The Vanderbilt Hustler 4-13-16

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VOL. 128, ISS. 13

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Understanding David Williams

Vanderbilt’s soft-spoken athletic director has a loud impact where it counts PAGE 6

LIFE SPORTS Rites of Spring 2016 guide

Figure out which artists you’ll like the most, meet The Candid and Bad Suns, learn this year’s alchohol policy and more

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news

CAMPUS UPDATE To kick off Rites of Spring, Vanderbilt Programming Board will host a “Silent Disco” on Thursday, April 1 at 10 p.m. on Alumni Lawn. Students will receive headphones and can decide to tune in to one of several DJs competing to perform at Rites of Spring.

Experience Vanderbilt provides scholarships for extracurriculars

Beginning in the fall, a pilot program will provide extracurricular scholarships for students who currently receive financial aid

By ANNA BUTRICO Web editor --------------------

Experience Vanderbilt, a scholarship program for extracurricular organizations that has been in the works since 2013, will come to fruition this fall.

The 2014 VSG Experience Vanderbilt Survey showed that 75.4 percent of undergraduate students participated in at least one nonacademic extracurricular, but the numbers show that extracurriculars are often a hefty price to pay, with costs averaging around $1,000 a year. The survey revealed that programs’ large financial commitments often stood in the way of students getting involved, especially for those receiving financial aid.

In reaction to these statistics, the Experience Vanderbilt Scholarship was born, spearheaded by former student body president Isaac Escamilla during his 2013-14 term. This fund would provide scholarships for student organizations that do not give students academic credit. It will be specifically granted to students who are receiving financial aid.

Lindsay Edwards, the VSG Student Services Committee chair and Senior Class Fund chair, was charged with the responsibility of overseeing the development of Experience Vanderbilt.

“Everything about this program right now is a pilot,” Edwards said. “And honestly, we really wanted to get student feedback. This could change in a year or two.”

Currently, VSG is reaching out to student organizations to both inform them and get feedback about this program. Additionally, VSG is pairing up with Dean Douglas Christiansen, the vice provost for university enrollment and dean of admissions and fi-

nancial aid, to devise ways to inform incoming students about this program that awaits them in the fall.

Once they return to campus, students — as long as they’re receiving financial assistance from the university — can submit a request for a donation amount for an extracurricular activity. There will be several application periods during the year that correspond to certain deadlines: opening right after the student organization period, closing their application periods when the Alternative Spring Break forms are due, and so on.

The maximum amount of money a student can request is $500. Students’ applications will be randomly selected for donation amounts. Edwards said that this lottery system was the most unbiased and effective method they could think of.

“It was the fairest way we could think of to do it,” Edwards said. “It’s hard to pull together a team that can evaluate what someone’s experience is worth. If we had applications for this, it would be really difficult for those people to sit in a room and decide who gets $200, who gets $300. They could be biased based on what they’re involved in also. So we’re going to try a lottery system for now.”

All of the information on the application will remain confidential. The only people informed of the Experience Vanderbilt recipients’ information will be the president and treasurer of the organizations, who will sign confidentiality waivers.

The Experience Vanderbilt Fund has $10,000 in the VSG reserve. Alumnus and Board of Trust member Alex Taylor (97) has agreed to pay $50,000 to Experience Vanderbilt if 75 percent of the senior class donates to the Senior Class Fund.

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From left to right: VSG Student Services Committee Chair and Senior Class Fund Chair Lindsay Edwards, Speaker of the Senate Jackson Vaught and VSG President Lizzy Shahnasarian aided in bringing Experience Vanderbilt, a scholarship program for extracurriculars, to fruition.

“We’re really hoping that the Senior Class Fund works out and that we can get this money. We’re hoping to go to some departments and seeing if they have any extra money in their budget they’d be willing to donate, like the Provost’s Office or Chancellor Hill. But honestly, we really want this to be donation-driven by alumni. There will be a way for alumni to donate to this fund.

The Office of Annual Giving is in full support of this program, so we hope that they will be encouraging alumni to donate to this,” Edwards said.

Edwards acknowledged that there are students who are not on financial aid, but still struggle to meet the costs of expensive extracurricular activities.

“My best response is that this is a pilot program. It is just getting on its feet. We really do hope to have a lot more funding, potentially even an endowment where we can fund students who aren’t on financial aid,” Edwards said. “I do think that it will eventually be included, but we just have to get this off the ground first.”

Edwards hopes this pilot program will

ZOE SHANCER — NEWS EDITOR KARA SHERRER — LIFE EDITOR QUEEN STEVENSON — OPINION EDITOR BEN WEINRIB — SPORTS EDITOR

greatly benefit the campus community and the overall Vanderbilt experience.

“I really hope that the Vanderbilt community buys into this and sees the positives that can come out of it, rather than analyzing potential negatives. … I think every student deserves the real college experience, not just in a classroom. I guess I would call this program a success if even one person was able to experience something that they couldn’t have before,” she said.

Vanderbilt is a pioneer in this extracurricular scholarship program. Edwards looks forward to the program’s potential.

“There really isn’t any other school that is doing this,” Edwards said. “Vanderbilt was one of the first schools to do the Opportunity Vanderbilt [Program], where need-blind [aid] was guaranteed. We did a lot of peer research, and we couldn’t find a program that was like this anywhere. So I think we’re doing something new and unique here; that is exciting.”

Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact the Experience Vanderbilt e-mail address: experiencevanderbilt@vanderbilt.edu.

JOSH HAMBURGER — MANAGING EDITOR BOSLEY JARRETT — DESIGN DIRECTOR ANNA BUTRICO — WEB EDITOR ZIYI LIU — PHOTO DIRECTOR KATHY YUAN — CHIEF COPY EDITOR COLLIN ZIMMERMAN — CHIEF WEB DEVELOPER MATT LIEBERSON — FEATURES EDITOR PRIYANKA ARIBINDI — AUDIENCE STRATEGIST KATHY YUAN —ASST. PHOTO DIRECTOR

SHARON SI — ASST. DESIGN DIRECTOR JACK SENTELL — ASST. LIFE EDITOR SARAH FRIEDMAN — ASST. NEWS EDITOR PRIYANKA KADARI — ASST. OPINION EDITOR ROBBIE WEINSTEIN — ASST. SPORTS EDITOR ABBY HINKSON — ASST. COPY EDITOR DESIGNERS ALAN WILMS ZACH BERKOWITZ

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CNN’s go-to health expert: Dr. William Schaffner Meet the internist and infectious disease specialist who’s often called upon by the news media to explain high-profile outbreaks

By AMANDA NWABA News reporter --------------------

When CNN needs a health expert’s input, they call Vanderbilt’s Dr. William Schaffner, an internist and infectious disease specialist who has been with Vanderbilt since he began his residency in June of 1962. Before coming to Vanderbilt, Dr. Schaffner worked with the United States Public Health Service, the Center for Disease Control and the State Health Department of Rhode Island.

