Staff
STUDENT CENTERS TEAM
EVENTS
Angela Covington ✉
Assistant Director | Operations, Reservations and Events
Angela has been working at Vanderbilt University since 2008. Her previous hospitality experience includes 10 years at the Walt Disney World Company and 5 years at Gaylord Opryland Hotel. She truly finds VU so rewarding because of her work family and the student staff she interacts with on a daily basis. She has been married for over 20 years and has two children attending college. In her free time, Angela loves to garden and hike in Warner Parks.
Jordan Hajacos ✉
Assistant Director | Operations, Sales and Events
Nashville native and Auburn University alum Jordan Hajacos has been with Vanderbilt University since 2008. After joining the team as an event manager, Jordan now serves as an Assistant Director for Events at Vanderbilt. A foodie and live music lover, Jordan’s sense for Nashville culture and cuisine helps her shape the unique event spaces at Vanderbilt University for clients.
Brooke McVey ✉
Business Manager
Brooke is a Clarksville native, but calls Nashville home. She attended Austin Peay State University and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication. Brooke has been in the event planning industry for 6 years, working with various companies to create many successful and highly entertaining events. Interacting with clients, understanding their vision, and working with them to bring it to life, really fuels her creative side. She is passionate about helping others create their perfect event. Brooke has a beautiful family, including two little girls, who are her whole world, and inspire her every day. Fun fact about Brooke: She has a twin sister, and they are like night and day!
Sara Cope ✉
Senior Coordinator of Operations and Events
Kissam/E. Bronson Ingram/Student Staff Development
Sara is a native Nashvillian who loves all things Music City! She went to undergrad at Centre College in Danville, KY, but came back home for grad school here at our own Peabody College. She loves her job, her work family, and her student staff that make the event planning process an exciting learning opportunity every day! Outside of work, she volunteers with tnAchieves to mentor local highschoolers as they apply to college. She’s also involved as a board member for the Nashville Area Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Association. On a beautiful day, you can most likely find Sara sitting on a patio at a Nashville restaurant, hiking at Radnor Lake, or listening to live music somewhere outside. She lives in Gallatin with her husband and their sweet dog Josie.
Lauren Hernandez ✉
Senior Coordinator of Operations and Events
Student Life Center/Alumni Hall/Student Staff Development
Lauren is originally from the Midwest – a small town named Sterling, IL. She attended North Central College and received her Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management. From there, she continued on to receive her Master of Business at North Central as well. After finishing up school, Lauren worked in a University setting where she was able to gain more experience in the event planning world. She loves seeing events through from start to finish and understanding all the hard work that goes into it. Lauren also enjoys making an impact on others and is excited to join a team that gets to work with clients of the University, external clients, and students at Vanderbilt. Outside of work, Lauren enjoys spending time with her little family – her fiancé, Jessica, and their dog, Gracie. She loves attending country concerts & basketball/football games. Her parents are always visiting because who wouldn’t want to visit Nashville?!
Karen Burnett ✉
Coordinator of Operations and Events
Commons Center
Karen is a known triple threat – singing, dancing and event planning. She was active in her university programming board at her alma mater, Auburn University and honed her customer service skills for 17 years at a little hotel in town, Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. She lives wayyyy out of town in an animal-less farm with her husband Erik, son Jack, one well-behaved dog and one manic labradoodle.
Riley Munger ✉
Coordinator of Operations and Events
Sarratt | Rand Hall
Riley comes to Vanderbilt after moving from Buffalo, NY, where he studied Communications at the University at Buffalo and Higher Education Administration at Canisius College. Riley began work in student affairs as a Student Union Event Manager and is using his experience to support the Sarratt | Rand events team. Outside of work, Riley enjoys rock climbing, playing guitar, and reading Stephen King thrillers. He lives in the Bellevue area of Nashville with his fiancé and rockstar cats, Mick Jagger & David Bowie.
Kelah White ✉
Coordinator of Operations and Events
Business Operations, Alumni Hall, and ESB/Wond’ry
Kelah is a Kennesaw State University graduate with a Master of Science in Conflict Management. During her time at Kennesaw State she had the opportunity to work for various groups such as Alumni Relations, and athletics and assisted with the Atlanta United Games. During her spare time, she enjoys traveling, attending sporting events, going to home good stores for ideas and inspiration, and being around her family and friends.
Sarah Hamilton ✉
Coordinator of Operations and Events
Student Life Center and Benton Chapel
Sarah is originally from the Dallas, TX area and made Nashville her home in May of 2020. She attended Texas A&M University where she majored in Biomedical Sciences but fell in love with events while working as a student assistant at the alumni center. After graduating, she went to work at the Multi-Purpose Event Center in Wichita Falls, TX, which allowed her to gain experience managing many different types of events including concerts, ballet recitals, rodeos, reptile expos, banquets, and more. She is excited to be back in a university setting and when she is not on campus, you can find her exploring Nashville’s food and sights with her husband or cozied up on her couch with a good book.
FACILITIES
Carrie Johnson ✉
Assistant Director | Facilities
A transplant from the Midwest, about 20 years ago, Carrie enjoys bland food and does not care for hot chicken. Twelve years ago, in her plight to find a new, meaningful job, she stumbled upon a position at Vanderbilt and decided this would be her home and family now. Along with her many, many colleagues, she has a family of 2 dogs and 4 cats at home in Donelson. Her love of HGTV empowers her with the belief that she too can renovate. That poor home. Her passions are all animals, books, and of course, constant projects in her house. Fun Fact: if she were stranded on an island, Reese’s cups alone would ensure her survival.
PRODUCTION SERVICES
Gary Sinz ✉
Interim Assistant Director, Production Services
Gary was born and raised in Nashville. He has been working for Vanderbilt Production Services for 30 years.
Even though his focus is in sound production, He truly enjoys working with all aspects of event production.
Emerson Eubank ✉
Production Services Associate
Emerson was born in North Carolina, and has lived in Delaware, Texas and Tennessee with over 54 years in Nashville. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. From 1984-94 he worked for the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland USA. He started working at Vanderbilt in 2007 with the opening of the Commons.
Production Services Associate
Suzanne has been swimming in the Social Religious Building (now the Wyatt Center), caught a train at Union Station, ridden in a paddle boat at Centennial Park (Lake Watuga) and on the Skyliner (a wooden roller coaster) at the fairgrounds. Now she works in a booth designed by Sir Cecil Creape (Russ McCown) of Creature Feature. (Pat Sajak wrote many of the scripts for Creature Feature. )