members of the Nashville community came together for AEPI’s event, “We Walk to Remember,” in reaction to the vandalism.

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Between brats and bigots

Perspectives on Prof. Carol Swain’s op-ed complicate notions of free speech and safe spaces

By ANGELICA LASALA and AADITI NAIK Social media director, News reporter --------------------

“I hope that none of us, pro or con, view Professor Swain as a simple story.”

Douglas Fisher, associate professor of computer science and Warren College faculty head, does not give speeches often. He acknowledged this reserve in his opening remarks at the “Campus-Wide Protest Against Hate Speech Published in The Tennessean” on Saturday, Jan. 17: “I’ve always been hesitant to speak out on social issues, mostly because the academic and engineer in me feels compelled to understand the larger context as best I can before opening my mouth.”

And yet, Fisher’s self-proclaimed “disdain for oversimplicity” was enough to break his silence.

He spoke up for the Muslim students and residents he had worked with for almost 30 years, the academic rights and freedoms he was entitled to as a professor and the responsibility faculty members have to ensure student safety. He spoke out against a Jan. 15 op-ed written by a fellow faculty member that, in his view, oversimplified the tenets of a “loving, gracious, peaceful, constructive and honorable” people.

In the same vein, the themes underlying Fisher’s response — the tension between rights and responsibilities chief among those — are hardly simple.

Professor Carol Swain, author of the op-ed in question, wrote the following comment on her Facebook page: “I’m sure my colleagues know me a lot better than the spoiled brats who instigated the protest.” Demonstrators responded with signs that read, “Too much of a #spoiledbrat for your bigotry” and “Better a brat than a bigot

#spoiledbrats.”

Between brats and bigots, however, exists a wide spectrum of viewpoints from students, faculty and community members — a spectrum that eschews a simple story for a more complex narrative.

This narrative begins with Swain.

The second of 12 siblings raised in poverty, Swain dropped out of high school, married at 16, became a teenage mother and struggled with substance abuse.

Overcoming these adversities, she earned her GED and subsequent advanced degrees, joining Vanderbilt’s faculty in 1999. Though currently on sabbatical, Swain teaches in both the Political Science Department and Law School. Her research focuses on “race relations, immigration, black leadership and evangelical politics,” namely as they pertain to conservative voices in the U.S. Swain’s op-ed for The Tennessean, titled “Charlie Hebdo attacks prove critics were right about Islam,” argued that the U.S. “must remove the foxes from the henhouses and institute serious monitoring of Islamic organizations.”

She wrote, “It becomes clearer every day that Islam is not just another religion to be accorded the respect given to Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Baha’i and other world religions.”

In a Jan. 18 statement on her Facebook page, Swain acknowledged that the language she used in the piece came across as more inflammatory than she intended: “It is stronger than I remembered and could have been written with a milder tone. I wrote the article immediately after the Charlie Hebdo massacre and it was published more than a week later. It was not directed at ‘peaceable’ Muslims.”

Still, in her email correspondence with The Vanderbilt Hustler, she emphasized that this statement is not meant to serve as an apology.

“I feel no special obligation to engage in politically correct speech. I think it is unfortunate that hate speech has become whatever makes a non-Christian uncomfortable,” Swain said. “Professors should help their students learn to engage ideas. Any student who is threatened by a discussion of ideas cannot fully benefit from a liberal arts education. Any university that is afraid of ideas should close its doors.”

Professor Paul Stob, an assistant professor of communication said that he disagreed with Swain’s assertions, but does not find preventing Swain from expressing her beliefs to be a productive option. He cited an opinion by

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in 1927 about free speech: “The cure for bad speech, meaning speech that we don’t agree with, speech we don’t like, is more speech, not enforced silence.”

Stob continued, “It’s more speech, it’s more dialogue.

It’s us, people who don’t agree with her, responding to her and saying why we think her op-ed is problematic, why we don’t think her views accurately capture the society that we live in and the stakes of the debate we want to have.”

Stob qualified his views by saying that the right to unrestricted speech comes with “certain trade-offs — certain people will not like what others have to say.”

For sophomore Farishtay Yamin, a hostile campus environment is not a worthwhile trade-off.

“The core issue is that under the pretense of free speech and academic freedom of expression, a faculty member is allowed to insult her own students ... the university should have a policy saying that direct attacks on the student body by faculty members or professors are not acceptable,” Yamin said.

On Sunday, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) published a statement in The Vanderbilt Hustler reiterating that “although Professor Swain has allowed the actions of a few individuals manipulating religion to shape her views of an entire faith that makes up 23 percent of the world population, (they) will not allow her views as a Vanderbilt affiliate to shape (their) views of Vanderbilt.”

In MSA’s official statement, the organization clarified that it was not directly affiliated with the protest.

“The MSA has never been a very political organization,” president Sarah Haseen said. “Also, we felt that the protest is, in fact, more powerful when driven by the student body as a whole … Many of our members were in attendance individually, but we cannot, as an organization, take an official stance.”

Reconciling the myriad perspectives elicited by Swain’s op-ed is difficult and necessary work. How will the university develop a compromise that upholds responsibilities without suspending rights, that promotes safety without stifling dialogue?

However loudly they’re shouted, slogans like “Vanderbilt united will never be divided” and “To reach peace, teach peace” cannot capture the implications of Swain’s piece and its responses. But they can capture the idea of a movement. And that’s something.

— A version of this story was published in the Jan. 21, 2015, issue

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

Smokestack to be demolished

The conversion of the plant from coal- and naturalgas burning tonatural gas only signals a turning point in the history of the 87-year-old power plant.

After a decision by the Vanderbilt Board of Trust in April 2013, the process to convert the plant began. As the coal-burning boilers were replacedwith natural gas-fueled boilers, the power plant burned its last piece of coal on Nov. 19, 2014.

A “coal-free celebration” was held on Thursday, April 9, to celebratethe conversion of the power plant and announce the demolition of thesmokestack, which will begin Saturday. It is estimated to take five week for the smokestack to come down.

The demolition of the smokestack is the last piece of external work to be completed in the power plant conversion. All equipment except the gas compression station and emergency generator has been delivered.

The workers in the plant are currently hooking up the turbine, electrical generator and heat recovery steam generator. A steam line is also currently being built, and stea pressure is blasted through the lines every few hours to “blow out” residue, causing the noise on Alumni Lawn.

The plant should be fully functional by August.

“It’s with a lot of anticipation that we go into operating this new plant. Because we know that it’s going to be environmentally friendly, it’s going to be very economical and efficient to operate. It’s going to be a new challenge for our employees,” said Mark Petty, vice chancellor of Plant Operations. “So this is just a really exciting time to be on Vanderbilt’s campus.”

— This story was written by Aadti Naik, news reporter, and published online on April 10, 2015

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

Administrative changes Dean Frank Wcislo steps down

Dean of the Martha Rivers Ingram Commons Frank Wcislo will be stepping down from his position in June 2015.

Wcislo has lived in the Dean’s residence on the Commons since the Commons launched in 2008, facilitating the unique first year experience with events like move-in day BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER and frequently hosting students in his home for dinners with a variety of special guests.

“I worked with 15 of our university’s smartest and most dedicated professors, our faculty heads of house, and had the privilege to live and learn with the best students in Vanderbilt’s history. They, and our consummate professional support staffs, began building a four-year residential college system that will distinguish Vanderbilt for the ages. For an historian, that is the coolest job you ever could imagine,” Wcislo said.

Wcislo said he plans to return to full-time teaching as a professor of history and European studies after a writing and research sabbatical in 2015.

Vanessa Beasley, an expert in race, gender and diversity in U.S. political rhetoric, has been named the next dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons at Vanderbilt University, effective July 1.

Beasley is an associate professor of communica-

5

tions studies and was named director of the program in American studies in 2013. She was appointed chair of the Provost’s Task Force on Sexual Assault in 2014.

Lauren Benton named new A&S Dean

On Feb. 19, Provost Susan Wente announced that Lauren A. Benton will serve as the next Dean of the College of Arts and Science beginning on July 1, 2015.

According to a university press release, Benton is currently the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University (NYU) as well as PROVIDED BY VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY a professor of history and affiliate professor of law. She will serve a five-year term as dean and hold an endowed chair as a tenured faculty member.

Benton has experience in various disciplines including law, anthropology and history. An expert on international legal history, she has written and edited a number of books, received grants including a $5.5 million grant to fund NYU’s Humanities Research Fellowship Program in Abu Dhabi and been a member of editorial boards for history journals.

Benton was chosen to serve as dean following a national search conducted by a search committee headed by Vice Provost for Academic and Strategic Affairs John Geer.

Interim Dean John Sloop will continue to lead the College of Arts and Science until June 30.

6

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

New orgs combatting sexual assault PARTY WITH CONSENT The Vanderbilt chapter of Party With Consent seeks to fight rape culture and sexual assault on campus by making partying safer.

“The goal is to reform rape culture on college campuses and change the environment around partying,” said Julia Ordog, president and co-founder.

“People consider it something taboo to talk about, but it is happening, so let’s talk about it, make it a positive dialogue and guide the conversation somewhere that’s going to effect positive change.”

The organization emphasizes four primary aspects in its structure: dialogue, education, branding and events, with the goal of reaching the entire student body in an engaging manner. By utilizing dialogue and education, the organization strives to start conversations on college campuses about the prevalence of sexual assaults.

“We are going to throw parties with consent, which are normal parties but everyone is united in knowing that it is a safe place,” Ordog said. “The point of the parties is to highlight that partying and sexual assault are not inexorably linked — people can, and should be able to, party and have fun without fear. Also, we have buttons, stickers, T-shirts and whatnot so that the message stays fresh on people’s minds.”

GOLD STANDARD The Gold Standard, started by five students as a class project, aims to promote efforts and events of any and all campus organizations tackling issues of power-based personal violence through a Facebook page.

The page will publish links to information and updates about campus events and activities, amassing campus resources on violence prevention and awareness into one network.

“Gold Standard aims to serve as a tool for bridging communities and educating the public with the fewest barriers possible through an aggregate Facebook page,” said Jordan Jensen, a junior group member.

SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS:

RED ZONE & TITLE IX RED ZONE

By TYLER BISHOP Editor-in-chief --------------------

Vanderbilt students and others in the university community were notified on Aug. 25 of an alleged sexual assault reported to an official in the Office of Housing and Residential Education. The female victim was allegedly assaulted by a male acquaintance on the night of Aug. 23.

The information reported to the community, though vague, tells a story far too common on college campuses.

Between now and the time that students depart for Thanksgiving break, more students will be sexually assaulted on college campuses than during any other time of the year. The victims, most of whom will not report their assaults, will be predominantly first-year women, and the aggressors mostly their acquaintances.

This period is commonly known as the “Red Zone.”

Student reactions to the campus security notice were mixed. While many said they felt shocked to learn about the incident, others expressed that they were unfortunately not surprised.

“I was like, ‘Again?’” said Charlotte Doran, sophomore. “Because we get those emails all the time. So it’s gotten to a point where it’s just like, if it hasn’t happened in a while, I expect it to happen again.”

Because the security notice reported that the sexual assault occurred in a “residence hall on the Commons,” some students raised questions about how the issue has been

presented to first-years. Senior Steve Monk said that first-years may not have had the same exposure to the issue of sexual assault that upperclassmen have experienced in the last few years.

First-year Anya Tarascina said she was aware of the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses and was concerned before coming to Vanderbilt because the university had come under fire recently.

“I know it’s an issue that a lot of colleges try to cover up,” Tarascina said. “I’m actually pleased with the way that Vanderbilt has been sort of doing all these workshops — they did True Life. It was definitely cheesy, but I think the point of it was very clear. I liked how they included issues like that.”

Other first-years were concerned about acts of sexual violence on campus.

“I was afraid for a lot of my friends, especially a lot of my female friends,” said a firstyear male. “It could’ve happened to anyone here on the Commons.”

According to Project Safe director Cara Tuttle Bell, the first few months on campus are particularly dangerous for new students with regard to sexual assault, because they are often trying to make new friends and trying new things. Additionally, many first-years may be unfamiliar with low-supervision environments and at the same time increase their social activity, which may include alcohol or drug use.

“One of the reasons we ask students to complete both AlcoholEdu and VU PETSA before arriving on campus is to increase their awareness of alcohol use and abuse and

sexual assault, which are often connected,” Tuttle Bell said.

VUcept, the first-year program aimed at smoothly facilitating the transition to Vanderbilt, emphasized the prevention of power-based personal violence during its training this year.

Greek organizations are often scrutinized when conversations about sexual assault arise, particularly because fraternity parties are considered high-risk zones for the initiation of sexual violence. Following the increased dialogue on the issue at Vanderbilt in recent years, the leaders of all three Greek councils have also committed to pursuing more strenuous efforts this year.