During his time at Vanderbilt, he has taught, led the Medical Center’s infection control program for 10 years, and chaired the Department of Preventive Medicine, now called the Department of Health Policy, for 31 years. He still works in the department as a professor of preventive medicine.

Schaffner’s initial inspiration for becoming a doctor was his childhood physician, Dr. Tidwell, who would come to Schaffner’s home on house calls and treat his family. Although there were no previous doctors in his family, Schaffner’s fascination with Tidwell set the stage for his life.

“I just was attracted to that and I thought that was the neatest thing and resolved actually as a fairly young child that that was what I wanted to do,” he stated.

MEDIA EXPOSURE Schaffner’s first experience working with the media was before he came to Vanderbilt, when he served as the acting chief of Communicable Diseases in the State Health Department of Rhode Island.

“When issues related to communicable disease occurred, such as the annual occurrence of influenza, for example, the media wanted stories, and so I was the person they came to,” Schaffner said. “So I figured I’d better get good at this if I’m going to do this effectively and provide good information.”

His media exposure then grew during the rise of AIDS in the early 1980s. Schaffner became the designated spokesperson on AIDS for the Vanderbilt Medical Center, the National Academy of Medicine and the State Health Department.

“So whenever the news media went to those three institutions wanting any information about an AIDS related issue, they all said ‘well, talk to Schaffner’,” Schaffner said.

Since that time, Vanderbilt has invested more in its news and public affairs office and has established a broadcast quality studio on Peabody’s campus that has given the university a more prominent image and increased opportunities for media coverage.

“After a person leaves their professional education at whatever level, the way they learn new things is through the media, and so recognizing that the media are a means of teaching is important,” Schaffner said. “Taking advantage of that is useful and that helps raise respect for Vanderbilt.”

INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH Schaffner stressed the importance of disease prevention and research in his field. In the past, Schaffner has participated in hands-on basic science research but stated that he found his calling with population-based public health research. He has collaborated with the CDC and the Tennessee Department of Health to examine issues regarding vaccine use, implementation and effectiveness, in addition to studying outbreaks of communicable diseases.

Schaffner describes his work as extremely rewarding because of the continued excitement in infectious disease and the opportunity to treat patients, teach students and work with other medical professionals who possess the “Vanderbilt spirit of collaboration,” as he described it.

For Schaffner, one of the main challenges with working in infectious diseases is the constant change that occurs with the outbreaks of new diseases and the need for new drugs as a result of antibiotic resistance to already existing diseases.

The most dramatic event during his time at Vanderbilt, however, was the spread of AIDS in the 1980s.

“It created an enormous amount of consternation and social unease,” Schaffner said. “Until such time as both public health and laboratory science were able to define AIDS, offer treatments, organize care and develop drugs so that we could not only treat patients, but also develop methods whereby we could safely, appropriately and compassionately treat patients in a hospital.”

Schaffner described the impressive care that Vanderbilt’s staff once gave to a California AIDS patient who, upon arriving in Nashville for a wedding, relapsed and was brought to Vanderbilt. After being treated promptly and effectively, the patient told the staff that the treatment he received surpassed that which he had received at any of California’s hospitals.

“He had been taken care of better here with no prejudice, with excellent medical care, with compassion and complete attention better than California,” Schaffner said. “And that made the entire team very proud.”

Personally, one of Schaffner’s most proud professional accomplishments was collaborating with a group organized by the American Hospital Organization on a manual outlining safe AIDS patient care.

“One of the things that attracted me to infectious diseases is that the integration of basic science information with useful information that gets into public health or community health is all very seamless.”

VIEWS ON VANDERBILT Having been at Vanderbilt for decades, Schaffner cited the culture on Vanderbilt’s campus, what the Medical School’s Vice Chancellor Jeff Balser calls “Vanderbilt’s special sauce,” as one of the main reasons that he has remained with this institution.

“Why should I go anywhere else?” he joked. “There have

COURTESY OF DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER

Dr. William Schaffner, an internist and infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt, is often called upon by news media to provide information about emerging diseases. been occasions where I’ve had the opportunity to look at another position and it was a combination of things. Certainly on the professional side this has been a remarkably welcoming institution where we have a culture of working well together with each other. We share and collaborate and we’re very happy with each other’s successes. We can work across departmental lines and if there are administrative problems, we solve them.”

“I’ve looked at these other opportunities and I’ve always thought the grass was greener at home,” he stated.

Schaffner described the relationships formed and maintained with students throughout their professional careers, in addition to teaching and being taught by them, as one of the most exciting aspects of his role as a faculty member. He spoke of Dr. Tom Talbot, his protégé, who is now on the cutting edge of infectious disease and who took over Schaffner’s role as director of the Medical Center’s infection control program.

“Students are your professional children and those family relationships mature and change and develop over time,” Schaffner said. “These relationships go on for a long time and there’s no doubt that they keep the older part of the mentoring couple young.”

Schaffner has very high hopes for Vanderbilt medically, both because of its expansion efforts and because of the research being done. He explained a mentality that lives on today that was first introduced by Vanderbilt’s fifth chancellor, Alexander Heard, in his first faculty address.

“One of the things he said that made everybody sit up,” he explained, “was that Vanderbilt at that time, it was 30 years ago, had a very strong regional reputation and had acquired the designation, ‘the Harvard of the South.’ He said that that was well and good, but he intended to lead and bring us to being ‘the Vanderbilt of the Nation,’ and I think that goal is well on its way to realization.”

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Next Steps students to serve on VSG committees

Students with intellectual disabilities can vote on VSG committees starting Fall 2016

By ZOE SHANCER

News editor -------------------Beginning in the fall, Next Steps students will be able to serve on Vanderbilt Student Government (VSG) committees, pending approval from the VSG Senate this evening.

Next Steps is a two-year non-residential certification program based out of Peabody College for students with intellectual disabilities. It provides individualized programs in education, social skills and vocational training.

Sophomore Cason Close, who is a member of the Campus Life committee on VSG as well as a Next Steps ambassador, came up with the idea and worked with Speaker of the Senate Jackson Vaught to bring it to fruition.

“Next Steps students are Vanderbilt students,” Close said.

“VSG is supposed to work towards bettering the Vanderbilt experience by representing students and their interests. By not

allowing Next Steps students to be involved in VSG, we were leaving a group of students voiceless.”

Close and Vaught spoke with Next Steps administrators to coordinate a relationship between the two programs. Because Next Steps students do not currently live on campus, they decided that logistically it made the most sense for Next Steps students to serve on committees, something that would accommodate more flexible scheduling. “[Next Steps students] will go through an application process just like other people in VSG, to give them professional development skills,” Vaught said. “That’s something that the Next Steps administrators asked us to do.”

