2305 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203-1727
615-322-2561 | 800-288-0432
admissions@vanderbilt.edu
If you are unable to attend one of our official tours but would like to visit our campus, please feel free to use the information below to take a self-guided tour. You can reference the stop numbers on the PDF map here:
START: OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS
1: OLD GYM & ALUMNI LAWN
The Old Gym houses a series of visiting art exhibits throughout the year. The permanent collection includes more than 5,000 objects from more than 40 countries. Alumni Lawn is the site for Rites of Spring, concerts, movie showings, and Commencement. It is also a popular place for students to study and play.
2: ALUMNI HALL
Alumni Hall houses the Career Center and the Writing Studio. The Career Center offers assistance with internships, fosters the planning and implementation of our students’ career goals, and builds relationships between the university community and employers around the nation. The Learning Center offers academic support to the undergraduates.
The Writing Studio at Vanderbilt University provides all undergraduate students the opportunity to meet with trained writing consultants to discuss individual writing concerns, from invention to drafting to revision. The Studio provides a space for students to discuss work-in-progress, to create their own writing, and to utilize available writing resources. For more information on The Writing Studio click here.
3: VANDERBILT/BARNARD HALL
All freshmen, except those residing in Davidson County, are required to live on campus. Vanderbilt/Barnard is one of three freshman residential areas. All freshman dorms are co-ed by floor and students have the option of a double or single room. There is a laundry facility and Varsity Market (convenience store) onsite in Vanderbilt/Barnard.
4: KIRKLAND HALL
Kirkland Hall is an administration building. It houses the office of the Chancellor, the College of Arts and Science, the Graduate School, and other administrative offices. Kirkland Hall is one of the original buildings on campus, though a fire destroyed a great deal of the building in 1905. Before the fire, the library had been housed in Kirkland. With students’ help, 4,000 volumes were saved. Kirkland's clock tower bell helps students get to class on time.
Point of Interest: A statue of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt is located on the lawn in front of Kirkland, near West End Avenue. In 1873, he donated $1 million dollars, with the encouragement of his wife, Frank Armstrong Crawford, and Bishop Holland McTyeire, to found the university. The first class at VU was composed of 307 men, and tuition was $35!
5: KISSAM QUADRANGLE
This quad is composed of six freshman residence halls with single rooms. You can often find students outside studying or playing in the quad center. Mini-concerts and cookouts are held here, and Curry Field is easily accessible for students to play soccer, Frisbee, football, or enjoy a book in the sun.
6: WILSON HALL
Wilson Hall houses the Department of Psychology, faculty offices, research labs, and Arts and Science classrooms on the lower level.
Point of Interest: The average class size at Vanderbilt is 19 students, and 78 percent of our classes have 25 students or fewer. As you exit Wilson Hall, the Law School will be on your left. The Law School recently underwent a $22 million renovation and addition. It is currently ranked #18 in the country according to U.S. News and World Report.
7: FURMAN HALL
For 40 years, Furman was home to the Department of Chemistry. It now houses a variety of Vanderbilt’s Humanities departments. These include our foreign languages, Women’s and Gender Studies, Classical Studies, and Philosophy Departments. Foreign language labs are located in the basement of Furman Hall.
8: CALHOUN AND BENSON HALLS
Calhoun houses the Economics, Communication Studies, and Political Science Departments. The History and English departments are located in Benson Hall.
9: GARLAND HALL
Garland Hall houses the Anthropology, Sociology, and Religious Studies Departments in addition to one of our student computer labs with more than 55 computers accessible to undergraduates.
Point of Interest: The oak tree between Garland and Rand is known as the Bicentennial Oak, as it predates the Revolutionary War! Vanderbilt is a national arboretum. Every tree indigenous to the state of Tennessee can be found on Vanderbilt’s 330-acre campus.
10: LIBRARY LAWN/HEARD LIBRARY, GENERAL LIBRARY BUILDING
Central Library and Divinity Library are housed in the General Library Building. The Jean and Alexander Heard Library System at Vanderbilt includes six additional libraries: Potter Library (Blair School of Music), Education Library, Eskind Library (School of Medicine), Stevenson Science Library, Walker Library (Owen Graduate School of Management), and the Massey Library (Law). The VU library system has more than 3 million bound volumes and subscribes to almost 30,000 journals and serials, of which some 25,000 are electronic. When including the materials on microfilm and CD-ROM, we can retrieve more communicated data than any other library in the region.