At Greek LEAD, a weekend retreat at which chapter leaders set goals for Greek life, an hour-and-a-half session focused on the issue of power-based personal violence. According to director of Greek life Kristin Torrey, all chapters have committed to having their entire groups complete an hour-long Green Dot training session. Second, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) plans to require every new member to complete the full six-hour Green Dot certification offered by Vanderbilt.

Still, advocates, students and campus leaders all recognize that it is not something that will disappear from culture all at once.

“I think this is a very big issue on college campuses, especially with statistics that onefourth of all women in college experience sexual assault. I think that’s just too big of an issue not to look at,” said a first-year male.

—A version of this story was published in the Aug. 27, 2014, issue.

TITLE IX

By ALLIE GROSS Co-news editor --------------------

The week of Jan. 26, representatives from the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) were on campus conducting focus group sessions with students as part of an investigation into the university’s compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Vanderbilt is one of more than 55 universities under federal investigation for mishandling of sexual assault. The compliance review is partly a result of Title IX complaints against the university that were filed by six students and alumni in November 2013.

“We are fully cooperating with OCR’s review and are committed to complying with Title IX and protecting the safety and well-being of all of our students,” a university statement said. The provost’s email to students about the meetings emphasized Vanderbilt’s commitment to combating sexual violence through initiatives such as Project Safe and

VU PETSA, and encouraged all students to participate in the focus groups.

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational institutions that receive federal funds. Schools are required to have a clear established procedure for handling and investigating cases of sexual misconduct. A spokesman for the OCR said in a statement that the OCR is investigating complaints of Title IX violations at Vanderbilt through data requests, interviews and site visits.

His statement emphasized that the OCR has not yet reached a determination on the university’s compliance. If the investigation uncovers evidence of noncompliance, OCR will negotiate with Vanderbilt to address the issues.

“In most cases, the office is able to reach a voluntary resolution, short of having to move to enforcement,” the statement said.

“However, should a recipient refuse to settle, enforcement options exist. They can include either referring the case to the Justice Department for litigation or moving to terminate

federal funding.”

Last week, the provost sent two emails to the student body about the schedule for the focus groups, but many students remain unaware that the investigation is happening at all. Several students expressed that the focus groups were not adequately publicized to students.

“I don’t think they properly communicated it to students. Especially with what’s going on with the trial, this is something they should be getting students involved with,” one student said.

Kait Spear, who is working with Vanderbilt Student Government’s sexual assault prevention task force, emphasized the importance of including a variety of student viewpoints in the investigation, even students who haven’t directly experienced or don’t know anyone who’s experienced sexual assault.

“Everybody’s viewpoint is what constitutes the whole of campus culture, so everybody’s voice is vital,” Spear said.

— A version of this story was published online on Jan. 26, 2015.

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

2013 June 23 Four former Vanderbilt football players, Brandon Vandenburg, Cory Batey, Brandon Banks and Jaborian McKenzie, assault a woman in Gillette Hall and attempt to cover it up

Nov 2013

Rape trial

By TYLER BISHOP and ALLIE GROSS Editor-in-chief, Co-news editor --------------------

The case against Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey represents a story that often goes unwritten: Sexual assaults on college campuses go to trial only a fraction of the time that they are reported. But 19 months after the initial June 23, 2013, incident, the two were found guilty on four counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery in a Davidson County court.

The case began making national headlines on June 28, 2013, when four Vanderbilt football players were dismissed from the team. Since, it has been held up as a prominent example of campus rape, though the details of the incident — including the involvement of multiple aggressors and the use of a water bottle — make it an especially horrific instance.

Still, the case is just one element of a broader conversation on campus and nationally about the issue of sexual assault, which is more often characterized by grey areas and “he said, she said” controversies.

Throughout the trial, which lasted 12 days total, the prosecution pieced together video, photo and testimonial evidence to paint the picture of the victim’s graphic assault and subsequent attempted cover-up, which involved at least a few additional football players.

The defense presented Batey as a good kid who came to Vanderbilt on a scholarship and was corrupted by a culture of promiscuity and excessive drinking. Batey — though he says he has no memory of the incident — took responsibility for his involvement on the stand, apologizing directly to the victim, who was in the courtroom. But Worrick Robinson, his attorney, made the case that he could not be held criminally responsible.

Based on the evidence, Vandenburg did not physically assault the victim. However, the state holds him fully responsible for the assault because he aided and encouraged the others.

Vandenburg and Batey were convicted on 5 counts of aggravated rape and 2 counts of aggravated sexual battery. On one count, however, the jury found Batey and Vandenburg guilty of a lesser charge: attempted aggravated sexual battery. Vandenburg was additionally convicted of tampering with evidence and unlawful photography.

Brandon Banks and Jaborian “Tip” McKenzie face the same charges and are still awaiting trial, though McKenzie testified during the trial with the hope of receiving a lighter

August 9 Suspects are indicted on five counts of aggravated rape and two charges of aggravated sexual battery by a Davidson County grand jury

Federal Title IX complaints filed with US Department of Education

2014

JOHN PARTIPILO / THE TENNESSEAN

penalty.

Vandenburg and Batey face potential penalties between 15-60 years for aggravated rape and 8-30 years for aggravated sexual battery. Vandenburg additionally faces between 1-6 years for unlawful photography and 3-15 years for tampering with evidence.

The verdict was announced after only three hours of deliberation. Both defendants were immediately taken into custody. The defendants will likely appeal their convictions.

Robinson also reflected on the “several tragedies” of the case. “I’m sorry this happened for her. I’m sorry it happened for these boys. I think if you look into these boys’ hearts, they’re good boys,” Robinson said. “I can’t change 30 minutes of his life that is going to cost him 15-25 or more in prison.”

Prosecutor Jan Norman read a statement from the victim expressing gratitude that the criminal justice system held the defendants responsible. “The hard work of the law enforcement officers, prosecutors and victims’ advocates who dedicated so many months of their lives to this case has made justice possible,” the statement said.

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Beth Fortune acknowledged these ongoing efforts in a statement delivered Tuesday evening following the verdict.

“Incidents will be investigated, victims will be supported and perpetrators will be punished. We will also continue our comprehensive ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the importance of every Vanderbilt student intervening when another student is at risk or in distress,” Fortune said.

The victim’s statement closed, “I am also hopeful that the publicity this case has received will lead to a discussion of how we can end sexual violence on college campuses.

Finally, I want to remind other victims of sexual violence: You are not alone. You are not to blame.”

—A version of this story was published in the Jan. 28, 2015, issue.

RAPE CASE UPDATE The sentencing of Vandenburg and Batey was recently pushed back again to June 15.

Following claims that a member of the jury lied about his past experiences with rape, defense attorneys are pursuing transcripts of the juror selection to determine whether the juror was biased, aiming for a new trial.

Vandenburg has replaced attorneys Fletcher Long and John Herbison, hiring Randall Reagan and Troy Bowlin for the appeal process.

Feb Project Safe Center becomes its own freestanding center

April 16 André Rouillard publishes “The Girl That Ratted” followed by viral social media campaign

Nov 20 430 students sign It’s On Us pledge to combat sexual assault

Dec 3 VSG hosts student-only forum on sexual assault

2015 Jan 12 Trial of Vandenburg and Batey begins

Jan 26

Jan 24 173 new IFC members are Green Dot trained

Title IX investigation student focus groups begin on campus

Jan 27 Vandenburg and Batey found guilty on all counts

Jan 28 VSG passes resolution to make Project Safe confidential

March 30 Provost emails out campus climate survey

March 15 Theta becomes first sorority to be Green Dot trained

June 15 Scheduled date for Vandenburg and Batey’s sentencing

7

8

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

GREEK LIFE INITIATIVES

IFC APPROVES INCLUSIVITY AGREEMENT

By KATIE FUSELLER News reporter --------------------

Fraternities in the Interfraternity Council (IFC) voted on Monday to approve the IFC Inclusivity Agreement, a document that affirms each chapter’s commitment to fostering a community of acceptance, openness and freedom of expression. The document passed in every chapter.

The agreement, which will be signed by the current president of each IFC fraternity, seeks to directly address the perception of fraternity culture as exclusive and discriminatory by articulating the community’s willingness to include men of varying races, sexual orientations and socioeconomic statuses.

The opening of the agreement recognizes the “possibility that (IFC) organizations may have fallen short, in decidedly more traditional times, of maintaining a fraternal and loving environment open to all.”

Though the Inclusivity Agreement takes ownership of fraternities’ past on campus, it pledges to a more open future.

“We, going forward, commit ourselves to the reaffirmation of a united, welcoming community, one in which persons of all identities, whether race, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, socioeconomic status or sexual orientation, are supported as such,” the agreement reads.

The centerpiece of this effort will be the Greek Allies program, in which chapters establish confidential sources of advice for rushes, pledges and brothers who may feel uncomfortable in Greek life based on their sexual orientation, race, socioeconomic status or physical ability.

According to the agreement, the program is starting with three members of each chapter to volunteer as Allies in order to keep the program meaningful for those who do participate.

Fraternity members who serve as Allies will undergo Green Dots, Mental Health Awareness and Prevention of Suicide (MAPS), and Safe Zone training as a requirement for participation in the program. In addition, the chairman will conduct monthly check-ins with participants in order to assure that the program is living out its mission.

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Phi Delta Theta approved the IFC’s Inclusivity Agreement on Monday. The agreement was approved by all chapters.

Rizzo explained that for college first-years — in particular, men who struggle with sexual orientation or socioeconomic status — faced with the choice between going Greek or not going Greek, it often appears that there is an inherent conflict between being honest about class or sexual orientation and gaining acceptance within fraternity life.

Rizzo cited a conversation with a first-year, who was of a minority race, who asked Rizzo what he needed to change about himself in order to go Greek.

“This document comes from a hurting heart for people in those positions, so at least we can say to them, ‘You don’t need to change anything. Greek life can be a place for you to develop these parts of yourself,’ ” Rizzo said.

Rizzo said the agreement’s target demographic is people unfamiliar with Greek Life.

“In the past, what’s happened is they go around and they see places that … don’t look welcoming to them, so they stop going. This is a way to say to those people that we are a welcoming place,” Rizzo said.

Rizzo said that challenges to inclusivity still remain.

Concerning those of lower socioeconomic status, for

example, lowering fraternity dues across the board is a difficult endeavor.

According to Nick Elder, president of IFC, the document was purely student-driven. However, it has received support from administrators on campus.

David Weintraub, chair of a Faculty Senate task force currently reviewing Greek life, said that he expects the agreement to have a positive impact both on campus and on the perception of fraternity culture.

The long-term challenge for IFC, according to Weintraub, will be ensuring that fraternity members continue to follow through with the pledges articulated in the agreement.

Rizzo is hopeful that Vanderbilt’s IFC can be a leader in the collegiate Greek community by explicitly welcoming traditionally underrepresented groups.

“If you look at Greek life across the country, no other council of fraternity presidents are coming together to do something like this,” Rizzo said.

—A version of this story was published in the October 1, 2014 issue.

GREEK CHAPTERS ELIMINATE ‘BLACK MONDAY’

By ALLIE GROSS Co-news editor --------------------

Following conversations with Hidden Dores, all Greek organizations will send representation from their chapters to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events and restrict new and active members from drinking on MLK Day. The weekend prior to MLK Day is a Weekend of Service, which falls on the final weekend of Panhellenic sorority recruitment and Bid Day. Classes are not held on MLK Day to encourage students to participate in university-sponsored programming for the day of commemoration.

MLK Day itself falls on what students colloquially call “Black Monday,” when many sorority women and new members celebrate by drinking — often with the aim of

“blacking out” — after the 24 hours following Bid Day during which they are prohibited from drinking.

Barth said Hidden Dores approached Greek Life posing the question of what they were going to do for MLK Day. “This is our response,” Barth said. “It was a great question to ask, and being challenged is healthy for our community.”

Sophomore Katherine Nash chairs two Hidden Dores committees. Nash approached Greek leaders because she felt it was problematic that the term “Black Monday” was used to coincidentally describe the same day as MLK Day. “People throw words around without thinking of the implications,” Nash said.

Nash added that she felt frustrated when, as a Greek

new member last year, she herself was unable to participate in MLK Day programming due to Panhellenic recruitment obligations.

“This is a day that we get off school not to party, not to rest from recruitment, but to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.,” Nash said. “To have a large portion of this community not participating in this day is not ok.”

Greek Life chapters have agreed to send representation from chapters to an MLK Day event.

Greek Life Director Kristin Torrey stressed that this initiative was entirely student-driven by the council and chapter presidents, rather than a policy change through the Office of Greek Life.

—A version of this story was published in the January 7, 2015 issue.

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

A YEAR OF VSG

EXPERIENCE VANDERBILT

By ZOE SHANCER News reporter --------------------

Students who are unable to participate in activities such as club sports, service trips and Greek life because these require additional costs may soon be able to as a result of a project led by Vanderbilt Student Government (VSG) called Experience Vanderbilt.

