Vanderbilt announced in a press release on March 24 that the summer assignment for incoming first-year students would transition from an assigned summer reading and subsequent reflection essay to an interview-based project, as developed by faculty, members of the provost team and members of Dialogue Vanderbilt. The assignment will be instituted in summer 2025 for the Class of 2029.

The assignment will be made up of three components. The first component will be a set of readings focused on the art and science of interviewing and videos from university leaders about the essential aspects of interview preparation. The second component will be a 30-60 minute interview students will perform with someone from their local community who they find interesting or think may have a different perspective. The final component will be an overview of the interviewee, an explanation on why the particular person was chosen, an outline of questions asked and a one- to two-page reflection on what the student learned from the interview.

The new assignment is meant to be a part of the 2025–26 Martha Rivers Ingram Commons programming theme, “Stories that Connect Us.” According to Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver, this assignment will prioritize meaningful conversations, asking questions, listening and reflecting on unique experiences.

The summer reading assignment began in 2010 with the purpose of having a shared text in which first-year students could form the basis of their community-wide dialogue. Past books include “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times” by Mónica Guzmán, “Now is Not the Time to Panic” by Kevin Wilson and “Creative People Must Be Stopped: Six Ways We Kill Innovation (Without Even Trying)” by David Owens. The speakers for the annual Lawson Lecture for the past two years have been summer reading authors, featuring Guzmán in 2024 and Wilson in 2023.

In the press release, Dean of Residential Colleges and Residential Education Melissa Gresalfi explained her view of the benefit of the first-year project.

“The first-year assignment is an opportunity to find common ground,” Gresalfi said. “Our incoming class brings an incredible range of experiences. This shared experience of storytelling and reflection helps us begin building our own community from day one.”

In an email to The Hustler, Gresalfi said the new summer assignment is meant to set the foundation for conversations that will take place through the Vanderbilt Visions curriculum.

“Our goal, in developing the summer assignment, was to create an opportunity for students to have an experience eliciting others’ stories, listening with curiosity and reflecting on how those stories connect with their own experiences,” Gresalfi said.

Gresalfi also shared the idea behind the theme and the decision to encourage students to reach out to community members with different perspectives.

“By focusing on their own communities, we invite students to learn more about someone who they may already know, and possibly (likely) discover something completely new — that’s the power of being curious about others,” Gresalfi said. “By asking students to select that person based on either their own interest in that person’s life or based on their perceived differences, we hope students will think carefully about what they think they know about someone, and how deeper dialogue with that person reveals new or surprising insights.”

First-year Adrian Delgado said he believes the changes to the summer assignment will benefit new students.

“I had friends that didn’t even read the whole book and did not put effort into the campus reading essay,” Delgado said. “I believe a video-based project can bring out more in a student than an essay.”

First-year Lavin Maddox shared her appreciation for the new summer assignment compared to the one she participated in. 

“Committing to read a whole book over summer right before college was kind of stressful. Even if the book wasn’t super long, it’s just one more thing to do already getting ready for a really big change,” Maddox said. “I think interviewing someone is more conducive to what Vanderbilt is going for.”

Members of the Class of 2029 will receive more detailed information about the project in June, and the finished assignment will be due by Aug. 11.