Point of Interest: Behind the Harold Stirling Vanderbilt statue is Buttrick Hall. Renovated in 2005, Buttrick houses interdisciplinary programs including Film Studies and Jewish Studies, as well as the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy. The new lecture halls, private meeting rooms and an atrium are focused on encouraging interdisciplinary scholarship. Buttrick is also equipped to support academic conferences, public lecture series and the growing needs of Vanderbilt’s transinstitutional centers.
11: RAND DINING CENTER, SARRATT STUDENT CENTER, VANDERBILT BOOKSTORE
The Sarratt Student Center houses a cinema, study lounges, an art gallery, student publications and the Overcup Oak Pub. The Office of the Dean of Students and many of our 350 student organizations have offices in Sarratt. A unique feature of Vanderbilt is its historic Honor Code—a pledge to uphold integrity in and outside of the classroom. After all freshmen sign the Honor Code during fall orientation, the signatures are displayed on the lower level of Sarratt throughout their four years at Vanderbilt. Rand serves as the main dining facility and is one of seven dining locations on campus. Freshmen are required to be on a dining plan that includes 2 meals a day, seven days a week. Those meals can be obtained at any of the seven locations. The Vanderbilt Bookstore is adjacent to Rand Dining Center and the Sarratt Student Center.
12: COLE/TOLMAN/MCGILL/WEST SIDE ROW
• Cole, Tolman and McGill Halls are upperclass student residences. The residents of McGill coordinate several community service and social events each semester.
• Neely Auditorium is the home of the Department of Theatre as well as the Vanderbilt University Theatre (VUT) organization, the Broadway musical revue group, Original Cast, and numerous student productions each semester.
• The houses of West Side Row were formerly student dorms. Now they are home to the Margaret Cunninggim Women’s Center, student organizations, and staff of the Office of the Dean of Students.
• Carmichael Towers, at the end of West Side Row, provide residential suites for upperclass students.
FINISH: OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS
Other Points of Interest:
Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center (BCC)- Home of the academic, cultural, and social support system for African American students, the BCC sponsors programs that foster an appreciation for African American culture and history. The BCC is located behind Buttrick Hall and Rand Hall.
Blair School of Music- With only 180 students, Blair is the smallest and the youngest undergraduate school at Vanderbilt. Blair graduated its first class of nine students in 1990. The majors offered at Blair include Musical Performance, Composition and Theory, Musical Arts, and a five-year Music Education program.
Peabody School of Education and Human Development- Located across the street from the VU Medical Center, Peabody continues to be one of the very best schools of education in the country. We are one of only a few research focused, private universities to have a school of education.
Jacobs Hall & Featheringill Hall- These buildings are the headquarters of the School of Engineering, which includes research labs, computer classrooms, and faculty offices. Featheringill’s $28 million construction was completed in 2001 and the Hall now provides the School of Engineering with a central focus, community space, and state-of-the-art facilities.
Mayfield Place- Twenty two-story apartments with 10 single rooms comprise this area. Students who want to live here create a service project, which they fulfill throughout the academic year.
Charles Hawkins Field at the McGugin Center- The recently renovated baseball field was named for the Hawkins family. Charles HawkinsIV was the first Commodore pitcher to earn all-SEC honors. His father, Charles Hawkins II, lettered in both football and baseball at Vanderbilt in the mid-1920s.
Vanderbilt Stadium- The stadium seats more than 39,000. Vanderbilt has Division 1 athletics and plays in the SEC.
Memorial Gym- An arena originally built as a combination gym and concert hall, Memorial Gym is famous for having a raised court, benches on the baseline, and acoustics better than the Grand Ole Opry. At capacity, Memorial holds 14,168 basketball fans.
Student Recreation Center- The “Rec” Center was a $14 million dollar project completed in 1991 for faculty and students. Amenities include a climbing wall, weight room, 25 yard by 36 meter sized swimming pool, aerobic room, squash and racquetball courts, and basketball courts. Approximately half of the undergraduate students are involved in intramural sports, which are coordinated through the Rec Center.
McTyeire International House- McTyeire Hall is divided into French, Spanish, Japanese, and German-speaking sections. Students who live here have an opportunity to read current journals and periodicals from the country they are studying. Residents may also view recent television programs from their country of interest and sample international cuisine through a special, five-meals-per-week, room and board plan.