We all have our playlists, but I can’t imagine a better soundtrack for an August commute than football and soccer practices. Earlier this month, as I walked into McGugin after a week away from the office, the sounds of Clark Lea’s team hard at work brought the new year into focus.
Hearing preseason’s familiar cadences is always a reminder that a new year is upon us—Saturdays with old friends reuniting in Vandyville, the Star Walk and the Spirit of Gold Marching Band. Across every sport, our amazing student-athletes bring us together. Soccer gave us just such a moment before classes even started, extending its strong start to the season and earning win No. 100 at Vanderbilt for head coach Darren Ambrose.
In that way, August is the bridge between the successes and unforgettable moments of the past year and the limitless opportunity of the months to come.
This year, I’m more keenly aware than ever of the sensation of past and present colliding. For college athletics, this year is an unprecedented bridge between old and new. As we stand on the precipice of a new model, with the potential realities of revenue sharing, roster limits and more, there is work to be done and there are many questions still to be answered.
What is certain is that by investing in our student-athletes today, giving our coaches the support to recruit and retain the best and brightest through the Anchor Impact collective and ensuring that student-athletes enjoy elite facilities through Vandy United, we can meet the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead. It will be hard work, but it’s the right work.
I cherish my experience as a Vanderbilt student-athlete. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to grow as a person and discover my passion for serving new generations of student-athletes. I’m thankful for the lifelong friendships I forged with teammates and proud of working together to win an SEC championship. I rely on those lessons every day. I also understand that today’s student-athletes, while sharing these values, live in a different world. From social media to NIL to what’s to come, times change. The old way isn’t coming back.
At Vanderbilt, radical collaboration still guides us. We come together to make each other better. But to deliver on our promise to help young people reach the full heights of their potential and create the conditions for success, we must also embrace radical flexibility.
What will that look like? As this year begins, that’s the question I hear most. While we await final resolution on the settlement in House v. NCAA, we don’t have all the answers. There are still missing pieces of the puzzle, so we can’t yet see the full picture. What leaves me optimistic is the promise of structure. I genuinely believe last year may have been the most difficult year in the history of college athletics. When there are seemingly no rules, and no appetite to enforce those that remain, that makes life tough. People should always try to leverage their strengths in different ways to create an advantage, but stability and some constraints can only be good for college athletics.
This doesn’t mean Vanderbilt should passively wait for what’s next. That’s not who we are. We have vitally important work to do this year. We need our community to make a difference by supporting Anchor Impact and Vandy United. People who believe in our mission of a holistic student-athlete experience and value Commodore Nation are better equipped than ever to make a direct and immediate impact.
If all of this was unfolding a few years ago, before we launched Vandy United, I might be more concerned about our position. I’m thankful for Chancellor Daniel Diermeier’s steadfast support for Vandy United as a cornerstone of the university’s historic Dare to Grow campaign. Because we acted when we did to enhance our facilities, we’re ahead of the curve.
Our golf teams, including Vanderbilt’s first three-time first-team All-American Gordon Sargent, will benefit from the completely renovated Vanderbilt Legends Club facilities this year. Mark Byington and Shea Ralph’s basketball teams will soon begin training in the new basketball practice facility. At FirstBank Stadium, in addition to a new visitor’s locker room, north end zone premium seating gives fans an unmatched game day experience this season—and it sold out almost as soon as it went on sale. Even more premium experiences will debut next season with the south end zone renovations. As our fans continue supporting Vandy United, we will continue reimagining our footprint.
From how we recruit and retain student-athletes to the facilities in which they play and how fans experience games, we have to be ready to innovate and adapt. Change can be unsettling. Trust me, my daily calendar often bears little resemblance to even a few months ago. But the more we embrace change, the more we can disrupt on our own terms.
Our commitment to the life-changing potential of a Vanderbilt education isn’t changing.
Our commitment to athletics as a unifying force isn’t changing.
Our commitment to competing for championships is only growing stronger.
Everything we do this year gives us the foundation in the new world to attract the talented and motivated men and women who have always made Vanderbilt special.
As August turns to September, I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for our student-athletes this year. And as old gives way to new in college sports, I’m confident that our best is yet to come.
Anchor Down!
Candice Storey Lee
Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs and Athletic Director