Once applications are accepted, Next Steps students will be placed on committees. Vaught hopes at least one Next Steps student will be placed on each of the nine committees.

Another student on the committee, according to Vaught, will serve as an ambassador of VSG for each of the Next Steps students involved.

“Most Next Steps students have ambassadors who coordinate their activities on campus, so this person will help facilitate their activities within VSG,” Vaught said.

Next Steps students will be full members of VSG, meaning they will have voting power, be on the VSG listserv and can attend the VSG retreat, among other things. Close believes this program will bring a previously unconsidered point of view to the conversations happening in VSG. “Next Steps students will be able to identify issues that may be overlooked by current VSG representatives,” Close said. “I believe that allowing Next Steps students to join VSG committees will help us more comprehensively represent the Vanderbilt student body.”

Close has already heard several suggestions from Next Steps students for VSG including increasing school spirit by bringing back pep rallies, working to increase awareness of the program among Vanderbilt students and increasing the number of Vanderbilt classes available for Next Steps students to take.

Vaught believes current members of VSG will benefit as well.

COURTESY OF VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

Next Steps, a non-residential program for students with intellectual disabilities, will partner with VSG to allow its students to serve on VSG committees.

“I also think it would give other students in VSG the opportunity to interact with Next Steps students, which they may not get in their classrooms, in their activities,” Vaught said.

According to Close, Next Steps students will gain valuable experience by participating in large, structured meetings.

“VSG will allow Next Steps students to meet and interact with more Vanderbilt peers, which will help social development as well,” Close said. “By allowing Next Steps students to get involved in VSG, they will be able to further integrate into the Vanderbilt student body, a main goal of the Next Steps program and of the students.”

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opinion Don’t pin people with mental illness into a small box Mental health is important for everyone, not just those who struggle

M

KATIE MARTINEZ is a junior in the College of Arts and Science. She can be reached at katherine.b.martinez @vanderbilt.edu.

any factors contribute to the mental health crisis facing college students. However, peer-held stigma is a dangerous poison to fellow students, including here at Vanderbilt. Eradicating stigma isn’t just about knowing mental illness facts and figures, it’s about mindset. Try viewing people holistically and compassionately, and understand that mental illness is very complex. Don’t separate yourself from people with mental illness by compartmentalizing them as “messed up,” because a lot of your struggles are the same as theirs.

There are the obvious challenges: with schizophrenia, you deal with psychosis and with bipolar disorder, you deal with mania and depression. Psychosis, mania and depression are life threatening and chronic conditions on their own. But stigma, both from peers and your own, complicates every decision, e.g., whether you want medication when society, friends, family and even yourself view medication as a weakness. You don’t want to need that handful of little pills, but without them you’ll be in actual danger. Big diagnoses come like punches in the stomach. These new, huge labels consume who you think you are and shatter your sense of identity.

Furthermore, mental illness diagnoses are always kept hush-hush, unlike, say, cancer. The quietness of it all implies shame, that it’s an embarrassment or a character defect. Remember that neighbor with cancer and everybody cooked casseroles and rallied around him?

Schizophrenia, bipolar, depression: they’re all no-casserole illnesses. Society ignores and, therefore, invalidates the experiences of 43.8 million people with mental illnesses in any given year. It’s no shock that 25 percent of people experiencing homelessness have a severe mental illness, which a lack of productive resources and support networks only exacerbates. We are an ignored people.

So, how does this affect our campus? Mental illness does not discriminate; it encroaches into every campus community, niche and group. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports one in three students have experienced prolonged depression, and one in four have had suicidal thoughts and feelings. We throw these numbers around, but this means every third person in your sorority, your Spanish class, your ASB group has probably struggled in some way with mental health.

vanderbilthustler EDITORIAL BOARD ALLIE GROSS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF editor@vanderbilthustler.com

ZOE SHANCER

KARA SHERRER

NEWS EDITOR news@vanderbilthustler.com

LIFE EDITOR life@vanderbilthustler.com

QUEEN STEVENSON

BEN WEINRIB

OPINION EDITOR opinion@vanderbilthustler. com

SPORTS EDITOR sports@vanderbilthustler.com

NAMI also reports 50 percent of college-aged students had had no exposure or education related to mental illnesses/mental health prior to college. This lack of education is the foundation of mental illness-associated stigma. Well-intentioned, well-educated people, friends of mine, have shocking misconceptions about mental health and illness. I’ve even heard friends say, “The mental health world doesn’t affect me.” A first step in mental health education and mental illness awareness is spreading the word that, like physical health, everyone has mental health.

Semester after semester, people see others with depression and anxiety and make negative assumptions instead of considering compassion. They must be lazy, bad students, lacking motivation. Understanding mental illness is hard, and that’s okay. It’s also okay not to know the inner-complexities of strangers; however, it’s important to remember that everyone has a story, a context, and that mental health is at the foundation of everyone’s life.

It’s easy to go through our days and view people as “that disheveled kid I passed on my way to calc,” but people are whole, complicated, multifaceted and beautiful. To convey this, I’m going to take you to Austin Lakes, a psychiatric hospital where I spent 60 excruciating, mind-boggling hours.

It’s funny. My major is cognitive studies. A world of mental health and illness surrounds me due to my own bipolar and my experience as big sister to someone with autism, depression, anxiety and psychosis. In LEAPS, I strive to spread the word of good mental health hygiene on campus. I am open about my own journey to help end mental illness-associated stigma. On Alternative Spring Break, I choose the human-centered sites.

“Labels matter, but they don’t define you” is my motto. I champion person-first language (e.g. “I am a person with bipolar, not a bipolar person”).

Yet still, looking around the psych hospital common room, I judge the other people. The white man in the corner, very large, with part of his jaw missing from cancer because of too much dip. The skinny, wheelchairbound woman with wild, frizzy red hair and lesions on her face. Just hearing her talk I assume she hasn’t gone to

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college. More people, more judgments. Finally, Zach: my first friend on the floor, tattoo-covered, born in March 1995, the youngest “adult” in the unit. I was in too much pain to see anything good about any of them.

But, then, over the course of those insane 60 hours, I learned their names. Fred, who grew up in Wyoming backwoods, couldn’t read, had PTSD from childhood abuse, called me “sunshine” every morning and cried for his wife every day in group therapy. Then Polly, the wild-haired woman, was next. True, she had no GED, but she spent time every day with each person, making sure we were okay. Kaitlyn, the beautiful woman in the wheelchair, was consumed by years and years of depression and suicidal ideation. Yet, she was strong and leaned on her survival instinct, putting herself in the hospital to keep herself alive for her two-year-old daughter.