According to Student Body President Tanner Owen, VSG is hoping to expand upon the idea of Vanderbilt’s program Opportunity Vanderbilt, which replaces need-based loans with grants and scholarships. Opportunity Vanderbilt provides aid for 50-60 percent of the student body, according to Owen.

VSG hopes to provide funding for students to take advantage of education outside of the classroom. Owen’s goal is to institutionalize the subsidization of extracurricular activities, essentially eliminating the socioeconomic factor related to joining clubs and organizations.

“You see differences in what students are able to do here on campus based on their socioeconomic profile,” Owen said. “We are looking to erase that. We think it’s another step in Vanderbilt’s commitment to providing for all students regardless of where they come from.”

VSG has commissioned a student committee of non-VSG members to aid in the development of this project, and hopes to have a

proposal completed by the end of December.

Once the approval is done, it will need to be approved by a number of different offices on campus, according to Owen.

“Once it’s approved by them, we would work with development to try to identify individuals that see the merit in something like this that might be able to look back and think, ‘Well, I wasn’t able to do something like this when I was at Vanderbilt because of these factors.

I think this is great,’ ” Owen said. “And that’s what we’re looking for.”

Owen’s goal is to get Experience Vanderbilt approved and to secure some initial funding from alumni donors so that his successor can continue fundraising and implement the project. Owen describes this project as the most ambitious VSG initiative in history.

“Those (socioeconomic) barriers from person to person are pretty much knocked down because everyone realizes that every single person is here on their own merits, and they are just as smart as the person right next to you no matter what background they come from, and their potential is just as high,”Owen said. “So we really believe that students are going to be excited about this, to see those barriers brought down to where interactions will be that much easier.”

—A version of this story was published in the October 8, 2014 issue.

VSG HIGHLIGHTS • In the fall, VSG surveyed the student body to gain data concerning student support for increasing the number of reading days at Vanderbilt. With overwhelming support from the student body, VSG continued working on their proposal with the Vice Provost for Learning and Residential Affairs Cynthia Cyrus.

• On Jan. 28, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution urging the administration to transition the designation of the Project Safe Center from a private to confidential victim resource. At confidential resources — except in “rare and extreme” circumstances — nothing will be shared without a victim’s explicit permission. At private resources, however, information must be shared with relevant administrators, including the Title IX coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Disability Services (EAD).

• In March, VSG launched its first inclusivity campaign, “TALK TO ME: to break down barriers and engage in diverse conversation.”

Students were encouraged to wear “Talk to Me” stickers to signify openness to discussion, and the week also included a time to sign a Diversity pledge and an event discussing self-segregation.

• On March 25, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling on the administration to provide more gender-inclusive housing options for students on campus for the 2015-2016 residential selection cycle. The same resolution was also unanimously passed Monday night by the Multicultural Leadership Council (MLC), the council’s first resolution of the kind.

9

10

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

opinion Farewell reflections from graduating Hustler editors

Put your name on it Courage of conviction and anonymity cannot coexist

O

MOLLY CORN is a senior in the College of Arts and Science and the Opinion editor of The Hustler. She can be reached at molly.e.corn@vanderbilt.edu.

ver the last year, I’ve published 158 pieces, editorials and letters on issues like race, sexual assault, mental health and abortion, as well as more university-specific issues like housing, student government and even tailgating. Most, with a few notable exceptions, were written by individuals or groups who had their names and email addresses attached to the sentiments or stories they thought were important enough to spend a couple hours constructing a piece about.

But for all the letters published, there’s dozens of emails sitting in my inbox from someone who wanted to write or respond— anonymously. Whether it be the disappointed senior who drudged through pre-med courses only not to be accepted to med school, to a student who felt there was too much stigma around smoking cigarettes on campus, to the faculty letter sent just three weeks ago criticizing the financial priorities of the university, to the vitriol spewed on anonymous social media outlets like Vandy Secrets, Yik Yak or the now defunct google doc formerly known as “The Rant,” it seems that everyone has something to say if they don’t have to put their name on it.

Anonymous publishing is nothing new. From the thinkers of the scientific revolution who feared that their findings would be marked heretical, to Cuban revolutionaries who were killed during Batista’s fascist regime, radical ideas are often powerful and dangerous. There was a time when a simple difference of opinion from official policy was treasonous, and thus justification for a death sentence.

This is why modern democracies vigorously defend free speech at all costs, even when that speech can catalyze social unrest, alienate entire groups of people or raise concerns with the very institutions

vanderbilthustler EDITORIAL BOARD TYLER BISHOP, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF editor@vanderbilthustler.com

KELLY HALOM

PRIYANKA ARIBINDI

NEWS EDITOR news@vanderbilthustler.com

LIFE EDITOR life@vanderbilthustler.com

MOLLY CORN

ALLISON MAST

OPINION EDITOR opinion@vanderbilthustler. com

SPORTS EDITOR sports@vanderbilthustler.com

‘‘

The even more ironic part of this quest for anonymity is that many of the ideas that people are terrified to make any commitment to aren’t even particularly controversial.

’’

that a nation state runs on. However, in a nation that aggressively protects the right of just about anyone to say wildly offensive things in order to protect the greater spirit of the First Amendment, we have hundreds of people hiding behind anonymous comments, submissions and mobile apps — and to what end?

The even more ironic part of this quest for anonymity is that many of the ideas that people are terrified to make any commitment to aren’t even particularly controversial. You hate Greek life? Or the perceived grade inflation in certain majors? Or the Hustler? How revolutionary. Why is it that you’re unwilling to commit even to simple statements that probably won’t even stir the pot?

Yes — it is true that making your opinion publicly known, particularly on issues that are shocking or controversial, can make people hate you (or call you “the biggest cunt at Vanderbilt” on Yik Yak, in my case), but if you refuse to lay claim to it and accept the consequences of standing for something that challenges that status quo, for the simple reason that people might disagree or dislike it, then how can you claim to even hold it as a conviction?

The Vanderbilt Hustler Opinion page aims to stimulate discussion in the Vanderbilt community. In that spirit, columnists, guest columnists and authors of letters to the editor are expected to provide logical argument to back their views. Unreasonable arguments, arguments in bad faith or arguments in vain between columnists have no place in The Hustler and will not be published. The Hustler welcomes reader viewpoints and offers three methods of expression: letters to the editor, guest columns and feedback on vanderbilthustler.com.

The views expressed in lead editorials reflect the majority of opinion among The Hustler’s editorial board and may be supposed to represent the opinion of The Vanderbilt Hustler at the time of publication. They are not necessarily representative of any individual member.

Letters must be submitted either in person by the author to The Hustler office or via email to opinion@vanderbilthustler.com. Letters via email should come from a Vanderbilt email address where the identity of the sender is clear. With rare exception, all letters must be received by 2 p.m. on the Sunday prior to publication. The editor

Winston Churchill once said that one ought to consider having enemies an accomplishment, because it means they stood up for something in their life. While I think he’s mostly right, even more importantly, to stand up for something is also to put yourself in a place where you can be constantly challenged, reappraising your ideas and values as you gain experience and information, and thus in a perpetual state of education, not just in the classroom, but in your day-to-day life.

It’s been the most rewarding part of my experience as an editor to work with contributors who go from timid to courageous over the course of year. The first time someone publishes something that they truly feel strongly about is always evident: It is detailed and precisely written, with each step of the argument carefully defended and usually accompanied by a panicked midnight phone call asking if they can retract the piece and write something else at the last minute. But really, the fear of consequences, the pit of anxiety felt at the bottom of your stomach before publishing is often a sign of something you were truly invested in. In my own experience, the response to the first fear-inducing piece was absolutely nothing, and I was left marveling at my own irrelevance after anxiously awaiting the publication of the first piece I ever cared about.

After the initial anxiety of truly standing up for something –– publicly — courage of convictions grows stronger, even in the face of hate mail that goes from hurtful to amusing as you begin to realize that your words truly do have the power to ignite someone’s passions, change someone’s mind or make a difference in someone’s life.

reserves the right to edit and condense submissions for length as well as clarity.

Lengthy letters that focus on an issue affecting students may be considered for a guest column at the editor’s discretion.

All submissions become the property of The Hustler and must conform to the legal standards of Vanderbilt Student Communications, of which The Hustler is a division.

The Vanderbilt Hustler (ISSN 0042-2517), the official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University, is published every Wednesday during the academic year except during exam periods and vacations.

The paper is not printed during summer break.

The Vanderbilt Hustler allocates one issue of the newspaper to each student and is available at various points on campus for free.

Additional copies are $.50 each.

The Vanderbilt Hustler is a division of Vanderbilt Student Communications, Inc. Copyright © 2014 Vanderbilt Student Communications.

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

11

Vanderbilt will not change you Only personal initiative can guarantee significant transformation

TYLER BISHOP is a senior in the College of Arts and Science and the Editor-in-Chief of The Hustler. She can be reached at tyler.l.bishop@ vanderbilt.edu.

It has become quasi-tradition for the graduating senior editors of The Hustler to put their final thoughts about their Vanderbilt experience into words in the last issue of the year. I have known this opportunity was coming for more than two years now, so over the course of the last few weeks, I sat down time and time again trying to formulate something to say — each time asking myself, “How has Vanderbilt changed me?” Finally, as I was laying on Alumni Lawn Saturday evening listening to the sounds of Rites of Spring, it struck me that I had been asking myself the wrong question entirely. Vanderbilt did not change me.

Over the years, one of my biggest issues with some pockets of the student body has been the expectation that simply attending Vanderbilt will guarantee that you accomplish something significant during your four years on campus. However, something that we all — myself included — must remember is that “Vanderbilt” cannot accomplish anything on our behalf. This reality is actually highlighted in an aspect of the vision articulated in the university’s new strategic plan: “To leverage the many synergies between discovery, learning and service across our entire community of scholars and learners to seek accomplishment and seize opportunities.”

In other words, if I were writing this column for a logic course, attending Vanderbilt is not an “If A, then B” scenario. Rather, attending Vanderbilt is an “If A,

‘‘

Attending Vanderbilt is an ‘If A, and if C, then B,’ scenario — with the C being the necessary effort to accomplish something significant.

’’

and if C, then B,” scenario — with the C being the necessary effort to accomplish something significant.

The same concept applies to “personal change.” In classes and at programs on campus, we talk a great deal about this idea, yet I would bet my first year’s salary that the number of undergraduate students actively challenging the inner-workings of their thought processes or questioning their own passions is nowhere near the 6,800 mark. But personal change won’t come without these efforts of internal scrutiny.

Simply put, people who expect that they will walk out of Vanderbilt a different person without taking steps to make it happen are delusional.

In my own time here, I have learned much about culture, politics, theory and more. I have had opportunities to do incredible things like cover and provide commentary on a high profile court case and travel all over, representing Vanderbilt as a student jour-

nalist — and I have certainly gained a lot from such exposure and experience. Some might say that these exploits alone could be considered “change,” but I disagree. Instead, it is the conscious and deliberate decision to use these opportunities to generate lasting importance that leads to genuine transformation.

This realization is far more valuable than fleeting bits of knowledge or small moments of satisfaction, because it follows that when I want something, I must go get it.

It is my hope that every person on this campus have a similar realization — and that no person expect that Vanderbilt accomplish anything on their behalf. Because Vanderbilt cannot create relevant experiences for you. Vanderbilt cannot forge personal connections for you, and most importantly, Vanderbilt cannot change you.

What Vanderbilt can do, however, is give you the tools to meaningfully and intentionally make lasting change. At Vanderbilt, you can establish lifelong and life-giving connections with others who neither look nor think like you. At Vanderbilt, you can become comfortable with getting uncomfortable and do things that matter in the process. And at Vanderbilt, you can — with diploma in hand — walk across the stage a more conscious, cognizant and courageous person. The impetus, however, is always on you.

12

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

On leaving Vanderbilt

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

Are we trading in our transformative experiences for the path of least resistance?

“

KELLY HALOM is a senior in the College of Arts and Science and the Co-News Editor of The Hustler. She can be reached at kelly.m.halom@ vanderbilt.edu.

You can have a transformative experience and not be transformed.”

These were the volunteer coordinator’s parting words at Riverbend Maximum Security prison. After a week of service there, hearing the men discuss the cradle to prison pipeline and how it impacted their own stories, I felt convicted to enter the world of education reform.

But as I prepare to leave Vanderbilt, the words of the volunteer coordinator have been rattling around in my head.

I came to Vanderbilt from a predominantly white, middle-class suburb in Arlington, TX, so I was in for the shock of my life freshman year, when my introductory English class focused on prison literature.

It was the first time I thought critically about race, privilege and the many inequities that are institutionalized in our country. It changed the trajectory of my time at Vanderbilt, leading me to study Political Science and seek out internships, jobs and opportunities in education reform.

