In an April 28 email to alumni, Vanderbilt University Information Technology announced that Vanderbilt University is discontinuing alumni services in Google Workspace. In addition, in an April 24 email to current students, VUIT announced that the migration of undergraduate email services from Google to Microsoft will begin on May 14, 2025. 

Alumni email services

On August 22, 2025, Vanderbilt Alumni will no longer have access to their Google Workspace accounts. Their @vanderbilt.edu email account access will be removed, and they will no longer have access to their Google Drive files or Google Photos. In addition, Google Play purchases, Google Groups memberships, third-party logins, Google Voice and YouTube data associated with their Vanderbilt accounts will become inaccessible.

“This decision, driven by Google-initiated licensing changes and the need to mitigate cybersecurity and data privacy risks, was made after careful deliberation. This comes alongside the university transitioning its entire email suite to Microsoft,” the email reads. 

In a Jan. 21 email to The Hustler, VUIT stated that students would be able to keep their Google Vanderbilt email address after graduation. VUIT said they were developing a plan for alumni to maintain an @alumni.vanderbilt.edu email account on an opt-in basis. This is no longer the case. 

“As we continued to refine the plan for alumni email with our partners across campus, it became clear that the best long-term decision was to discontinue the service,” a VUIT representative said in an email to the Hustler. “Fewer than 15 percent of Google Workspace accounts provisioned to alumni and former students are accessed monthly. The large number of active, unused accounts adds unnecessary data and cybersecurity risks.”

VUIT also stated that, despite these changes, ample resources are available to graduates — listed at VUConnect.com and across the university. 

“Access to resources isn’t predicated on having an @vanderbilt.edu email address — and never has been,” a representative from VUIT said. “Alumni can use any email address to connect with Vanderbilt.”

Rio Jia (BS ‘22, MS ‘24), expressed that his Vanderbilt email is tied to many aspects of his daily life, including GitHub, LinkedIn, Fidelity and YouTube. He stated that he uses his Vanderbilt Google Drive daily and also uses his email to keep in touch with former professors and colleagues from his previous campus jobs.

“As someone who also pursued my master’s at Vanderbilt, this email grants me access to my program’s Slack workspace, allowing me to remain connected with current students and alumni conversations,” Jia said. “Losing this email feels like the end of an era, making me feel more distant from a community that has meant a lot to me.”

Josh Rehders (BS ‘24) echoed Jia’s sentiments. Rehders described this change as “yet another disservice to alumni by the university.”

“Many students, myself included, utilized our VU gmail as a personal email account and now are sent scrambling to try to remedy any issues,” Rehders said. “Not only do students have to retrieve any important information from Google Drive, Gmail and more, they also have to find a way to determine any accounts that they have linked to their emails, which is an incredibly tedious, if not borderline impossible task.”

As of publication, VUIT webpages are not updated to reflect these changes. 

Undergraduate email migration

Per VUIT, undergraduate email migration will occur in phases, with the first group of students scheduled to migrate on May 14. Students will receive an email to their Vanderbilt email address 1-2 weeks before their scheduled migration date with details on what to expect.

“During the migration you will have access to your Gmail and Google Drive data, but you will not be able to make edits to your Google Drive files. After the migration, you will access your email through Microsoft Outlook and your files will be available in Microsoft OneDrive,” the April 24 VUIT email reads. 

Beginning with the May 2025 classes, graduating students, both undergraduate and graduate, will maintain @vanderbilt.edu email addresses and associated storage for one year after graduation. VUIT encourages students to utilize Google Takeout to download their data. 

“VUIT regularly evaluates and updates policies and practices to address changing business needs, technology and cybersecurity risks,” a representative from VUIT said. “We are always open to hearing suggestions for improving our services.”