And, Zach, a true friend. He showed me who he was in his entirety, and for that I am grateful. In his life, he has seen things no 20-year-old should have seen. He showed me the beauty in everyone’s experiences, difficult or seamless, painful or painless, black, white or gray. Everyone’s challenges are valid and everyone has some sort of challenge. And… life contains overwhelming, immense, expansive beauty for everyone; sometimes you just have to look hard to find it. When Zach, a tragically wizened 20-year-old, shared his home life with me, his time in the military and losing his daughters, I found myself shocked.

“I am so privileged,” I thought. Mom and Dad both are around, they value and pay for my education, and my circumstances allow me to attend a school as beautiful and wondrous as ours. I don’t pretend to know all Vanderbilt students’ backgrounds. I do not know what it’s like to be Black, White, an international student, in Blair, in Greek life or someone with a physical or learning disability. I don’t even know what it’s like to be a different person with bipolar disorder.

I do know, however, that many of us fight. We fight for what we want. We fight for what we need. We fight for where we are destined to go. That’s not so different from the people I met that weekend at Austin Lakes. I am one of “those people” in the psychiatric hospital. I am also one of you.

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sports

THE BIG STAT

Number of walks of Will Toffey and Bryan Reynolds this season. Toffey and Reynolds rank first and second in the SEC in walks respectively

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BOWDEN

back where he belongs: the

BULLPEN The lefty returns to his old position after a brief stint at starter

By MAX HERZ Sports reporter --------------------

Ben Bowden looked the part of a starting pitcher for the first month of the 2016 season, performing well in his first five collegiate starts. So, of course, it was time for him to go back to the bullpen.

The transition of Vanderbilt’s power closer into a starter and then back again traces back to last summer. The Lynn, Mass. native began his junior year by throwing 17 1/3 scoreless innings in the Cape Cod League, winning playoff MVP honors on a league champion team. His unblemished ERA earned both a summer league title and a big boost on MLB draft boards.

Back on campus, Bowden met a new challenge as he morphed into a starting pitcher this fall. Though he was used exclusively as a reliever his first two seasons at Vanderbilt, the lefty started two games of the intrasquad Black and Gold series in October, as his rotation bid became more and more serious.

Fast forward to February, and Bowden was the man on the mound in the Commodores’ second game of the season, throwing a career-high five innings in his first collegiate start. He would repeat that feat over each of the next four weekends, going five full frames in every start. His control was great, he limited damage and he mixed his pitches well as the traditional reliever developed a starter’s mentality.

“It’s pitch development when you start,” head coach Tim Corbin said. “You can’t pitch with one and you can’t pitch with two. You have to decelerate and you have to pitch to the edges a little bit.”

As a closer, Bowden relied on his mid-90s fastball to blow hitters away with the help

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Ben Bowden delivers a pitch in relief against the Santa Clara Broncos during Game 2 of the series at Vanderbilt in February of 2015. The Commodores won 6-5. of a low-80s curveball. As a starter, Bowden needed another pitch or two to complement the heater and the hook as he pitched deeper in games. Enter his previously underutilized changeup and cutter.

“I used my changeup more towards the last three starts that I had, and that helped me develop it a little bit more,” Bowden said. “I always felt comfortable with my changeup, I’ve just always been more of a power pitcher and I never really had to use it too much.”

A perfect physical fit for the closer mold at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, Bowden found a side of himself he’d never been fully in touch with as a starting pitcher. Despite his vast improvement as a starter and positive reviews, the move back to the bullpen between weeks one and two of Southeastern Conference

play was a no-brainer for both Bowden and his coaches.

“I love the adrenaline coming out of the bullpen,” Bowden said. “There was adrenaline starting too [for the] first few innings, then you get in a groove and the adrenaline wears off. For me, I love the bullpen.”

Corbin showed no remorse taking one of his best arms out of the starting rotation, remaining adamant that Bowden’s personality perfectly matches the closer role.

“I think that might be more natural for him,” Corbin said. “I don’t wanna say that in a way [implying] that he couldn’t start, because we’ve seen his ability to start, but he enjoys that role of coming out of the bullpen and trying to finish a game.”

Bowden has finished six of his team’s eight wins since moving back to the bullpen,

picking up six saves while striking out 17 hitters in 10 1/3 scoreless innings over seven appearances. Though he hasn’t needed his changeup much yet, the tools and stamina Bowden adopted as a starter have served him well in the bullpen. Three of his six saves have been two innings or longer, and his save against Lipscomb on April 5 necessitated working around two inherited runners with the go-ahead run at the plate.

Bowden’s development over the last calendar year from the Cape to the rotation and straight into the minds of MLB general managers has landed him right back where he started: as the man whom Tim Corbin trusts the most with the game on the line.

“The toughest three outs to get in the SEC are the last three,” Corbin said. “He does a very nice job getting them.”

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PUTTING THE STUDENT-ATHLE Inside the history, priorities and music collection of Vice Chancellor for Athletics David Williams

By MATT LIEBERSON

Features editor -------------------David Williams can’t even board a plane without being approached by enthusiastic Vandy fans.

“I’ll be at the airport, getting on the plane or off the plane, and people will wanna talk about the last game or the next game,” Williams said. “So it’s one of the things you just kind of get used to.”

Whether they’re coming up to him during a game to remember old Commodore players or sending him impassioned emails after a big basketball win, fans are eager to talk with Williams. Not only is he vice chancellor for athletics, but he’s also a law professor, chair of the NCAA Infractions Appeals committee, former university general counsel and one of the most visible faces of Vanderbilt athletics.

The public’s opinion of Williams is based on very few of the factors that feed into his overall life and portfolio. The public sees Williams at press conferences and maybe from a distance at a game. They also see his widelyreported high compensation, $3.2 million dollars, according to a USA Today report from 2013. But what the public

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ETE FIRST doesn’t see is the respect that his colleagues here at Vanderbilt and in the SEC have for him — and the respect he has for his student-athletes.

HOW WILLIAMS WORKS

Years ago, when SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey entered his first meeting while working for the conference, he was given one piece of advice about David Williams.

“David’s not one to say much, but when he talks, he’s someone to whom everyone will listen.”

Even now, Sankey finds that to be a valid characterization — Williams is known for being quiet and thoughtful. In the SEC meeting room with the fellow conference athletic directors, Williams’ colleagues find him to be a prolific thinker who always puts the student first. While many ADs come from inside athletics, the diverse set of skills and experiences that Williams brings to the table add a perspective to the room that others don’t have, even if he doesn’t say much.

“He’s quiet. There are those of us who probably speak out a lot in meetings. He’s not as vocal as some others,” said Scott Stricklin, athletic director at Mississippi State.

“When he does speak, he has a really unique perspective, and I think we all value it.”