I don’t think my story is a unique one. For many at Vanderbilt, I have heard similar stories of transformation. A pre-med friend of mine learned so much about public health disparities in MHS classes that he almost never stops talking about his desire to serve those experiencing homeless and connect them to mental health resources. Another friend found her heart in South Africa, after a study abroad trip made her yearn to return to a place still recovering from

years of brokenness.

But with each new desire comes a sense of hesitancy.

And this is a hesitancy I know well. Despite my growing knowledge and concern for disparities inextricably linked to race and education, standing two weeks from the precipice of graduation, I cannot help but notice that a tension has grown between my passion and my comfort.

My comfort leads me to law school, a big firm, a life of prestige paired with wealth — a path that my Vanderbilt degree makes all too accessible. My passion leads me to places I have not been before — to inner city schools, to prisoner re-entry programs, to a salary smaller than the one that provided for me as a child.

Many of my peers are leaving the prestige of Vanderbilt for bigger and better things. Whether they are off to be computer engineers at Google, consultants for Bain or students at some of the most prestigious graduate programs in the country, I consistently hear future plans characterized by salaries and brand names.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a nice salary at a good company or an advanced degree from a rigorous program. But many of the people that I talk to cast their plans as a brief interlude between Vanderbilt and their “actual passion.” Many of us are not yet ready to turn our backs on the validation that prestige brings; to say no to salaries that afford nice

apartments, lazy brunches and travelling the globe; to look beyond the clear cut paths that have been left before us in consulting, graduate school, finance, even visible service-oriented opportunities, like Teach for America or the Peace Corps.

While so many of us say that such plans are only temporary, I can’t help but feel like we are turning our back on all that Vanderbilt has given us — the experiences, tools and degree to blaze our own paths and furiously follow those passions we’ve developed.

After three years of serving on the Hustler’s editorial board and reporting on Vanderbilt’s students, I have been constantly amazed by the diverse interests, activism, intellect and enthusiasm of our student body. But as I listen to so many of my peers talk about life post-Vanderbilt, I worry that we are trading in our four years of exploration and transformation to sheepishly follow the most comfortable route we can take. And with a student body as varied and unique as ours — for the life of me — I can’t figure out how so many of us are being herded down the same paths.

Vanderbilt is a transformative experience. But to be transformed requires us to cast aside previously held beliefs for new ones, to embrace new realities and the uncertainties they bring.

What I wish for myself and my fellow Commodores as I prepare to leave campus is that we follow the passions that we found here — even if we have to make the path to them ourselves.

RERUNS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR'S OPINION

The invisibility of the immigrant experience Looking past the rhetoric to question what it means to be “American”

I AADITI NAIK

is a first-year in the College of Arts and Science. She can be reached at aaditi.g.naik@vanderbilt.edu.

won my first essay contest when I was in fifth grade with an essay that answered the prompt “Why are you proud to be an American citizen?” My essay took second place in the state, and I received a savings bond. I ran in circles around the living room, waving my prize around ecstatically. My parents, equally proud and amused, laughed at the irony — their daughter was not an American citizen.

At the age of 9, I did not understand the distinction between American and American citizen. I thought that living in the United States made me both. Today, I realize that I am still neither American nor an American citizen, and I will probably never be.

I am writing this because even though we frequently speak of immigrants as a group, we are invisible as individual human beings. Our stories are invisible.

The discrimination we face, on a personal and institutional level, is invisible. And it is too easy to oppose immigration when you think of it in the abstract, as a collective noun, and when you refuse to see the individual human beings who make up that collective noun and are affected by that label on a daily basis.

My story is one story, but it is a common story.

I am a first-generation immigrant. I have moved back and forth between India and the United States for the entirety of my life. My most recent immigration to the United States occurred when I was 11 years old, dropped into middle school halfway through

seventh grade. I remember being ashamed to raise my hand and answer questions in class because of my Indian accent. I remember practicing an American accent in front of the bathroom mirror. I remember assigning myself popular American songs to listen to and cultural icons to look up at home. I only knew that being able to sing along to Taylor Swift and Katy Perry meant making friends, while asking who Ke$ha was meant laughter, and sometimes, bullying. With a carrot and a stick, I was being trained to not be myself and to be “more American.” During class, I made mental lists of slang terms to research later — beast, 69, LMAO. It was only once I looked up the word “fob” that I realized I was trying to assimilate into a culture that didn’t want me. And yet, this only made me work harder to assimilate. I stopped speaking my native language at home and refused to watch Bollywood movies with my parents. To the disappointment of my parents, I was changing, ripping out a part of myself that I have never been able to completely regain. I paid the price of becoming “more American” by permanently stifling part of who I was.

As my practice paid off and my American accent flowed more easily from between my lips, I began noticing other things as well. A trip to a customer service desk yielded different results for my parents than it did for me. When my parents asked for something, the people on the other side of the desk looked away.

Without making eye contact, they spoke disrespectfully and curtly. If they didn’t have the answer to my parents’ questions, then they told us they couldn’t help. When I stepped forward to ask with my shiny new American accent, doors opened. People made eye contact and smiled at me. Calling me “Miss” or “Ma’am,” they nodded as I spoke, even offering to call a manager if they couldn’t help me themselves. Today, my sister and I handle the customer service issues and order the pizzas.

And yet, no matter how good my American accent was, I could never be American enough, as I found out when I began applying for scholarships to college.

In many cases, I was barred from applying by my legal status as an “alien.” On other occasions, I applied and made it to the next level on my merit, but was then told that I had to be disqualified because of my legal status. As I wrote letter after letter forfeiting my right to the scholarships and awards that I had earned through years of hard work in high school in the United States, I saw other students around me taking advantage of those opportunities. They had not worked any harder than I had; they just had the right passport. Only then did I realize that the land of equal opportunity and the concept of the American dream did not apply to me — it applied only to American — Continued on PAGE 14

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

13

14

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015 — Continued from PAGE 12 citizens.

The final straw came after I was admitted to Vanderbilt. My parents revealed to me that our visas were expiring in November and could not be renewed again. Although they had tried applying for a Green Card again and again for six years, they had been denied every time. I would have to apply for an F1 student visa to study at Vanderbilt as an international student. However, as I had attended high school in the U.S. and was not a typical international student, the chances that I would be given an F1 visa were extremely slim. They told me that I would most likely have to go back to India. While I loved India, I could not imagine giving up the educational opportunities that I had earned here and having my right to choose where I wanted to live taken away. In addition, my little sister, an American citizen, would be allowed to stay in the United States, and as she was a minor, my

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM mother could apply for a special visa to stay and take care of my sister. I was a minor too, but because I was not an American citizen, there was no law to protect me from being separated from my mother.

I began having nightmares that I would be deported. I did not even really understand what the word meant and was too afraid of the reality to look up the legal definition. In my nightmares, it meant being packed into a crate and shipped back to India.

The crate was too small and duct tape covered every crack. As I screamed about not being able to breathe, nobody came to help me, and I slowly suffocated. I woke up, gasping for air.

By some miraculous stroke of luck, a last desperate application for a green card worked out, and I am here today. But it’s still not over. As I turn 18 next week, I know that the law will now require me to carry proof of my legal status in this country on my person at all times. I can be stopped and asked to prove that I am here legally at any time. I think about how blacks

were forced to carry passbooks in apartheid-era South Africa and how Jews were forced to wear the Star of David in the years preceding World War II, and I wonder why it is acceptable to make me carry my green card.

I am tired of knowing that my pronunciation matters more than the content of my words. I am tired of hearing people talk about immigrants as “stealing American jobs.” I am tired of hearing about the American dream that will never be completely accessible to me unless I become an American citizen.

I don’t want to feel disillusioned. I don’t want to be jaded and bitter. I especially don’t want to laugh at the optimistic little girl who used to love saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, who couldn’t stop herself from smiling when she said, “liberty and justice for all.” But she hasn’t caught on to the art of the American accent yet.

—This column was originally published online on Feb. 23, 2015

Reconciling free speech with student life

We have a duty to create spaces for even the most hateful commentary

T

JEFFREY GREENBERG is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science and is the Station Manager at VandyRadio. He can be reached at jeffrey.a.greenberg@ vanderbilt.edu.

his past Saturday, I attended the student-organized protests against Professor Carol Swain’s recent op-ed in The Tennessean. Enough has been said about the inherent hypocrisy, sweeping generalizations and logical leaps in her article, not to mention the casual bigotry of the rhetoric therein.

Suffice it to say I attended the rally both as a representative of the media and as a student personally concerned with the opinions presented in said editorial. I stand against racism, bigotry and prejudicial thought in all its forms. I say that not only to make my opinion known on the issue, but also to ensure that the content of my letter does not become construed as any sort of active or passive endorsement of such thoughts. You’ll see by the end, it’s quite the opposite.

I want to start first by echoing the thoughts of New York Times columnist David Brooks. Charlie Hebdo, the publication targeted by Islamic radicals and the catalyst for this conversation to begin on campus, became lionized as a champion of free speech and a martyr for the ideals of a liberal society. So, if Charlie Hebdo was a Vanderbilt publication (let’s call it Commodore Hebdo), made on Vanderbilt printing presses, headquartered in the Sarratt newsroom and with an editorial staff composed of students, how long would it last? How many Commodore Hebdo cartoons would be tolerated by the student body before cries began to shut it down? As you read this article in the wake of Charlie Hebdo and in the wake of Professor Swain’s absurd and illogical response, ask yourself, truly, if you would feel comfortable on campus if Commodore Hebdo existed. And finally, in a hypothetical world where no physical security threat existed, and Commodore Hebdo could just print without fear of attack, does that emotional comfort trump their right to do so?

When listening to speeches at the rally, reading the conversation on The Hustler editorial pages and browsing posts on social media, I found myself consistently agreeing with the concerns, but disagreeing with the proposed consequences. The rally itself had a clear enough message: Swain’s op-ed was “hate speech” and the student body wants to make sure that the administration “does not allow it to continue.” Certainly, no matter how many times students directly say they recognize Professor Swain’s right to free speech, this notion seems contrary to that opinion. How would the administration “protect the

students from continued hate speech” without physically curtailing its production or distribution?

I continue by echoing the sentiments of another organization, the American Civil Liberties Union. Free speech is easy to defend when everyone agrees with what’s being said. Even when we disagree with each other in an academic setting, we as students often, for better or for worse, do not confront issues or opinions that shake our being to the very core, ones that encourage such a reflexive revulsion or concern that we would feel the need to remove ourselves from the discussion. It is at this time, when we feel so disgusted and horrified by the speech being portrayed, that the protection of free speech is put to the greatest test. Indeed, the First Amendment has no function if it falters in the face of disagreement. The most vile, hate-filled speech is the most important to defend.

It highlights the assurance that the same protections exist for each and every one of us.

Determining accepted speech based solely on emotional comfort troubles me deeply for a few reasons.

An inherent arbitrariness exists in the concept of emotional safety. Each new gatekeeper holds his or her own standards as to what qualifies as beyond reproach. To make a policy of curtailing speech deemed “offensive” by the majority of the student body thus seems myopic. We are not far removed from a time when the script was flipped, when arguments for civil rights and religious freedoms were themselves considered offensive and disruptive to the people’s comfort. The tide can easily turn again. If we take away the protections that exist today, they won’t be there when you find yourself in need of them tomorrow.

The same argument that applies to free speech generally applies to academic freedom as well. I now find myself in the somewhat strange position of both supporting protesters’ ability to apply pressure to the university to fire or otherwise sanction Carol Swain (surely, this in and of itself is also protected speech) and also advocating for the university to disregard those same concerned students. Although the baseless and fallacious bigotry in Professor Swain’s most recent op-ed clearly fails to meet an academic standard of truth, often times opinions on various subjects, perceived just as controversially as this one, do. Freedom of speech protects everyone to make sure that those ideas of merit do not find themselves tossed to the wayside in a flurry of knee-jerk censor-

ship.

But there’s a second concern with comfort-based speech regulation as well. We all agree that every student here at Vanderbilt is valuable. Attempting to determine accepted community speech based on the comfort of each and every student would not only leave us with almost nothing left to talk about; it would also lead to conflicting notions of comfort on a variety of social and moral issues.

This leads me to my final point. A large group of Vanderbilt students responded strongly to Professor Swain’s rhetoric. They felt confident in their counterarguments, in the factual inaccuracies of her claims and of the close-mindedness of her opinion. I agree.

But instead of shutting out opinions from the public dialogue, as many protesters desire to occur, we should dismantle them academically. After all, we are in fact students, and we should live up to everything that word connotes. The university environment is unique in that it provides a forum for research.

