Vanderbilt University is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1 million endowment in the hopes that his gift and the greater work of the university would help to heal the sectional wounds inflicted by the American Civil War. Vanderbilt is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and has been the conference's only private school since 1966.
The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams, 14 of which compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Vanderbilt's women's lacrosse team plays in the American Athletic Conference. The bowling team plays in Conference USA (C-USA), which absorbed Vanderbilt's former bowling home of the Southland Bowling League after the 2022–23 season. The University of Tennessee Volunteers are Vanderbilt's primary athletic rival, and the only other SEC team in Tennessee.
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They are led by head coach Clark Lea. Vanderbilt plays their home games at FirstBank Stadium, located on the university's Nashville, Tennessee campus.
Kevin Eugene Stallings is a former American basketball coach, who formerly served as the head coach at Illinois State University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh. He was an assistant coach at Purdue University and the University of Kansas.
Channon Gail Christian, aged 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., aged 23, were from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. They were kidnapped on the evening of January 6, 2007, when Christian's vehicle was carjacked. The couple were taken to a rental house. Both of them were raped, tortured, and murdered. Four males and one female were arrested, charged, and convicted in the case. In 2007, a grand jury indicted Letalvis Darnell Cobbins, Lemaricus Devall Davidson, George Geovonni Thomas, and Vanessa Lynn Coleman on counts of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder. Also in 2007, Eric DeWayne Boyd was indicted by a federal grand jury of being an accessory to a carjacking, resulting in serious bodily injury to another person and misprision of a felony. In 2018, Boyd was indicted on state-level charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder.
James Geoffrey Franklin is an American football coach and former player. Franklin has served as the head football coach at Penn State University since 2014 and served in the same position at Vanderbilt University from 2011 to 2013.
Derek Mason is an American college football coach who is currently the head football coach for Middle Tennessee State University. He previously served as head coach at Vanderbilt University from 2014 to 2020.
The 2012 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their six home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee, which has been Vanderbilt football's home stadium since 1922. The team's head coach was James Franklin, who is in his second year at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has been a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) since the league's inception in 1932, and has participated in the conference's Eastern Division since its formation for the 1992 season. On November 11, 2012 Vandy became bowl eligible in back to back years for the first time in its 123-year football history. This was the first time since 1935 that Vandy won five SEC games in a year and the first time in 30 years that they won at home against Tennessee. Vanderbilt finished the year with the longest current SEC winning streak. For the first time since 1948, Vanderbilt finished the season with a top 25 ranking.
Steven Clarke is a Canadian football defensive back who is currently a free agent. He formerly attended the Vanderbilt University where he played college football for the Vanderbilt Commodores. In 2023, Clarke plead guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor, for which he was sentenced to 21 months in jail.
The 1946 Vanderbilt Commodores football team was an American football team that represented Vanderbilt University in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1946 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Red Sanders, the Commodores compiled a 5–4 record and outscored all opponents by a total of 108 to 43.
The 1943 Vanderbilt Commodores football team was an American football team that represented Vanderbilt University as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1943 college football season. In their first year under head coach Ernest Alley, the Commodores complied an overall record of 5–0, with a conference record of 0–0, and finished fifth in the SEC.
The Vanderbilt Commodores football team represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football.
The 2017 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their home games at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee and compete in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by fourth-year head coach Derek Mason. The team earned a final record of 5–7 in a season notable for wins against Kansas State, then in the top 20, and Tennessee, but also for sizeable losses against SEC opponents Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri. The Tennessee win at Neyland Stadium was the Commodores' fourth in six games, a feat unequaled by VU in that rivalry since 1926.
The 2017–18 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by Bryce Drew, who was in his second season at Vanderbilt. The Commodores played their home games at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 6–12 in SEC play to finish in 13th place. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Georgia.
The Vanderbilt rape case is a criminal case of sexual assault that occurred on June 23, 2013, in Nashville, Tennessee, in which four Vanderbilt University football players carried an unconscious 21-year-old female student into a dorm room, gang-raped and sodomized her, photographed and videotaped her, and one urinated on her face.
The 2018–19 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by Bryce Drew in his third season at Vanderbilt. The Commodores played their home games at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 9–23, 0–18 to finish in last place in SEC play. They were the first SEC team to go winless in a season since the 1954 Georgia Tech team, and the first team ever in the 18-game conference schedule. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Texas A&M.
The 2020 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their home games at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by interim head coach Todd Fitch, who replaced Derek Mason after his firing on November 29, 2020. On December 14, 2020, Clark Lea was hired as head coach.
Sarah Fuller is an American former soccer player who was a goalkeeper for Minnesota Aurora FC in the USL W League. She began her college soccer career with the Vanderbilt Commodores, where she also played college football as a placekicker.
The 2022 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their home games at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by second-year head coach Clark Lea.