Rod Williamson, associate athletic director who has been with Vanderbilt since 1983, finds that the same unique way of thinking informs Williams and his work here at Vanderbilt.

“I remember one case where he said, ‘This person is eligible by NCAA standards, but if this was your son or daughter, would you want them playing, or would you want them trying to get their academic life in order?’ And when he phrased it like that, it made a sort of sense. I wonder how many people that we compete against in this conference would have that kind of discussion.”

Williams is a process-driven person. Possibly due to his legal background, he approaches all decisions the same way. Whether it’s a small decision or a big one — like hiring a new men’s basketball coach — he keeps an even keel and a thoughtful focus on what’s best for Vanderbilt.

Sometimes, that means sitting back and listening.

“David is a very thoughtful, considerate person. And he asks thoughtful, provocative questions,” said John Ingram, chair of Vanderbilt Board of Trust’s Athletics Committee.

“He’s not somebody that dominates the room.”

WHERE WILLIAMS KEEPS HIS FOCUS

David Williams’ office in the back of the second floor of the McGugin Center is full of, well, lots of things. Stacks of loose papers with various memos and signatures litter his desk. Binders from the NCAA Infractions Appeals committee sit on a chair. On a shelf is a commemorative football from the 2014 Compass Bowl, still in the wrapper. In the corner beside his desk is a guitar with the logo of the 2013 Music City Bowl, and sitting on a table is a basketball, back in its box, which was used in the photos welcoming new basketball coach Bryce Drew. But Williams’ most prized possession is his music collection.

“I have four times as much music as is up there,” Williams said of the stacks of CDs above his desk. Williams used to play the saxophone and even used to have a music radio show on campus. Though he doesn’t have the radio

show anymore, sometimes he’ll close his office door and play music for himself, creating his own mock radio show.

Senior track runner Faith Washington, who often stops

by Williams’ office to talk, appreciates seeing all the music when she walks in. She finds that the second you walk in, Williams’ personality jumps out. But Washington doesn’t just appreciate his taste in music, which leans towards throwback Motown. She finds Williams to be a great sounding board and source of advice.

“It’s very easy to talk to him,” Washington said. “I told him [last time we talked], “‘When I’m talking to you I feel like I’m talking to my father.’”

Washington finds that even when her own focus is on her athletics, Williams, who ran track himself in college, keeps the bigger picture in mind. At Senior Day for track and field, Williams got to the meet early, walked around the indoor arena, and cheered on the team. During the Senior Day ceremony, Williams was sure to find Washington, and not just to congratulate her on her track career.

He wanted to know how her job search was going.

“In that moment I’m thinking about track and field,” Washington said, “and here he is trying to make sure I’m prepared for life.”

But being prepared for life doesn’t only mean being ready for a career. Simone Charley hadn’t really thought about trying to qualify for the Olympics for triple jump until she ran into Williams in early November. The junior track star and soccer player thought it was a small possibility, but never gave it in-depth consideration until Williams pressed her on it.

“He drove me back to my dorm in the golf cart [after a campus event], and he brought it up,” Charley said. “He said, ‘If you’re taking that into consideration, come talk to me, and we can figure it out.’”

Williams took care of everything for Charley. He spoke to her soccer coaches and set her up to be able to take the spring off from soccer. Now, Charley is trying out to triple jump for the U.S. Olympic track team in July, thanks to the efforts of Williams.

“I think [Williams] is unique in all the administrators I’ve worked with in my 23 years in collegiate athletics, of exposing kids to things outside of collegiate athletics,” Vanderbilt head soccer coach Darren Ambrose said. “And I think he does a great job of finding ways to promote those opportunities. That’s one of his strengths. Seeing opportunities for kids and finding ways for them to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Candice Lee, deputy director for athletics, used to play basketball at Vanderbilt herself 20 years ago and has watched the opportunities for student athletes on campus grow exponentially.

“I had a great experience 20 years ago, but it’s clear to me that under Mr. Williams’ leadership we’ve done a lot for our students,” Lee said.

That includes one of Williams’ favorite initiatives. When he realized that only one team — the women’s swimming team — had time in their season to go on Alternative Spring Break, a service trip over spring break, he found a way to supplement the student-athlete experience with a service trip. That initiative brought student-athletes to Tanzania, Costa Rica and most recently Cuba this past July.

“That to me was one of the most important things that we could do because those kids could never have gotten that chance to do it,” Williams said.

Fittingly enough, with his focus so squarely on the student-athlete experience, Williams’ favorite moment in his job isn’t winning a championship, or a big victory.

Williams finds himself most proud when he sees the successes of Vanderbilt student-athletes as people.

“To this day, after being in this business … the best day on a college campus is graduation,” Williams said. “When I see kids I had a relationship with … graduating, you feel like you had a part in that.”

THE HISTORY OF DAVID WILLIAMS AT VANDERBILT

Before coming to Vanderbilt, Williams worked at Ohio State with Gordon Gee, who currently serves as president of West Virginia University. When Gee was hired as Vanderbilt’s chancellor from Ohio State in 1998, he

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brought Williams along with him two years later.

“He had a wide-ranging portfolio there, and I wanted someone with that portfolio at Vanderbilt,” Gee said.

Initially, Williams was the university secretary and general counsel at Vanderbilt. As general counsel, Williams kept the same student-first mentality.

Kevin Davis, who used to work in Vanderbilt’s general counsel office, most remembered the moments when Williams would work to benefit the student.

“He was there during 9/11 in 2001 and helped to put together some transportation for students who were from the New York area to return home for a short time,” Davis said.

Under Gee’s term as Vanderbilt’s chancellor, Williams was also given the role of vice chancellor for student life.

Vanderbilt began to make drastic changes to the structure of the athletic department. Gee thought he could create a structure that would allow the university’s academic success to feed into athletic success. To Gee, that meant eliminating the athletic department as a separate entity, bringing it under the larger umbrella of student life operations.

“That meant ... treating it like chemistry or physics or any other [department], so it wasn’t separated or isolated from the rest of the institution but fully integrated.”

Other schools, as well as the media, were shocked. Gee remembers claims that the school was treating “athletics like intramurals.” In the face of this, when Gee needed someone to take over the responsibilities of an athletic director, he turned to Williams.

“When I was the president of Ohio State, which has the largest athletic department in the country, David was my liaison with athletics there. So he developed a very strong understanding of athletics,” Gee said.

Even as Williams served in multiple roles, he was able to shoulder his responsibilities. Serving as vice chancellor for student life, de-facto athletic director and general counsel, Williams had his hands in many areas of the university.

“Officers at the university, like officers at any corporation, have broad responsibilities, and David had broad responsibilities for those … offices,” said John Callison, senior deputy general counsel.