Ideas are welcomed into a dialogue and then tested on their merit. This occurs in the scientific method and in critical humanities papers, in every one of the schools that make up Vanderbilt. Allowing ideas and opinions perceived as offensive by some, even all, of the student body into that discourse doesn’t hurt the university as an institution; it strengthens it. It tests our resolve and our knowledge of what is right. It encourages us to try harder to change the world. It is preparation for the true injustice and oppression that we are bound to see outside this school and which we must confront head-on. It makes us question our worldview and asks us to make a choice in what we believe.

The only way to defeat an ideology is to face it and dismantle it piece by piece — not by locking it in a cage, which only allows hatred to fester and grow — but by exposing it and disinfecting it in the sunlight.

I’m confident that the student body does not need to be sheltered from offensive speech. If I’m wrong, then we risk more than our comfort. We risk our freedom of expression, our legitimacy as scholars and our ability to criticize and confront when we are left with no other choice.

— This column was originally published online on Jan. 19, 2015

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

15

From skeptic to leader Giving Greek life a chance

A

COLLIN LABAK is a senior in Peabody College and was the first elected president of Delta Tau Delta.

He can be reached at collin.m.labak@ vanderbilt.edu.

mid horrific news stories of sexual assault, hazing-related deaths and other scandals that plague Greek life on a national level, I can sympathize with those who find the system to be detrimental to institutions of higher education.

Through my first year at Vanderbilt, I was one of those individuals. I did not understand (hated) the idea of paying some fixed amount of money per semester to engage in acts of buffoonery with a homogeneous group of individuals. These things are antithetical to what college is supposed to be all about. Perhaps, if I had researched Vanderbilt better prior to paying my matriculation deposit, Greek life would have been the factor dissuading me from attending.

My first year began as the incredible experience I had seen in Vanderbilt marketing materials prior to attending. As my friends around me rushed, pledged and became active members of their respective fraternities, however, I remained in my Commons dorm room, becoming increasingly isolated as my friends assimilated into their various chapters. Although the year was my most academically successful, it was also my loneliest. I was dying to get involved in a purposeful organization and to connect with others who shared a passion for that purpose, but I was convinced that fraternity life was not for me.

Fall semester of sophomore year rolled around, and somehow, I was convinced by one of my few remaining friends to listen to the recruitment pitch of a brand-new fraternity. The initial meeting came with promises of a values-based organization, one that strived for diversity and inclusivity, one that opposed hazing. My interest was piqued, but I remained skeptical that this, too, would be just another fraternity on campus. I took the leap of faith — after all, if I didn’t like it, I could always quit. At the beginning of my experience, of course, there were struggles with this new organization, ranging from internal commitment to external skepticism of our mission on campus. As we worked through these problems, I only further became a champion of the cause — this was to become the thesis of my undergraduate career.

Over the past three years, the experience entirely transformed me for the better. Yes, I gained the leadership experience that most people talk about when attempting to defend Greek life. I helped make measurable impact on this campus, being a part of both Lights on the Lawn — which raised $106,000 for victims of power-based personal violence — and the introduction of an Inclusivity Agreement for all IFC chapters. But the lessons I will take with me into life are not so easily measured. I learned how to talk

about racial and sexual identity, because dialogues on these topics happen regularly within my brotherhood. I became aware of the many forms of powerbased personal violence, and how these forms might rear their ugly heads on campus.

I’m not saying that everyone’s Greek experience is this enriching, but that is no reason to decry the system itself. Trying to describe the entire Greek system based on a single chapter is akin to basing your opinion of Vanderbilt athletics on a single team — baseball and football leave very different impressions. I am, however, vouching for the fact that it is possible to create a Greek experience that impacts the individual, and thereby his environment, as much as mine has. The tricky component of this creation is getting more conservative Greek organizations to accept and eventually adopt a true commitment to inclusivity, openness among members and a truly values-based way of existence. Call me a dreamer, but if we can get there as an international community, you will no longer be seeing those sensationalist Rolling Stone or Huffington Post articles popping up on a regular basis.

— This column was originally published in the Jan. 14, 2015, issue

16

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

life

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Encore-ing down with the Melodores The Melodores talk winning ‘The Sing Off,’ #MeloLove and what they plan to do with their $50,000 prize By Priyanka Aribindi, Life editor When Augie Phillips, senior and president of the Melodores, tuned in to watch NBC’s “The Sing-Off” holiday special as it aired on Dec. 17, one thought was going through his head — what his tweet would be at the end of the show.

That thought was good foresight — by the end of the night after their win was announced, #MeloLove was trending on Twitter in the U.S. Because the competition was filmed over the course of 10 days in November, the group had to keep their win a secret for nearly one month before the show aired on Wednesday, but according to Phillips, keeping the news under wraps wasn’t always hard.

“It was so difficult, but at the same time it was actually kind of easy because the fact that no collegiate team had ever won the show meant that no one expected us to win,” he said. “It was hard not to tell people, but … no one saw that coming, and definitely neither did I.” The Melodores are no strangers to accolades, having competed throughout the country, but the group made his-

tory on Wednesday as viewers nationwide tuned in to watch them become the first collegiate group ever to bring home the top prize on “The Sing-Off.” For the group, the win is not only a launching pad, but also validation — not only of the hours of work they put into practicing on a weekly basis, but also of their origins, as the show is one that they have watched and been inspired from since the beginning. “(Winning is) kind of a realization of a dream in the sense that that show is the reason that a lot of us got into a cappella, and for me it was the reason I got into singing at all,” Phillips said. “We’ve made a lot of sacrifices in our time, in our sleep, in our grades just to make things work … (and) be the best at what we do as far as a collegiate all-male group, and this was kind of the big mark that we could hit.”

The show is usually aired as a season-long competition, but this year it was turned into a two-hour holiday special featuring six competing groups.

“I think the setup of this year’s show was more in our

favor,” said junior Justin Riele, the group’s treasurer.

Previous seasons of “The Sing-Off” have included multiple episodes and larger cash prizes, along with recording contracts for the winning group, but according to Riele, some of these elements would have be more difficult to complete with a collegiate group, as they are enrolled in school fulltime and some graduating seniors have already made plans for the future.

Though the special was condensed into two hours, what aired on screen took nearly 10 days to put together — days that the Melodores would have otherwise spent at Vanderbilt in classes.

The group spent Nov. 15-24 in L.A. doing vocal, choreography and wardrobe rehearsals, as well as shooting lengthy interview packages to be aired on the show. The final competition was filmed on Nov. 24 in Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre for more than six hours, but that still was short in comparison to the months-long process leading up to that night.

According to Phillips, the group learned that the show

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM would be returning at beginning of the school year, and auditioned for producers in Nashville in early October. The audition was lengthy and involved interviews as well as a performance.

“We originally auditioned with (Jason Derulo’s) ‘Wiggle,’ and they loved that, but they asked us to do ‘Trumpets’ on the show,” said James McHugh, the Melodores’ musical director and a junior. “We were a little hesitant … but it turned out great.”

On the program itself, “Trumpets” was the one of the most choreography-heavy performances of the night, as was the Melodores’ rendition of “Take Me To Church,” but according to McHugh, this was different from the group’s usual performance style.

“We definitely don’t do as much choreography at our concerts on campus,” he said. “We’ve done it before at competitions … but I think they wanted to play up the college male a cappella thing (on the show).”

Fortunately, the group didn’t have to make the moves up on their own. According to McHugh, during the 10-day period in L.A., they worked with many professionals who assisted them with choreography in rehearsals. But even though this was a later addition, the group’s vocal arrangements were similar to what they had been doing before.

“We’ve been performing that song since September,” McHugh said of his arrangement of Hozier’s “Take Me To Church,” which the group performed in the final round of the competition. “The arrangement wasn’t actually that different at all.”

Of that song, Phillips said the group was very confident beforehand, but the chance that they may not have been able to perform it had them worried.

“That moment when we didn’t know whether we were going to move on to the next round was really scary … (because) we felt really confident that if we just got the chance to sing (“Take Me to Church”) then we could maybe win,” he

‘‘

(Winning is) kind of a realization of a dream in the sense that that show is the reason that a lot of us got into a cappella, and for me it was the reason I got into singing at all.

’’

said.

That confidence wasn’t misplaced — their rendition of the song has been viewed more than 40,000 times in the single day it’s been on YouTube, and along with “The Sing-Off” title, it also snagged the group the $50,000 prize.

“Right now it’ll be split up among the 12 guys that were on the show,” Phillips said. “It’s up to each Melodore what he wants to do with his portion of the prize.”

Before they were awarded the prize, Judge Shawn Stock-

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

17

man of Boyz II Men advised every group in the top three, regardless of the outcome of the competition, to take advantage of the platform and national attention that the show afforded them. Though the Melodores plan to return to Vanderbilt for the next semester, the group has been talking about what this opportunity means for them and how they plan to move ahead.

“Here we are on the national scale now, so we’re figuring out what (this means) for us,” Phillips said. “It’s a big question mark right now … but we’re really excited for what’s next.”

According to Riele, the group will be joining “The SingOff” tour dates over Vanderbilt’s spring break, along with performing at some of the shows close to Nashville. On Mar. 15 the tour stops in Nashville itself at the Ryman Auditorium, where audiences will be able to watch the Melodores perform in one of Nashville’s most historic venues. “(The Ryman) is really exciting for us because so many great artists have played there,” Riele said.

Touring is not all they have up their (plaid) sleeves though.

The group also plans to release their third album in April, and hopes to release more videos and book more performances in the meantime.

In the face of all these new opportunities, Phillips maintains that the Melodores are still the same in many ways and have no plans to stop performing for the Vanderbilt community.

“Nothing’s changed about us; we’re not any different than we were four weeks ago — it’s just our opportunities that have changed, and we’re really excited for those .”

—A version of this story was published online on Dec. 19, 2014

18

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

REVIEW

PHOTO COURTESY OF HULU

The new reality show seeks to cash in on Vanderbilt’s prestige but overcompensates and veers away from its potential value

By Saara Asikainen, Managing editor The most memorable image of surgery in the premiere of “Vanderbilt MDs” is that of a woman with a stomach bloated with blood, surrounded by doctors clustered around a surgery table. She is only one of the accident victims being treated by the residents in the new reality television show.

In the show’s premiere, seven medical residents move into a house which they are supposed to share over the course of the show’s six episodes. The majority of the hour-long episode features them socializing awkwardly and getting to know each other, though they manage to squeeze in a few meaningful cases — a motorcycle accident and a cardiac arrest.

Every surgery call is accompanied by intense cursing and shots of bloodied gauze on the linoleum floor.

Though these scenes are few and far between, when they come, they arrive as welcome reminders of the high stakes in the show. Medicine is inherently dramatic, but watching “Vanderbilt MDs,” you wouldn’t know it. The producers know what else we’ve been watching — “House MD,” “ER,” “Grey’s Anatomy” — and they want to give us that kind of drama alongside the inner workings of the hospital, but jumping between the two results in rather jarring effects.

In the beginning of the episode, repurposed from the sneak peek, an off-duty resident complains that, “One of the challenges of being a physician is that there is nowhere to tuck your erection.” A cut from this shot melts seamlessly to a wimpier resident’s teary-eyed confession: “It’s so hard watching people, knowing that they’re going to die.”

In this instance and throughout the show, the reality television framework takes away from the seriousness of the subject. The show has the potential to be a sort of “ER Unplugged” — a peek inside a real emergency room in the only level-one trauma center in Middle Tennessee. Instead, it ignores the inherent tension in medicine and settles for pandering to our tastes for conventional reality television.

Despite its prestigious setting, the show exhibits many of the genre’s trashy, delicious connotations, and serving as the unlikely fuel to this fire are the one-dimensional depictions of the residents themselves. The characters — and that’s what the residents become — are reduced to two-pronged depictions — the personal and the professional.

First-year resident Erin, for instance, lost 60 pounds in high school and now deals with the strain residency puts on her relationship.

Whitney is prepared to date “in the hospital,” but is unsure about her specialty in internal medicine. Jeremy, a second-year in emer-

gency medicine, lacks issues reducible to a sound bite and is hyped up instead: “The second I enter the ER I’m in beast mode; I’m firing on all cylinders” — whatever that means.

While cringe-inducing and extended — the B-plot in the episode are his dating efforts — Jeremy’s hyperbole isn’t as awkward as the main relationship of the episode: the brewing bromance between Mike and Tyson, two self-identified “tall, white goofy kids.”

Their contribution to the dramatic tension consists of a bet over a game of cornhole; the loser has to wear a neon-colored fanny pack to the hospital. Innocuous, uninteresting and interchangeable, even other doctors confuse them for one another: “I thought Mike was Tyson until last night. They look the same,” says Dr. William Train, a trauma surgeon fellow, stuck in the mix with the residents.

How far we have come from “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“Grey’s” has always lived and died by its group dynamics, and “MDs” tries to foster something similar among its residents by putting them into one house a la “The Real World,” but the effort falls flat.

