Vanderbilt announced a plan on Nov. 13 to construct a new residential college on the Commons. The university hopes to embark on construction this December, and the college will house 150 first-year students beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year.
The new residential college will include a faculty apartment, inviting a new Head of House, as well as communal learning spaces for students to collaborate. Construction is set to begin on Parking Lot 90 to accommodate the new building.
Enhancing the Commons was listed as the next housing priority after construction on the West End Neighborhood finished last fall. This announcement comes after the university announced four new residential colleges in the Central Neighborhood following the demolition of the Branscomb Quadrangle.
C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the new residential college will help enhance the first-year experience to a larger population of students, ensuring students have the opportunity to grow academically and socially.
“This expansion allows us to extend to even more students a Vanderbilt education and that welcoming environment that enables students to thrive, while enhancing the academic and social spaces that make the Commons such a powerful model for community and discovery,” Raver said.
Junior Ethan Blevins, head student resident advisor of the Village at Vanderbilt Townhomes, expressed confusion, citing a lack of communication between the university and RAs.
“Normally in working with housing, we hear rumblings about these things before they get announced,” Blevins said. “This is a time [when] we did not hear anything, and it came out of nowhere. This is a total blindside thing.”
Blevins also shared mixed feelings about the project in a broader scope.
“On one hand, I think it’s great that the university is moving forward and modernizing and looking to do these construction projects [to try and] bring Vanderbilt into the present, but on the other hand all the constant construction projects aren’t great,” Blevins said. “No one is a fan of these projects. I have friends that live in McGill [Hall] who are tired of construction starting at 8 a.m. [every day].”
Sophomore Jehan Pejavar said he agrees with the construction plan and hopes the new residential college will still contribute as much to the overall first-year experience as other houses.
“I think another [first-year] dorm would be great,” Pejavar said. “I would say that I think the smaller [first-year houses] really contribute to the charm of Commons as a [first-year], so long as the new dorm would still be a part of the community, I think it’d be great.”