Williams has since winnowed down his roles at Vanderbilt, dropping the general counsel role in August of 2012.

Currently, Williams serves solely as the vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs in addition to teaching a class in the law school on sports law.

“In hindsight, I think we dropped it at absolutely the right time,” Williams said. “I think it was a matter of it being very hard to devote the amount of time needed in each of those positions when you had the other position.”

WILLIAMS AND THE FANS

Since Williams took over the athletic department, Vanderbilt has won all of its national championships in women’s bowling, baseball and women’s tennis. Vanderbilt also made three straight bowl games in football in the 2011-13 seasons, the only time in school history that’s happened.

“When we’re not winning, there’s dissatisfaction out there,” Williams said. “And that’s exactly what we want.

When people want excellence, and they should want excellence with everything the university does, the product has to be a little better.”

Usually, Williams doesn’t mind, and understands the passion that Vanderbilt fans have. What continues to mystify him, though, is when he tries to shop at the grocery store and finds fans with opinions to share.

“I got like five things to get, and I’m out. I guess I think everybody does that, so when someone stops you to talk to you, I’m kind of like, ‘I know we didn’t plan this, but I thought we were purposeful shoppers. I’m trying to go somewhere, you’re trying to go somewhere.’”

But Williams doesn’t shirk his duties as a very visible ambassador for Vanderbilt athletics. If a fan calls or sends him an email, he’ll be sure to respond. That’s no easy feat.

After a big win or loss, his inbox will be full of thoughts from fans on the recent game.

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“When people take the time to reach out to him, I think he finds it pretty important to respond to that,” said deputy director Lee. Even when sitting with him at a game, it’s evident that Williams is a major point of interest. At the VanderbiltTennessee men’s basketball game on March 2, fans walked up to Williams to share opinions on various subjects. One fan even thought Williams would be the perfect audience for grievances about SEC men’s basketball referees.

“I can’t even watch these games anymore! I mean, it’s awful!”

Williams simply responded with a shrug and a chuckle. “What can you do?”

Usually, he doesn’t mind the fan interactions.

“Actually, I kind of enjoy it. If I want to be left alone, and I don’t want anyone to bother me, I’d go home.” But sometimes, even going home doesn’t work.

“We did have someone who came and rang the doorbell and told my wife, ‘Is Dave here? I just want to talk to him about athletics.’ I didn’t talk to him.”

THE ISSUES VANDERBILT’S ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FACES

While Williams enjoys fan interaction, he finds that the fans miss a lot about the major challenges he faces while running Vanderbilt’s athletic department.

“The [issue] that’s not a challenge — that people will tell you it is — is the academics,” Williams said.

This clashes with recent comments from former men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings, who said on Pittsburgh sports radio station that “If there was a pool of 100 kids, [Vanderbilt] could only [recruit] 25 or 30 of them.” Regardless, Williams doesn’t find that to be a problem.

“We’re finding more kids and their parents that really want to seek out the academics,” he said.

Another things fans miss is how much money goes into successfully running the department.

“We have to go out and raise the money,” he said.

“But they think that because they hear ‘Vanderbilt’ and the endowment, that I’m the recipient of all that money off the endowment. And I’m not.”

Williams acknowledged that Vanderbilt receives money from the SEC’s TV revenue, but not nearly as much as people think. With college athletics becoming more opulent and expensive, that financial challenge continues to grow.

“College athletics has gone down a path a lot of people call ‘the arms race,’ where we are sort of pricing ourselves out of business,” Williams said. “And I think [smaller, private] schools like Vanderbilt will feel it the hardest.”

WILLIAMS’ COMPENSATION

Williams is thought by many to be the highest-paid athletic director in the country. A 2013 USA Today report claimed that Williams was the highest-paid athletic director in the country, reporting that Williams made $3,239,679 in the 2010 fiscal year, almost $2 million than any other AD during that year. While this number drives the conversation on Williams’ salary, some miss the intricacies of what that figure means.

Vanderbilt, as a private institution, does not have to report compensation like other public universities in the SEC. So to estimate Williams’ compensation, people have used a Form 990, a form that Vanderbilt files with the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit organization.

The USA Today report uses a Form 990 from the 2010 fiscal year. In that year, Williams received $2,009,952 from a supplemental executive retirement plan. Williams cannot access that money until retirement, so to refer to that as his “total pay,” as USA Today does, is misrepresentative. This is the main flaw in trying to find out what Williams’ true compensation is — Vanderbilt does not report strictly cash payments.

“This is a mistake that [some outlets make] consistently,” said Ray Cotton, a nonprofit compensation expert and lawyer from the Mintz Levin Agency in

BOSLEY JARRETT / THE VANDERBILT HUSTLER

Athletic Director David Williams embraces Jahmel McIntosh (27) at Vanderbilt’s senior day celebration before the game against Texas A&M on Nov. 21, 2015.

Name Nick Zeppos Jack Swarbrick David Williams* Kevin White Jeremy Foley** Ron Wellman Jim Phillips William McGarity** Bradley Bates

Position Vanderbilt Chancellor Notre Dame AD Vanderbilt AD Duke AD Florida AD Wake Forest AD Northwestern AD Georgia AD Boston College AD

Base Salary $904,469.00 $808,240.00 $812,424.00 $863,504.00 $598,428.00 $685,207.00 $559,330.00 $518,746.00 $516,701.00

Bonuses Total $242,352.00 $1,146,821.00 $200,669.00 $1,008,909.00 $184,616.00 $997,040.00 $0.00 $863,504.00 $100,000.00 $698,428.00 $0.00 $685,207.00 $80,650.00 $639,980.00 $0.00 $518,746.00 $0.00 $516,701.00

* Also teaches at Vanderbilt's law school ** These are from each school's nonprofit athletic foundation, not the department itself

Washington, D.C. “They just take the number from the 990, and they don’t go behind it. They report it as if the person made it in one year, and that’s false.” Cotton suggests using base salary as a metric to judge pay.

“The base salary is what people talk about when they say, ‘Joe Jones makes X.’ So whatever he makes in base, that’s the comparable number to use compared to other athletics directors,” Cotton said.

Looking at his base salary shows that though on the high end, Williams’ salary is comparable to ADs at peer institutions. In the Form 990 from the 2013 fiscal year (which ends in June 2014), the most recent available, Williams made $812,424 in base salary, and another $184,616 in bonuses. That makes $997,040 for that year. A sum of base salary and bonus for that year for Duke’s AD Kevin White is $863,504. Notre Dame’s Jack Swarbrick makes $1,008,909. In the SEC, Florida’s Jeremy Foley makes $698,428. This analysis also does not include the fact that Williams serves as a professor of law at the university, and has had other roles in the past, which would add to his compensation package.

Regardless of the perception of his compensation, Williams isn’t bothered. In fact, he doesn’t even try to clarify it in most cases.