The move is supposedly motivated by the young doctors’ cash flow problem, but it’s really meant to squeeze something out of a lukewarm group dynamic. The problem is emblematic of the of the show’s insistence on presenting the residents’ personal lives in equal measure to their professional lives.

But unlike doctors would lead us to believe, balance is not always good for you. The cast has spent their twenties in med schools and hospitals — they won’t turn into Patrick Dempseys just because the cameras are now on them. Kind, compassionate and awkward, but also at times douchey, an Emmyworthy medical drama cast these residents do not make.

As a result, the overblown characterizations lead to such a pompous presentation that you’d think even admissions couldn’t

stand it.

“It’s a real challenge being the only thing standing between life and death for a total stranger,” Train intones in a voiceover that is more measured than anything else that he will say in the rest of the episode (he’s the grumpy one). At the helipad, he strides purposefully away from the helicopter and toward the camera. Medics trail behind with the stretcher, and we don’t know whether to wish the scene was staged or not.

Surely more goes on than we see here.

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine ranks fifteenth out of all accredited medical schools in the U.S. VUMC is the no. 1 hospital in Tennessee, and four of its specialties ranked in the national top 10. The residents’ lives inside the hospitals are not the only thing to them, but their experiences in the Medical Center make for more compelling material than their fumbling relationships.

At the beginning of the episode, Chairman of Emergency Medicine Corey Slovis tells the interns with touching earnestness, “You are some of the best and you got to act that way.” Dr. John McPherson, director of the internal medicine residency program, continues: “Vanderbilt is one of the elite medical centers in the entire world. We have the luxury of picking the cream of the crop every year.”

Exactly. In a school that is determinedly climbing up the rankings, elbowing peer institutions out of the way, the question becomes why the university greenlighted the making of “Vanderbilt MDs.” Why are we depicted in a — let’s face it — insubstantial way in a genre that easily cheapens everything it portrays?

—A version of this story was published in the Nov. 12, 2014, issue

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

19

Q&A: From Sarratt to Snapchat After Emily White graduated from Vanderbilt in 2000 with a degree in fine arts, she headed straight for Silicon Valley. With stints at Google (as employee No. 230), Facebook and Instagram, she settled in as the COO of Snapchat in January 2014. The Hustler caught up with White to hear about her journey from campus to cyberspace By Priyanka Aribindi, Life editor

I interned at a law firm in Silicon Valley and was put in the corporate securities department — the department that, among other things, was helping tech companies grow and eventually go public. It was during that summer that I realized that I wanted to be on the other side of the table — at the tech companies, helping build the business from the inside. There are a variety of jobs at tech companies — engineers and designers but also lawyers, recruiters, salespeople and marketers, among others. I was lucky to graduate senior year with a job in Silicon Valley that allowed for a more general educational background and way of thinking. Once I was in Silicon Valley, that’s when my tech education really began.

The Vanderbilt Hustler: Vanderbilt isn’t a school that’s typically associated with tech startups and the Googles/Facebooks/Snapchats of the world. What was it like going into that kind of field and environment after coming out of Vanderbilt?

Emily White: Many students don’t go to college knowing what they want to be when they grow up, and some may leave college still not knowing what they want to be when they grow up. This was definitely the case for me. However, I did know that the tech industry was taking off. Even just through my coursework, I could see how technology was playing an everincreasing role in our world. And while I wasn’t an engineering major in undergrad, I certainly left Vandy with a core set of skills that served me well in the business environment — tech or otherwise.

VH: Is the element of photography associated with your current and previous jobs at Snapchat and at Facebook/ Instagram something that you chose to be around because of your background in the arts, or was it something that just happened coincidentally?

EW: I have always been a visual learner and have been attracted to fields and companies that have a strong visual element. It hasn’t been the only or predominant factor in my job choices, though. I actually attribute a lot of credit to the fact that I’ve been at the right place at the right time and known when to say “yes” to opportunities. This is generally overlooked and undervalued, but knowing when to act on the right opportunities plays a significant role in one’s eventual outcome. I also graduated at a particularly exciting time in the tech world. Of course, I worked really hard, but (I) also had a lot of doors open and opportunities come my way. Not every field or company affords the same opportunities.

once again, so you’ve done both in your career. Do you have advice regarding that balance for college-age women?

EW: Life is a little like a 401k: The more you invest in the beginning, the more you have at the end. Putting in hard work usually pays off, especially if you choose the right opportunities to dive into. From an early age, the phrase “delayed gratification” was drummed into my head by my dad, and I thought a lot about that early on. I believe in hard work and sticking with things — seeing them through, learning from the good and the bad. That said, I generally don’t love the “balance” question because life isn’t always in “balance.” And if it is, it can be hard to truly focus on your priorities and actually make them happen.

Some phases of my life, my priority has been work (and) putting everything I have into it. Other times it’s been family. I took four months of maternity leave when I had each of my kids.

Sometimes you have to make hard choices and work around the parts that you aren’t optimizing for at the time.

VH: You’ve shared your story of “leaning out” with LeanIn.org, and your recent move to Snapchat seems to be “leaning in”

— A version of this story appeared in the Jan. 14, 2015, issue

VH: Do you feel that Vanderbilt adequately prepared you for your line of work? As a fine arts major while you were in school, what type of work did you think you would be doing now?

EW: The summer after my junior year, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer — what else do you do with a fine arts major? Kidding!

PHOTO COURTESY OF BUSINESS INSIDER

20

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

Fall into fitness Iyengar Yoga

Powerlifting

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

The Hustler sends life reporters out of their comfort zones to test the Rec’s group fitness classes Cardio Dance

POUND

PHOTOS BY BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Name: Joshua Timm Usual workouts: long-range hiking, occasional jogging when I’ve eaten too much.

Fitness level: I can do slightly more physically than the average person, but with a pained face and a mental eye on the prize — working off enough guilt to eat a pint of ice cream.

Name: Hannah Robinson Usual workouts: I can run the Vandy loop with my eyes closed.

Fitness level: I like to be spontaneous and join my friends in classes with fun names at the Rec. Let’s just say that “Hard Core” and “Ballet Sculpt” require very different muscles from a daily 5K.

The crowd: The attendees of Iyengar Yoga are primarily young women, but several middleaged women showed up as well, and enough men were present to not make me feel out of place. While most people were relatively in shape, all sorts of body types were represented.

Because of the relative diversity of the class, anyone can attend and feel completely safe from any sort of awkwardness or body shame.

The crowd: Masked by the name “Powerlifting,” this class is anything but just a football player’s hangout. Four Vandy girls entered the room and were quickly joined by many other fit women from the Nashville area, creating an encouraging atmosphere. Jerry, the usual lifting coach (with great reviews), was replaced this week by Michelle, whose enthusiasm and intensity kept the class on their toes.

The class: The class I attended utilized a typical mat, blankets to soften seated positions as well as two blocks and a chair to help the less experienced attendees (definitely me).

This was my first-ever yoga class, and while I was never quite sure of what I was doing, I know that I wasn’t terrible at it. The class is beginner-friendly, but the poses are pretty difficult. Most of the poses were what the instructor called “twists,” which involved a lot of crossbody stretches that supposedly benefit one’s internal organs. The instructor, Natasha, was friendly, accommodating to everyone’s needs and pretty funny, too.

The class: The hour consisted of numerous repetitions of strength exercises — squats and banded shuffles, repetitive work on biceps, triceps, shoulders and unfamiliar muscles like “that little piece of skin behind the armpit.”

Along with the burn from class, several truths emerge. You learn which of your muscles are stronger and, unfortunately, which are weaker (anyone else die from fly lifts?); you learn the necessity of knowing which weights to use for your own body. Finally, you learn that resistance training is an essential element to creating a toned, healthy and fast-metabolizing body, regardless of gender.

Bottom line: As an inexperienced male of average fitness, my taking Iyengar Yoga was a good fit. The class left me feeling physically fantastic and mentally clear. I hurt my tailbone and am taking a short hiatus from physical activity, but I absolutely plan on going to Iyengar Yoga again.

Bottom line: Overall, this is a class for men and women who want to become stronger and more confident. The learning curve is high for newcomers, but so are the benefits, and this is a perfect opportunity for anyone bored with routine and curious to try something new.

Name: Matt Lieberson Usual workouts: Does marching band practice count?

Fitness level: Peaked in high school.

The crowd: The crowd at cardio dance was a group of girls in their uniform of Nike shorts and tank tops. Everyone in the class was nice, which was a definite plus, but a male presence was jarring to many, including the instructor.

The class: The workout itself was various dance-ish movements set to popular songs like “Shake It Off” and whatever song Enrique Iglesias has on the radio these days.

Cardio movements like jumping jacks make their way into all the routines, and anyone looking to tone their butt is clearly in the right place, with a lot of movement focused on the hips and glutes — my apologies to the poor girls behind me. Though the movements are never extremely taxing, a prerequisite is some semblance of rhythm. Those who struggle with dancing or keeping a beat may have a tougher time with this class than others. The instructor makes sure to guide the class through visual cues, which is helpful for those who have no dancing ability.

Bottom Line: Overall, this class is probably not one of the more strenuous that the Rec offers, but it’s a full hour’s worth of work. If you’re looking to break a sweat, lose a few pounds and jam to some shameless pop music, this is the place.

Name: Virginia Norder Usual workouts: cardio, lifting, abs, repeat.

Fitness level: A day without working out is like a day without sunshine.

The crowd: mostly very muscular, middle-aged women.

The class: POUND is essentially a jam session that combines light resistance with constant simulated drumming for a 45-minute session of cardio fused with Pilates and isometric/ plyometric movements. POUND experts claim you burn 400-900+ calories per hour while strengthening and sculpting infrequently used muscles. Apparently, you can drum your way to a leaner, slimmer physique without missing a beat of your favorite music.

Bottom line: POUND was a lot of fun. It was a great way to work out without realizing that you were actually working out, but that’s what I’m worried about. I really didn’t feel like I had finished a workout when I hung up my drumsticks. In fact, I didn’t even break a sweat. Either a) the creators of POUND deserve a pat on the back for creating the easiest high calorie-burning workout ever or b) the creators of POUND need to fess up and tell all the POUNDers out there that this “workout” is really just a giant group percussion lesson. I, for one, will not be going back — if I only have an hour to work out, I want to feel like I accomplished something when I walk out of the gym.

—A version of this story appeared in the October 1, 2014 issue

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

KATHY YUAN / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

A different kind of Sesh Vanderbilt seniors Daniel Rossett and Sean Hoag launch an app for ondemand tutoring on campus By Christie Bok, Life reporter While hanging out in his roommate Sean Hoag’s kitchen in Atherton, California over the summer, senior Daniel Rossett presented him with an entrepreneurial idea: a peer-to-peer tutoring app that would provide students with ondemand help from other students at their own school. Rossett explained that he had recently pitched the idea to his high school friend, Zach

Saraf, a computer science major at Stanford University who was eager to code the app.

“I thought it was a really good idea that could be super-successful and I definitely wanted to hop on board,” Hoag said.

The concept behind Sesh itself is straightforward, with the aim of providing students with 24/7 access to personal tutors. In addition to its

cost of 40 cents per minute as opposed to the average rate of a professional tutor at $46 per hour, the app lets get fast help from their peers who have taken the same courses.

“Everything happened really fast,” Rossett said. “Within a week of sharing the idea with Zach,(our team) met for the first time to discuss name ideas and the functionality of the app.”

While the group focused on their individual summer internships, they also worked on obtaining capital and incorporating their venture, with 11 investors along with family and friends raising $50,000 for its initial funding.

According to Hoag, the intimate knowledge that the student gains is what differentiates Sesh from traditional tutors. “We think students can benefit from Sesh on both sides. From the tutor’s perspective, you’re getting $20 an hour on demand to teach in a class you’ve already aced, and from a student’s perspective, you’re getting direct help from someone that has been successful in the class that you’re struggling in.”

The app’s location and messaging feature also help Sesh stand apart by allowing for the students and tutors to meet on campus just minutes after booking a session.

“Sesh is unique,” Rossett said. “There are no other tutoring services out there that accommodate the schedules that college students have and their patterns of studying. We think we can change that.”

Students signing up for Sesh receive their first 30 minutes free, and similarly, tutors are not paid for the first session, to ensure they’re proficient inthe material. Sesh also holds its tutors to a high academic standard and requires that they submit a transcript before joining the team, and

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

21

maintain a 4-star or better rating on the app itself.

The interaction between the tutor and student is key in determining these ratings, as tutors receive a rating on their ability to be helpful, friendly and knowledgeable after each session.

Additionally, students have the option to “favorite” a tutor, which allows the app’s algorithm to quickly match the student with a specific tutor the next time they schedule a session.

Since returning to campus for their senior year, Rossett and Hoag have focused their time on marketing, organizing campus representatives and getting tutors on board. Orange backpacks with Sesh’s white backpack logo have already become visible around Vanderbilt’s campus, and in addition to social media, this is the app’s primary marketing strategy.

