Chi Chapter
Todd Shelton | 1/18/2005 Vanderbilt UniversityCommodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was in his 79th year when he decided to make the gift that founded Vanderbilt University in the spring of 1873. The $1 million that he gave to endow and build the University was the Commodore’s only major philanthropy. Methodist Bishop Holland N. McTyeire of Nashville, a cousin of the Commodore’s young second wife, went to New York for medical treatment early in 1873 and spent time recovering in the Vanderbilt mansion. He won the Commodore’s admiration and support for the project of building a university in the South that would “contribute to strengthening the ties which should exist between all sections of our common country.”
For the first 40 years of its existence, Vanderbilt was under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Vanderbilt Board of Trust severed its ties with the church in June 1914 as a result of a dispute with the bishops over who would appoint University trustees.
National recognition of the University’s status came in 1949 with election of Vanderbilt to membership in the select Association of American Universities. In the 1950s, Vanderbilt began to outgrow its provincial roots and to measure its achievements by national standards under the leadership of Chancellor Harvie Branscomb. By its 90th anniversary in 1963, Vanderbilt for the first time ranked in the top 20 private universities in the United States.
Today Vanderbilt University is a private research university of 6,319 undergraduates and 4,566 graduate and professional students. The University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, music, education and human development as well as a full range of graduate and professional degrees. Employing more than 2,000 full-time faculty, a part-time and clinical faculty of approximately 1,500 and a staff of more than 14,200, Vanderbilt is the largest private employer in Middle Tennessee and the second largest private employer in the state.
Quick Facts:
Re-chartering Chapter Officers:
Re-chartering Date: May 8, 2004
Original Chartering: April 9, 1883
Chapter Address:
Kappa Alpha Order
2301 Vanderbilt Place
Station B, Box 7021
Nashville, TN 37235
|