“It took more than a sentence to explain that,” Williams pointed out. “And I learned a long time ago, if it takes more than a sentence, people ain’t listening. …

You just understand it. You can only work on the things that you can control.”

—— Williams knows what he can control. He can’t control what the fans think of him. He can’t control perceptions about his salary. But he can control his department, and he can do everything in his power to help his studentathletes on and off the field. And he does.

“I tell the student-athletes all the time, as I tell my [own] kids — athletics is something you do, it’s not who you are. When they get that experience, then they’re successful.”

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contact joshua.d.hamburger@vanderbilt.edu for more info

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rites of spring

l fe Rites of Spring SURVIVAL GUIDE Whether you’re a first-timer or senior lifer, read on below to learn everything you need to know about this year’s festival — from food trucks to alcohol policy

by Kara Sherrer, Life editor

WHAT FOOD WILL BE THERE?

WHEN SHOULD I SHOW UP?

Students can exchange meal swipes for tickets to spend on food. Per usual, Vanderbilt Dining will be staffing Rites of Spring, and the classic standby Chick-fil-a will also be available. For those looking for more unique dining options, the Music City Pie Co. food truck will feature meat pies, smoked turkey pies, crawfish pies and seasonal fruit pies. True to its name, the Electric Sliders truck will offer gourmet beef sliders as well as chicken, pork and vegetarian options. The DegThai food truck, which has 4.5 stars on Yelp, will provide self-described “Thai-fusion” cuisine like curry and stir fry. Festivalgoers can also satisfy their sweet tooths with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Pro tip: the tickets can also be used to screenprint t-shirts or canvas posters, so you can essentially take home a souvenir for free.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15 Gates open 6 p.m.

Kristoff Waltz (Battle of the Bands Winner) 6:30-7 p.m. *DJ Set 7:15–8 p.m.

Lil Dicky 8:20–9:20 p.m.

Porter Robinson 9:50–11:05 p.m.

WHAT’S THE ALCOHOL POLICY AGAIN? Last year, Rites changed the rules so that festivalgoers could no longer BYOB into the gates. Beer can only be purchased from designated vendors inside the gates, and attendees will be limited to three beers per day (so expect the pre-festival tailgates to be raging). In a twist on the usually sky-high prices of event concessions, the Office of Wellness Programs and Alcohol Education will provide free bottles of water throughout the festival.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I CAN’T BRING BESIDES ALCOHOL? Glad you asked! Rites has a long list of prohibited items, including coolers, backpacks, weapons of any kind, fireworks, umbrellas, illegal substances, glass containers, frisbees, video cameras, professional photography equipment and food or drink except a single factory-sealed water bottle and small snacks for dietary needs. Basically, you are allowed to rock a fanny pack or small clutch bag and that’s it. So if you’re the sort of prepared festivalgoer who was planning to bring your hydration backpack and industrialstrength umbrella into the gates, you’re out of luck.

Oh yeah, and “NO PETS,” all caps taken directly from the Rites website. Seriously, don’t bring that lizard you’ve been hiding in your dorm all year.

CAN I STAND ON MY CHAIR? No, you cannot stand on your chair. Festivalgoers are allowed to bring blankets and chairs into the festival, provided that the chairs sit less than 1 foot off the ground. However, according to the Rites website, any festivalgoers who stand on their chairs will be asked to sit, and if they don’t stand down they will be removed from the festival. In addition, if chairs become problematic at any time during the festival, they will suddenly be added to the no-fly list of prohibited objects and will no longer be allowed at the event. To stay updated on potential last-minute developments in the Rites chair policy, follow our live tweets of the festival @VandyHustler throughout Friday and Saturday.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16 Gates open 6 p.m.

The Candid 6:30–7:30 p.m.

Kat Dahlia 7:45–8:45 p.m.

Bad Suns 9:10–10:10 p.m.

Future 10:40–11:40 p.m. *The DJ set on Friday will feature the winner of the Silent Disco event, which will be held this Thursday from 10–11:30 p.m. on Alumni Lawn. The DJs spinning at Silent Disco are the top 3 finishers from Dance Marathon’s E(DM) contest, which was held earlier this year on Jan. 30. The Silent Disco winner will be decided by a combination of crowd vote and a judging panel composed of multiple Music Group members.

I FORGOT TO BUY MY TICKET. WHAT SHOULD I DO? Walk over to the Sarratt Box Office, which will allow you to skip the Ticketmaster service fees. Since it’s the week of the show, you can expect to plunk down $5 extra, as student tickets went up from $45 to $50 on Sunday, April 10. Only one ticket per Vanderbilt student, and no refunds will be given if Nashville weather has a breakdown or Future doesn’t show up. Once you are given a wristband at the gates of the festival, you will have unlimited re-entry into the festival, so you can leave and come back whenever you want.

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2016

Rites Rundown Bought tickets on the first day? Still not exactly sure who Porter Robinson is? Whatever your situation, The Hustler has your essential rundown for this year’s Rites of Spring lineup. by Jack Sentell, Assistant life editor future

COURTESY OF THE CANDID

Getting candid with The Candid Student band talks their opening spot at Rites and early Saturday morning practices

by Noah Engel, life reporter “I don’t know how we would describe our style… maybe if Dave Matthews Band played reasonably lengthed songs without the 20-minute drum solos,” joked vocalist and guitarist Delaney Willson. Willson is a founding member of The Candid, a band consisting of six Vanderbilt sophomores that has gained a considerable following in the Vanderbilt music community.

After their spot as the opener for Aaron Carter at the Homecoming Block Party fell through in October, the group was slated to open at Rites of Spring this Saturday in their biggest performance yet.

While The Candid has not performed at many official gigs, the bandmates have a long history together. Willson and guitarist Carson Lystad met at the Media Immersion program before their first year even officially began. “Delaney was actually my first friend at Vanderbilt,” reminisced Lystad. Soon after, Willson met vocalist and pianist Ali Cribb through a mutual friend.

Lystad, Willson and Cribb first forged their musical bond when they performed a cover of Mumford & Sons’ “Believe” together and uploaded it to YouTube during March 2015.

“We all just kind of knew each other but hadn’t really played together… it [turned out] to be easy. It was really fun,” Willson recalled about their first recording. “We uploaded the video within 24 hours [of the original’s release]… but a few other groups beat us to it and took all the views.”

The Candid grew from there, with Willson, Cribb, Lystad and newcomers Keyton Carr and Jason Antwi performing at 2015’s

Battle of the Bands competition, though they did not win. The band’s popularity continued to increase, with the group playing at the Fall for the Arts Festival this fall and packing Mayfield parties throughout the year. Adam Cotter, the band’s current drummer, joined the band in Fall 2015.