Rossett and Hoag plan to work on Sesh fulltime after they graduate and will continue to spend this year marketing Sesh at Vanderbilt as well as expanding it to other schools, with a goal of launching the app at 50 colleges by next year.

Currently, there are 222 tutors signed up on Sesh, 80 of whom are at Vanderbilt, but campus reps at 12 additional schools including USC, Northwestern and Tulane will launch Sesh so long as they meet the minimum threshold of tutors, which is around one percent of enrollment.

Both Rossett and Hoag share their enthusiasm, saying: “We’re excited. All the work we’ve put in was to get to launch, and now that we’re here, we cannot wait to start building teaching communities through Sesh.”

—A version of this story appeared in the January 21, 2015 issue

22

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

Shake up your Cookout shake selection Since it opened on West End in October, Cookout’s cheap prices, late hours and prime location on the drive back from Demonbreun have made it an irresistible option for Vandy students. Aside from the regular fast food fare, the chain is famed for its ‘fancy shakes,’ but with over 40 flavors to pick from, the Hustler staff thought we’d help you find your new favorite By Priyanka Aribindi, Life editor

START

That wouldn’t be the first thing I’d call myself

Would you say you’re a chocoholic?

Um ... Who isn’t?

I’m cool with it as long as it doesn’t lead to Stevenson

How do you feel about the road less travelled?

How do like your peanut butter?

Smooth

Chunky Have you ever made your Uber go through Cookout’s drive-thru?

Are you sober?

I don’t talk to boys pH 15 (or you don’t get this joke)

How basic are you?

How do you prefer to imbibe your Schnapps?

Eh, I’d give it a 4/10

Just answer the question. ... Maybe IT WAS ONE TIME!

Heath Toffee You get the best of both worlds here — a creamy shake and crunchy candy.

“The bar has saltiness, which makes the other parts taste better ... It caused me to revise my opinion of Cookout for the better.”

—Molly Corn, Opinion editor

I haven’t, I swear!

Chocolate Cobbler Chocolate Cobbler is a rarity in today’s pie selection, but the crust mix-ins and the classic chocolate shake make it a cant-miss when it comes to shakes.

“It may not be made of the highestquality ingredients, but it’s extremely addicting. It’s basically the Jason Derulo of milkshakes.”

—Ben Weinrib, Assistant Sports editor

Um ... yes.

Damn right, it’s better than yours

Afraid for my personal safety

Why would I do such a thing?

Um ... no comment.

Do your milkshakes bring all the boys to yard?

Hot chocolate

In a haircut

Mocha This subtle blend of coffee and chocolate is perfect for anyone perpetually over-caffeinated who wants to cool off with something sweet.

“I’m not a big coffee person, but this is really good and it has a great aftertaste.”

—Ben Weinrib, Assistant Sports editor

—A version of this flowchart was published in The Hustler Weekly Digest on Jan. 26, 2015

Orange Push Up Don’t be fooled by the neon — this tastes like a sip-full of summer, not artificial flavoring. *Editor’s Note: This was the allaround favorite of the editorial board. We are just as surprised as you are.

“I want to buy 12 of these and keep them in my freezer.”

—Tyler Bishop, Editor-in-chief Banana Pudding If you’re a fan of banana pudding, you’re a fan of this shake. Why? Because it’s literally banana pudding in a cup, complete with chunks of the fruit.

“It tastes like real banana, not Laffy Taffy banana.”

—Allison Mast, Sports editor Peanut Butter So you don’t have the most original taste out there. Who cares? This one’s tried and true and is completely worth the brain freeze.

“It’s like eating a jar of peanut butter but it doesn’t make your mouth dry.”

—Allison Mast, Sports editor

Mint Oreo It’s not the most novel combination on earth, and it looks like greyishgreen slush, but that first sip makes none of that matter.

Strawberry Cheesecake You played it safe with the strawberry, but got adventurous with the cheesecake — good choice!

“It looks like something exploded in the cup, but it tastes great!”

—Saara Asikainen, Managing editor

“I like that there were actual chunks of cheesecake and strawberries.”

—Jenna Wengler, Art director

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

The Hustler’s picks:

queso

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

23

Though Nashville sits a couple hundred miles north of Tex-Mex’s culinary epicenter, those craving chips and queso needn’t fear. Looking at flavor, texture, overall dining experience and — of utmost importance — chip-to-queso ratio, The Hustler breaks down nearby establishments serving this cheesy staple By Angelica Lasala, Social media director —A version of this article was published in the Oct. 22, 2014, issue

Best cheap

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Best funky option

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

TAQUERIA DEL SOL

ST. ANEJO

Quoth Taqueria del Sol’s website: “We keep our operations and our menu very simple. We would rather do fewer things great than many things ‘just okay.’” Indeed, this unassuming spot on 12 South practices what it preaches. The taco selection makes multiple nods to Southern cuisine, featuring Memphis-style barbecue and fried chicken. The queso, though, adheres to Tex-Mex tradition — melted white cheese, corn tortilla chips, nothing fancy. Still, Taqueria del Sol takes the cake when it comes to chips done well, warm to the touch. The sauce here is a touch on the salty side, so take caution if you’re trying to cut back on the sodium. The chip-toqueso ratio errs low here as well. Still, at less than $4 an order, this spot’s a good choice for those who want solid, unpretentious chips and queso at a great price.

2317 12th Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37204

Best gourmet

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Located in East Nashville, Rosepepper Cantina’s take on chips and queso is fittingly funky, eschewing the tortilla chip for what their menu calls “flour chips.” These chips, bearing a texture similar to wonton wrappers, bring a different kind of crunchy to the table. The downside? You’ve got less of them to work with and will likely end up with some surplus cheese. The sauce, also deviating from standard conceptions of queso, boasts a smoky buffalo flavor and fondue-like texture. It seems like a wonky combo, but the chips and queso pair nicely together. This appetizer, however, far outweighs any of the restaurant’s entrees in execution. Also, vegetarians beware: Rosepepper Cantina’s variation on this Tex-Mex classic comes topped with ground chorizo. All in all, this is the place to go if you’d rather share some quality chips and queso over drinks than have a full meal.

Like many eateries in the Gulch, St. Anejo is trendy and a touch expensive. Here, the chips and queso rings up to $8.50, with the option to add chorizo for $2 and spicy crab for $3. Don’t be deterred by the price tag, though — you get what you pay for. Chip-to-queso ratio is a non-issue, as each table comes with a bottomless bowl of fresh chips. Still, the real star of the show here is the queso, a creamy, well-spiced (but not spicy) sauce that delivers on texture and flavor in equal measure. Neither overly congealed nor watery and neither bland nor salty, this is the kind of queso that would impress even the pickiest connoisseur. The entrees here also do their hefty price tags justice, and the drinks epitomize girls’-night-out fare with margaritas and cocktails that, while sweet, still pack a punch. If you’re looking to splurge, you won’t leave St. Anejo underwhelmed.

1907 Eastland Ave., Nashville, TN 37206

120 McGavock St., Nashville, TN 37203

ROSEPEPPER CANTINA

24

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

sports

THE BIG STAT Number of strokes shot below par by the men’s golf team during three rounds of the SEC Tournament.

The team tied for second alongside South Carolina, the program’s best finish in school history.

10

The best of the best The Hustler sports staff hands out its annual awards, recognizing the players, coach and moments of the year

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Dansby Swanson

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Simone Charley

By JOSH HAMBURGER

By MAX HERZ

Following an exceptional sophomore campaign, which included being named the Most Outstanding Player at the College World Series, Dansby Swanson has continued to play high caliber baseball. The newly turned shortstop leads the team in many statistical categories, including batting average (.360), hits (58), steals (12), doubles (14), triples (5) and homeruns (7). The junior and probable first round pick has certainly added more power to his bat and remains the team’s best and most consistent hitter in the three spot.

With a good portion of the season still remaining, Swanson must continue to lead the team after dropping their two past conference series. After last year’s late success with him at the helms, there is little doubt that this team has the talent to repeat as champions.

Swanson plays at the pinnacle of a stacked lineup and is able to differentiate and establish himself as one of college baseball’s finest players, both on and off the field. He has been placed on several awards watchlists because of his dominant year, coming a long way since his injury-ridden freshman year not long ago. Certainly a fan favorite, many people see Dansby Swanson as the most recognizable athlete at Vanderbilt and the one with the greatest potential.

Vanderbilt’s two-sport star continued to excel in her sophomore season, putting up personal bests on the soccer field and setting school records in the triple jump. In the fall, Charley led the Commodore soccer team with nine goals as the team posted its best record since 2011. Playing both midfield and forward, Charley developed into a true gamebreaker as the season progressed, using her blazing speed to create scoring opportunities. As a junior, Charley will be the team’s top returning scorer for the second straight year when the 2015 season begins in August and will assume an even larger leadership role under new Coach Darren Ambrose.

After a quick breather, Charley dove straight into the spring track and field season, dominating early indoor events. She set a new school record in the indoor triple jump at the Vanderbilt Invitational on Jan. 24, beating her own record from a year

Sports reporter --------------------

Sports reporter --------------------

JAMES TATUM / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

earlier. She topped her own mark once again with a third place finish at the SEC Championships on February 28.

As the indoor season went on, Charley proved that she’s not only the best triple jumper in Vanderbilt history, but also one of the best in the country. A fourth place finish at the NCAA Championships on March 14 brought her First Team All-American honors, a fitting end to a fruitful indoor season. Charley also holds the school record in the outdoor triple jump after being named a Second Team All-American in June 2014, and will chase a second straight All-American honor at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this June.

Simone Charley is already the face of Vanderbilt soccer and VU track and field as a sophomore, and is set on leading both teams to further success. Her two-sport prowess is even more impressive considering she is unable to participate in offseason practices with either team. 2014-15 was a great year for Simone Charley, but her best performances in both soccer and the triple jump are likely still to come.

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Riley LaChance

ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

By BEN WEINRIB Asst. sports editor --------------------

Coming into the season, one of the overarching questions for the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team was who the second best player was going to be. It was clear that Damian Jones was ready to step up to be one of the SEC’s premier big men, but the rest of the team was unclear.

Riley LaChance quickly answered that question.

Wasting little time, LaChance scored 13 points in the Commodores’ opening game, second best on the team, and never looked back. By season’s end, he led all SEC freshman in scoring at 12.3 points per game and was second in 3-pointers made (66).

Vanderbilt knew it would have to depend on freshman guards with only one guard returning — Carter Josephs, who was finally awarded a scholarship before his junior year — but the returns on Kevin Stallings’ freshman class exceeded all expectations.

Matthew Fisher-Davis, Jeff Roberson and Wade Baldwin IV all averaged over 40 percent shooting, but it was LaChance who shined brighter than the rest of his peers. Known mostly for his shooting acumen, LaChance’s impressive ball-handling skills also allowed him to score off the dribble and average nearly three assists per game.

LaChance had some of his best performances in the biggest games, such as the close loss to then-undefeated Kentucky. The freshman from Brookfield, Wisconsin, put up 16 points on 6-8 shooting (3-4 from three) in noisy Rupp Arena against the SEC’s best defensive team.

LaChance’s stellar performance is reminiscent of the freshman seasons of some of the great shooters in Vanderbilt history, including John Jenkins, who averaged 10.9 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Tim Corbin

BECK FRIEDMAN / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

25

By MAX HERZ Sports reporter --------------------

Vanderbilt baseball’s 2014 national title was just another feather in the cap of Head Coach Tim Corbin. While his entire team threw their oversized, white championship t-shirts over their uniforms for the trophy ceremony, Corbin remained as he had all game long: in full, proper game attire. With his black jersey still tucked into his baseball pants, Corbin lifted the trophy over his head, ending his twelth season at Vanderbilt on top of the college baseball world.

Just two weeks earlier, pitcher Tyler Beede became the ninth Commodore player to be chosen in the first round of the MLB draft under Corbin, going fourteenth overall. That same weekend, Vanderbilt clinched its second-ever berth in the College World Series. The Commodores had never reached a Super Regional before Corbin’s arrival and have participated in five Supers over his 12 years here.

As the 2015 season approached, it seemed as if Corbin had never removed his uniform after that win in Omaha in anticipation of opening day. His mindset couldn’t have been further away from that national championship win, and his players’ attitudes mirrored that of their coach, focused on a new season and a new challenge.

After fall training, Corbin took his team to the Dominican Republic over Thanksgiving break, where the Commodores played exhibition games against local teams and saw a new world of baseball they’d never experienced. Corbin’s goal was clear, as his players developed an even greater appreciation for the game of baseball while representing the United States through their play.

The reigning champs have started the 2015 season with a 29-12 overall record and a 12-6 mark in SEC play. Corbin’s Commodores won their first four conference series, already approaching last year’s total of five conference series victories with four regular season weekends remaining.

