Growing Forward: Investing in Our Future

Dear Commodore Nation, 

For a few hours last month, my dad and I got to turn back the clock.  

As part of homecoming weekend, Shea Ralph and the women’s basketball team invited alumni who were in town to stop by practice. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with our current student-athletes and show them again how our sisterhood of Commodores spans generations. We’ve been where they are. We know the aspirations they have because we had them too. And hopefully, in us, they see that the hard work and long days are worth it.    

But if I’m being honest, I’m not sure anyone had more fun that morning than my dad.  

Even before we got to practice, he started reminiscing about how much fun he and my mom had coming to Memorial Gymnasium back in the day (easy to say when he never had to line up on the baseline for yet another sprint). By the time he and I walked out on the court and he saw Ashley Earley, my old teammate who is now an assistant coach alongside Coach Ralph, he was in full storytelling mode.  

It was cool to watch him reflect on those times and to be able to share another basketball memory with him, all these years after my last game. It was cool to have my mom and dad around campus at all. The homecoming football game was the first time they were able to attend a Vanderbilt athletic event since the start of the pandemic. In so many ways, the world paused for a really long time.  

Spring is traditionally the season of rebirth. Yet even as we stock up for Thanksgiving spreads and look ahead to the end of the semester, it feels like our environment is coming alive again.  

By necessity, we had to focus on the present during the past 19 months. We still need to be vigilant. Prudence led the university to curtail reunion activities. It’s also why we continue adhering to applicable local and federal health guidance as we welcome fans for basketball season. Despite remaining challenges, I still look around campus and see so much renewed momentum.  

After Coach Ralph and Coach Stackhouse’s teams opened the basketball season with victories, we shared the initial renderings for the first phase of Vandy United. Seeing our vision for the future of Vanderbilt Athletics progress from imagination to even two-dimensional reality was inspiring.  

We’ve un-paused life. We’re getting back to celebrating our past (hence our recent announcement of the next class of Hall of Fame inductees) and building our future. Taking the next step in our Vandy United journey is the perfect way to celebrate that energy.

Enthusiasm and optimism propelled us as we worked to create and refine the designs for the initial renderings. It wasn’t an easy process. There were months of hard work with Populous, master architect for the project. We traveled to their offices in Kansas City and welcomed their talented team to Nashville on numerous occasions. We want to reflect and honor who we are as a university, and I believe that’s what you see in the renderings.  

Listening to my dad telling stories to Ashley reminded me yet again that so many of the moments we remember as student-athletes occur away from the games. Don’t get me wrong, winning an SEC championship is a good memory. But there is so much more to the student-athlete experience. Part of what I love about Vandy United is that these projects put every student-athlete in the best possible space to forge their own memories.  

By significantly increasing the size of the all-sports training room and Olympic sport weight room, every student-athlete is better able to fulfill their athletic potential. More than doubling the footprint of the Olympic sports locker rooms ensures every team space to come together and build camaraderie. The new basketball operations center does the same for our basketball teams. The indoor practice facility speaks for itself as an experience for our football student-athletes.  

And those are just some of the enhancements made possible by the vision represented in these renderings. This is only one more step in our journey, but it’s an important step.  

Hosting a cocktail reception for alumni during homecoming, I was gratified to engage with so many Vandy United donors. So many people who cherish their Vanderbilt experience are eager to shape an even brighter future for our student-athletes. Now everyone can begin to see what that will look like.  

Allow me to pause and give a special word of thanks to the National Commodore Club. Under the direction of Mark Carter, the National Commodore Club is helping shape our future in more ways than there is space here to recount. And I am grateful for the partnership.  

It is with such partnerships that I am confident as we forge ahead. I appreciate what we have done, but there is much left to do. Just as Coach Lea and his team used this season to put down the foundation for sustained long-term growth on the field, Commodore Nation will continue to see our vision for the take shape.   

As basketball season continues, I am excited that fans can see tangible proof of progress inside Memorial Gymnasium. That starts on the court, of course, with the work Coach Ralph and Coach Stackhouse are doing with their respective teams. But it’s no less important in the stands, where we are committed to enhancing the fan experience. New LED display boards around the gym, including in the lobby, keep you up to date on statistics and provide fun fan prompts. Fans will also find new concessions offerings and the convenience of a fully cashless experience. And most prominently, the new Star V logo on the court honors who we are.   

Even as we enhance the fan experience, Memorial has a timeless quality. And yet, as my knees remind me every morning, time does march on. Vanderbilt has grown and changed since we were running up and down that court.   

At the moment, there aren’t many more profound examples of the changing world in college athletics than watching student-athletes navigate name, image and likeness rights. As much firsthand experience as my fellow alumni and I have with just about everything the current basketball players are going through, we didn’t go through that.  

The good news is that as significant a shift as name, image and likeness rights represents, we didn’t have to change our approach. Vanderbilt has always been committed to providing student-athletes with the resources to succeed and make the most of their time at this university. The standards of excellence here demand it. We think being in Nashville, a dynamic modern city eager to embrace innovation, provides great opportunities for our student-athletes. We have experts around marketing and branding who sit right within this university, and we’re also teaming up with external partners who can ensure that our student-athletes are fully supported.  

Simply put, we are ready to move forward in every way. Vandy United demonstrates that. But I feel it in recruiting, too, with so much excitement about the talented student-athletes who chose to be Commodores on National Signing Day. There’s no better proof that our message is resonating beyond our walls and that we have the right people in place to spread the word. I also felt that energy and optimism throughout the fall, watching so many of our current student-athletes compete.  

And I felt it in my own heart when I finally got to show my mom and dad the office where I go to work each day to serve our student-athletes.  

We aren’t just adapting to a changing world, we’re ready to lead the way. 

Anchor Down! 

Candice Lee
Vice Chancellor of Athletics and University Affairs and Athletic Director