Vanderbilt University (commonly referred to as Vandy) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the South. Vanderbilt hoped that his gift and the greater work of the university would help to heal the sectional wounds inflicted by the Civil War.
Today, Vanderbilt enrolls approximately 12,500 students from all 50 U.S. states and over 90 foreign countries in four undergraduate and six graduate and professional schools. The university’s athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are collectively known as the Vanderbilt Commodores. Sixty-five percent of undergraduates participate in one or more of Vanderbilt’s 400+ student organizations.