Tim Corbin has built the Vanderbilt baseball program from the ground up, creating a perennial championship contender at Hawkins Field. Whether it’s moving John Norwood to the cleanup spot against Virginia or deciding to take his team to the Dominican for a week, Coach Corbin never fails to surprise us with what’s coming next and, being the true winner that he is, his decisions seem to always pay off.

26

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

SPORTS

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Baseball

By VIRGINIA NORDER Sports reporter --------------------

The Commodores are the reigning 2014 National Champions. With a roster full of returning players and led by 13 year veteran coach Tim Corbin, a repeat doesn’t seem too far out of reach.

The ’Dores have a quality lineup, but they have been working hard to replace College World Series hero John Norwood and shortstop Vince Conde. Winning a Gold Glove Award for being the nation’s top defensive shortstop, hitting .284/.382/.379, and finishing second on the team with 50 RBIs made Conde a crucial part of Vanderbilt’s national championship team. Conde began his career with the Commodores as a third baseman before injuries to shortstop Dansby Swanson forced Conde to change to shortstop in 2013. Conde’s play at short was so strong that Swanson moved to second base in 2014. Swanson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 College World Series and the 2014 All-Tournament team after hitting .323 with

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

five runs scored and three doubles with four stolen bases.

Outfielder Rhett Wiseman is swinging for the fences this spring after hitting .277/.343/.387 last season, while Swanson and Bryan Reynolds are the most consistent bats in the lineup. Swanson and Reynolds both possess an ability to hit for average and some power. Zander Wiel, who led the team last year in home runs with five and drove in 44 RBIs, will continue to be a striking presence in the Vanderbilt lineup.

Many eyes this spring have been on freshman third baseman Will Toffey. A physical and solid freshman, Toffey, was a highranked college hockey prospect in high school and drafted by the Yankees, but choose Vanderbilt.

With Conde gone at shortstop, Swanson, who was an excellent defender at second base last year, moved back to his original shortstop position. Meanwhile, another exceptional defender, Tyler Campbell, has occupied second. Toffey is a steady defender with a strong arm at third, while catcher Karl Ellison makes up for his lack of potential offensive power with catch-and-throw talent. The outfield is elite with Reynolds in left, Nolan Rogers patrolling center, and Wiseman in right.

It will be difficult to match the same bullpen statistics that the 2014 team put up due to the loss of right-handed pitchers Adam Ravenelle and Brian Miller. However, the Commodores pitching rotation is still in great shape for the long haul and another shot at a national title. Tyler Ferguson has a sturdy frame and sits at 93-95 mph with his fastball along

with a power curveball. In 2014, Ferguson went 8-4 with a 2.69 ERA along with 65 strikeouts. Right-handers Carson Fulmer and Walker Buehler are as good as starters come and are likely first-round picks in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft. Fulmer went 7-1 last year and posted a 1.98 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 91 innings pitched. Buehler won 12 games last year – leading the Commodores in innings pitched as well as 111 strikeouts in 102 1/3 innings.

Hayden Stone was lights out last spring with a 1.71 ERA in 58 innings with just 14 walks. Unfortunately, Stone hasn’t pitched since February 24 and underwent Tommy John surgery on April 1. When Stone will return to the mound is unclear. Power lefty Ben Bowden continues to improve his command while red shirt freshman right-hander Jordan Sheffield — sidelined the majority of last season due to an arm injury — is an arm to keep an eye on.

Vanderbilt entered the 2015 season ranked as the number one team in the nation. However, a few bumps in the road has plummeted the ‘Dores down to the No. 13 spot. In the last two weeks, the ‘Dores posted series losses to Ole Miss and South Carolina along with a single game loss to the Belmont Bruins. The ‘Dores even endured their first three game losing streak since a five game losing streak back in March 2012. Coach Corbin, however, maintains that he is not alarmed by this lull in performance. A few bad weeks don’t make a season and the ‘Dores still have a National Championship to win.

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

Men’s basketball vs. SDSU

By ALLISON MAST Sports editor --------------------

After the South Dakota State Jackrabbits upset the No. 1 seeded Colorado State Rams, the Commodores had an opportunity to host a second round NIT matchup. Thanks in part to general admission seating and 500 student tickets supplied by head coach Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt clearly had a home court advantage.

“That was a phenomenal, phenomenal crowd on short notice. Their energy helped us so much and we really, as a team and as a program, appreciate all of those that came out and cheered wildly for us tonight,” Stallings said.

A 92-77 victory over SDSU made Vanderbilt the first team to advance to quarterfinals of the tournament. Although they eventually took a commanding lead, the Commodores struggled at first, as their offensive rhythm was disrupted by the NITimposed 30-second shot clock.

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

27

GAME OF THE YEAR

To make things worse, freshman sharpshooter Riley LaChance got into foul trouble early, putting pressure on the other guards.

They fed off this pressure and the electric crowd, shooting lights out from behind the arc in the second half. Matthew Fisher-Davis sank four straight 3-pointers, while LaChance, Wade Baldwin IV and Luke Kornet made two apiece.

“When you start hitting a couple in a row, the basket gets even bigger,” Fisher-Davis said.

“I was just running the floor and they were finding me.”

On the defensive end of the court, the Commodores set a school record with 13 blocks.

Combined with 11 blocked shots against St. Mary’s, the team now has 182 on the season — another school record.

Vanderbilt will play the winner of Stanford/Rhode Island. If they advance to the semifinals of the tournament, they will travel to New York and play at Madison Square Garden.

This story was originally published online on March 22, 2015.

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

28

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

SPORTS

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

RECAPTURING

THE YEAR

It was an eventful year in the Vanderbilt sports world. From a National Championship to an SEC Tournament victory, several sports have had seasons that will put them in the history books. Here’s a photo recap of some of the year’s highlights.

The soccer team posted its best record since 2011, finishing 7-10-2. With the off-season hiring of new head coach Darren Ambrose, the Commodores have a lot to look forward to, including the addition of four talented incoming freshmen.

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

On March 20, sophomore Luke Kornet and the men’s basketball team took on SDSU in the NIT Tournament in front of rowdy home crowd. Head coach Kevin Stallings agreed to pay for student tickets in order to ensure his team home court advantage. The Commodores went on to win in convincing fashion, 92-77, but then lost to Stanford in the quarterfinals.

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

On April 19, the women’s tennis team won the SEC Tournament, 4-3, for the first time in school history. Senior Marie Casares (center) clinched the victory with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Georgia’s Caroline Brinson, the No. 83 singles player in the nation. Redshirt freshman Astra Sharma (left) was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

JUAN BLAS / VUCOMMODORES

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

In a season full of disappointment, the football team found hope in redshirt freshman Ralph Webb (26). Webb established new freshman team records with 912 rushing yards and 212 rush attempts. He rushed for at least 45 yards in 10 of 12 games and broke the Vanderbilt freshman single-game rushing record with 166 yards on 31 carries against Old Dominion. He received SEC All-Freshman recognition and finished second in the SEC in rushing yards by a freshman.

29

Senior AJ Austin continued to lead the men’s tennis team in singles, earning his 100th career victory. The year, after setting the Vanderbilt doubles record for career and single season wins alongside Ryan Lipman, Austin once again was a member of a formidable doubles team, this time with Rhys Johnson.

ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

ALLISON MAST / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

In their first season in the BIG EAST, the lacrosse team has played their way into postseason contention. If Villanova beats UConn this week, Vanderbilt will be one of four teams to appear in the conference tournament.

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Junior RHP Carson Fulmer has been the ace of Vanderbilt’s pitching staff, posting a 1.69 ERA through ten games. In 64 innings pitched, Fulmer has collected 90 strikouts while only walking 24 batters. One of his strongest performances came against Tennesssee during which he gave up five hits and no runs in eight innings. He also struck out a career-high 12 batters, mostly relying on a fastball that hovered around the mid-90s.

ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

The bowling team once again fought their way to the NCAA Bowling Championship, unfortunately falling in early play to Fairleigh Dickinson and Wisconsin-Whitewater.

ZIYI LIU / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

30

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

STORY OF THE YEAR

A GOLDEN GOODBYE

JAMES TATUM / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Stellar redshirt sophomore Patton Robinette brought faith to a team — and fans — that needed it

By JOSH HAMBURGER Sports reporter --------------------

Ever since Patton Robinette picked up a football, he knew he also wanted to be a doctor. The dream started when he entered sixth grade, and he has excelled in the former ever since. However, these two paths eventually became combative as he solidified his future in medicine with an acceptance from Vanderbilt’s School of Medicine. He reiterated, “Just two goals, two separate goals.

(They) never combated really until now, when I’m actually going to med school.”

Robinette has been regarded as a special player for Vanderbilt in the way he stepped

in and effectively filled in when needed. “I don’t know if ‘special’ would be the word,” Robinette said as he laughed at this label. But to the students and fans of the football team, special might not be enough to describe what he meant to everybody.

“I was lucky enough to have the ability to play (for Vanderbilt),” he said, but the fans were more than lucky to have him at the helm. The football team has struggled historically in a loaded SEC, but Robinette played a distinct role in energizing an eager fan base.

When Robinette announced his shocking move via press conference, the news spread nationally, particularly in light of the recent retirements of NFL players Chris Borland and Patrick Willis due to injuries. However, Robinette noted differences in their cases, saying, “If I said it didn’t influence me a little bit, I’d be lying, but those guys seem like they made their decisions based off of the concussions and that wasn’t the case for me at all.”

Instead, he hung up his cleats after wrestling with the decision of whether or not he wanted to postpone his pursuit of medicine

until after he finished his football career.

Just before spring break Robinette received notice of his acceptance to medical school, which he had to strongly consider from that time on. So after extensive and emotional talks with his parents, closest teammates and fellow coaches, he knew his decision to step away was what needed to be done. The offer to start medical school this summer weighed upon his shoulders more so than his pads, as the next step into a career as a doctor felt right.

His departure from the team came suddenly due to the School of Medicine’s offer, one he could not refuse. He stated before this exciting news, “Going into spring practice, I was completely focused on the team and getting ready for the season."

Robinette’s memorable yet short-lived career began with a stunning victory over the No. 15 ranked Georgia Bulldogs, coming in as a replacement to an injured Austyn Carta-Samuels. He then led Vanderbilt to a victory at Florida for the first time since the 1940s. But his most memorable moment to himself and all Commodore fans occurred against in-state rivals Tennessee. With 21

seconds left, Robinette faked the handoff, jumped and faked a pass, then took off running toward the end zone to seal the win. He smiled and said, “That was really special, for me personally and a big one for our team.”

During the past season, the team struggled, especially with inconsistency at quarterback, due in part to injuries that nagged Robinette all season. “It was difficult,” he said. “It was the first losing season I’ve ever had in my life.” However, he still noted the momentum toward the end of the season and the high hopes and optimism for the upcoming one.

Robinette will enroll this summer in the School of Medicine to achieve his lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. He noted the similarities of being a surgeon and a quarterback, citing the “pressure there to perform” and “having a lot on the line.” However, given his experience in high-pressure situations on the field, it would be hard to fathom a situation he would not be prepared for. Though he cannot immediately choose his medical specialty, he currently holds a special interest in orthopedics. Medical school will challenge him with four more intensive years in addi-

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER ◆ WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM tion to further training in residency, all of which he looks forward to explore.

The transition will surely be tough and emotional away from the football field for the first time since lower school, and Robinette wholeheartedly recognizes that. “I’m going to miss a lot about Saturdays,” Robinette said. “Just being out there and playing and competing with your best friends and trying to put all the hard work you’ve done to use.” For Robinette, these men were his brothers in all aspects, especially as he grew up with three younger sisters. The team provided him with support as a teammate and as he made this life-changing decision.

From coaches to players, everybody backed up his choice, as he asked around for help and guidance in formulating a plan.

For Vanderbilt fans, football this fall will be missing some of the magic the dualthreat quarterback provided during his playing career. Robinette’s definite leadership came through his work on and off the field, and his unwillingness to ever give up, highlighted by his effort in what now became his final game against Tennessee. When asked about next season, Robinette breathed in heavily and said, “It’s going to be hard for me to watch, I think. I’m going to miss being out there so much. I’ll definitely watch every game, but I don’t know if I’ll necessarily be here.”

And with that, Patton Robinette yawned and got right back to working on the paper he had been writing for class in the quiet of the morning in a nearly empty New Rand.

This story was originally published on Feb. 8, 2015

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

31

JAMES TATUM / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Robinette (4) rushes the ball against Houston Cougars defenders in the BBVA Compass Bow in 2014. Robinette led the Commodores to a 48-24 victory.

32

THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER u WWW.VANDERBILTHUSTLER.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015

backpage TODAY'S CROSSWORD

TODAY'S SUDOKU

Answers to last week’s puzzle

Answers to last week’s puzzle

Answers to this week’s puzzles