College Voices

As Vanderbilt's Ninth Chancellor, Daniel Diermeier started his inaugural Founder's Walk speech, student activists wearing orange beanies and carrying big white posters with big red letters began protesting silently behind him.

And then, from behind the trees, emerged a giant pink unicorn.

For many new students, this marked the beginning of a year-long movement to encourage the university to stop investing in fossil fuel companies.

In the first episode of our three-part series on divestment, we will talk to the students at the heart of these organizations to understand what they want, why this issue matters, and the challenges they currently face.

This episode was reported by Abhinav Krishnan, Trent Griffith, and Nandika Chirala. Abhinav Krishnan is also our Host and Executive Producer. Brynn Jones is our Audio Producer, Cara Kim is our Audience Engagement Manager, and Emery Little designed our logo.

All of the music in this episode was produced by Brynn Jones or sampled from Goldfinch by Axletree under a Creative Commons License

Thanks to Miguel Moravec, Emily Irigoyen, and Hannah Bruns for sharing their stories.

Thanks also to the Vanderbilt Communications Department, the Office of Investments and the Office of the Chancellor for answering our questions.

Special thanks to Atman Mehta at the Chicago Maroon for helping us navigate the SEC’s Edgar database and Mike Vasquez at the Chronicle of Higher Education for helping us focus our reporting. Additional thanks to Jessica Barker, Juliana Kim, and Samantha Max for reviewing our script.

College Voices is celebrating Valentine's Day by highlighting your love stories!

Join us as we ask students about how they met their significant other, the importance of self-love, and what they miss most about their mom.

This episode was researched and reported by Nandika Chirala. Blair McDonald is the Managing Producer and Abhinav Krishnan is the Host and Executive Producer. Our Audio Producer is Brynn Jones, Cara Kim is our audience engagement manager, and our logo was designed by Emery Little.

All of the music in this episode was produced by Axletree and used under a Creative Commons License.

In 2010, a series of allegations about discrimination prompted Vanderbilt to reevaluate its nondiscrimination policy. 

The all-comers policy that emerged from this controversy supposedly levels the playing field by making any student that is interested in a student organization eligible for membership and leadership positions. But there are some notable discrepancies.

But in reality, Vanderbilt’s non-discrimination policy does not apply to some student organizations. And this raises a lot of questions. Like how did allegations of discrimination from 2010 affect our current non-discrimination policies? Why can some organizations discriminate against members on the basis of sex? And when student organizations created to support marginalized groups are open to all students, what does this mean for their safe spaces?

In this episode, we explore how students on campus are able to express themselves while respecting Vanderbilt’s policies.

This episode was researched and reported by Blair McDonald. Blair McDonald is also our Managing Producer and Abhinav Krishnan is our Executive Producer. Our Audio Producer is Brynn Jones, Cara Kim is our audience engagement manager, and our logo was designed by Emery Little.

All of the music in this episode was produced by Axletree and used under a Creative Commons License.

Every year, students from across the world travel thousands of miles away from their families and friends to come study in the United States.

They are in a new environment, speaking a language that is not their first and learning the customs of a culture that is not their own.

So on this episode of College Voices four international students share their experiences moving to the United States: learning new slang, discovering their (least) favorite American food, and discovering unknown academic interests.

This special episode was moderated by our reporter, Nour Abida and produced by Brynn Jones. Abhinav Krishnan is our Host and Blair McDonald is our Managing Producer. Our logo was designed by Emery Little.

All of the music in this episode was produced by Axletree and used under a Creative Commons License.

Names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg fill the news headlines. But, who are the next big names in business, and will they come from Vanderbilt?

In this episode of College Voices, we explore the how student entrepreneurs tackle the challenges of starting a business and the support that they receive from Vanderbilt.

This episode was reported by Maya Bridgewaters and produced by Brynn Jones. Blair McDonald is the Managing Producer and Abhinav Krishnan is the Host and Executive Producer. The College Voices logo was designed by Emery Little.

Last season, College Voices reported that student activists felt like they were being consistently ignored by Vanderbilt's administration. Since then not much has changed.

On this bonus episode, College Voices chats with student activists that met with Vanderbilt's administrators over the summer.

Reported by Nandika Chirala and produced by Brynn Jones. Our Managing Producer is Blair McDonald. Abhinav Krishnan is the host and Executive Producer. Our graphics were made by Emery Little.

Music from Goldfinch by Axletree was used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.

Vanderbilt is known as a notoriously difficult school. But do students reap benefits from these difficult courses and requirements?

For years, students have voiced their complaints about AXLE and worked through the challenges of so-called “weed out” classes and we wanted to know, are these classes truly nurturing well-informed students?

On this episode of College Voices, we explore the inherent value of AXLE and whether or not weed-out classes really exist.

This episode was reported by Nandika Chirala and produced by Brynn Jones. Blair McDonald is the Managing Producer and Abhinav Krishnan is the Host and Executive Producer.

Students have been having a particularly difficult time finding food on campus recently. But for students with dietary restrictions, this has always been a problem.

In this episode, College Voices asks students with dietary restrictions about the challenges they've faced in finding nutritious and appetizing food on campus.

This episode was written and recorded by Trent Griffith, Blair McDonald, and Abhinav Krishnan. Brynn Jones was the audio producer and our graphics were made by Emery Little.

Music from Goldfinch by Axletree was used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.

Last season, College Voices reported that, unlike other students, those enrolled in the Next Steps program at Vanderbilt had not been permitted to return to campus. Since then a lot has changed.

On this bonus episode, College Voices chats with Next Steps students about returning to campus.

Reported by Blair McDonald and produced by Abhinav Krishnan in association with the Vanderbilt Hustler.

Introducing College Voices, a short-form investigative podcast that uncovers untold stories about college students...like you. Produced by Abhinav Krishnan in association with the Vanderbilt Hustler.