All of the members agree that their favorite part of playing with a band is the liveliness of the shows. “My favorite memory would be everyone singing along to ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ ... [there was just] so much energy,” Willson recalled.

When asked about how the band’s relatively large size affects its style, the members felt that each individual’s unique ideas all contribute to the group’s sound. “Most bands have rigid sounds and structures. It’s not very open …[but with The Candid] everyone gets a lot of freedom to mess around,” Willson explained. “I may have a song in my head … but if it comes out completely different, that’s fine too. [I’ve learned] to let go of songs [to the group] and just have fun.”

Even though the six members represent all four colleges and are involved in a variety of activities on campus, they still find time to practice with each other on a regular basis. “We pick a time when no one is doing anything and practice until everyone gets tired,” Willson said. These practices often require the band to meet at inconvenient hours, with The Candid starting 5-6 hour-long practices at 8 a.m. on Saturday mornings. However, the members enjoy themselves despite the early hours: “Everyone jokes around and has fun … it makes the music part a lot easier,” Willson said.

The Candid has a few songs featured on their website available for preview. The group also plans to release a 4-5 song EP sometime in the fall of 2016. Looking at the more immediate future, The Candid says that their enthusiasm trumps most of their nervousness when it comes to playing at Rites. “It’ll be an experience unlike anything we’ve done before,” Carr said.

“I’m just going to go up there and sing and play my heart out.

Whatever happens will happen.”

You can see The Candid open Saturday’s Rites lineup on April 16 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. “It’s after the fraternity tailgates, so there’s no reason that [you] shouldn’t be there,” Carr joked.

GENRE: Rap, hip hop TOP TRACKS: Low Life, Fuck Up Some Commas IF YOU LIKE: 2Chainz, Waka Flacka, Drake

porter robinson GENRE: EDM TOP TRACKS: Sad Machine, Sea of Voices IF YOU LIKE: DeadMau5, Zedd, Dillon Francis

lil dicky GENRE: Hip Hop TOP TRACKS: $ave Dat Money, Professional Rapper IF YOU LIKE: Travi$ Scott, G-Eazy, Meek Mill

bad suns GENRE: Alternative TOP TRACKS: Cardiac Arrest, We Move Like the Ocean IF YOU LIKE: Bear Hands, The Mowgli’s, GROUPLOVE

kat dahlia GENRE: Pop TOP TRACKS: “I Think I’m In Love,” “Crazy” IF YOU LIKE: Tori Kelly, Alessia Cara, Iggy Azalea

the candid GENRE: Indie rock TOP TRACKS: “Crazy to You,” “Cruel and Unusual” IF YOU LIKE: The Head and the Heart, Family of The Year, The Lumineers

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rites of spring

Good times with Bad Suns

COURTESY OF BAD SUNS

Get to know the alternative rock band and what you can expect from them at Rites

By DALLAS SHATEL Life reporter --------------------

With Rites of Spring coming up this weekend, the bigname headliners seem to overshadow all discussion of the festival. But these acts only make up two performances of the festival, so what about the other artists filling up the first few hours?

One of those openers, a California indie band called Bad Suns, has been taking the music industry by storm, having already released their first album in 2014 and toured the country with rock band The 1975, all within four years.

The band, composed of Christo Bowman (vocals), Gavin Bennett (bass), Miles Morris (drums) and Ray Libby (guitar), began officially in 2012, but traces its roots back to several earlier high school bands that some of the members used to play in, which brought them together in the end.

“Once we got out of high school, that was when [Bad Suns] really started taking off. It kinda just was local musicians and like-minded kids just trying to find something to do with their time, and music was it for us,” said frontman Christo Bowman.

After playing shows at local venues around Los Angeles, the band began to garner a following of fans. However, Bad Suns found the most success with the release of their single “Cardiac Arrest,” which has accumulated more than 23 million plays on Spotify.

“Once we had the song ‘Cardiac Arrest’ recorded — which we did with a producer by ourselves — we put the song out just online, and it kind of started to pick up a life of its own,”

Bowman said. “Record companies got a hold of it and a few radio stations were adding it to their late night shows, and that started to do a lot for us.”

The band is currently signed to Vagrant Records, which also is home to The 1975, PJ Harvey and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Bad Suns’ debut full-length album, “Language & Perspective,” dropped in 2014 on Vagrant, with three singles being released with it: “Cardiac Arrest,” “Salt” and “We Move Like the Ocean.” The biggest single from this album, “Cardiac Arrest,” charted at #14 on Billboard’s Top Alternative Songs.

“We started recording the album before we even had management or a record label or anything,” Bowman admitted. “We basically had a bunch of these songs which we were excited about, we had a relationship with a producer and we found a way to just make it work. It was kind of just like a gamble, that we basically started the album on our own and, as soon as we did, that we were just trying to see if a label would basically allow us to complete it.”

The album was recorded in three groups of four songs over the course of about a year and a half in a studio in Los Angeles, according to Bowman. Despite the staggered recording process, “Language & Perspective” charted at No. 24 on the Billboard Top 200 albums, and was one of Huffington Post’s 23 Best Albums of 2014.

Bowman reflected on the unusual recording process: “Because it was so chopped around, it was a bit hectic at times and you weren’t always sure what was going to happen the next day or how much time you had. We’d be sneaking in sometimes at certain hours just to get in studio time just to make sure we could do what we were doing. It was really

exciting and an incredible experience for us; we learned so much about being in a band and writing and making an album.”

This weekend won’t be the band’s first trip to Nashville, as they’ve toured here several times over the past few years, including a show last year at nearby Exit/In. The band is no stranger to festivals either, having played Coachella just last year.

“We’ve played a few shows in Nashville and it’s always a good time, so we’re looking forward to seeing what the crowd is like and we’re just excited to get our music out there,” Bowman said.

For those unfamiliar with the band, their brand of indie/ alternative rock is heavily influenced by The Cure and The Police, according to Bowman. Perfect for summer, their music evokes plenty of the beachy, easygoing vibes that you would expect from California rockers. As far as plans for new music, Bowman revealed that Bad Suns are currently in the studio working on a new album.

“We’re definitely going to have some new music out this summer… We’re eager to get these new songs out there,” Bowman shared. “There’s a certain level of keeping things under wraps, but it’s a bit hard when you’re so excited about new music.”

For those eager to hear new Bad Suns, Bowman said that there is a chance of new songs being included in their Rites setlist.

“We’re considering it. We’re trying to see if we can get something together or not,” he hinted. “It may or may not happen, depending on how we feel.”

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A foodie’s dream come true

New student startup brings kosher food truck to campus

by Diana Charlop, Life reporter Junior Zack Freeling is bringing new food options to Vanderbilt’s campus through his own food truck: Aryeh’s Kitchen. This truck features American-style food like burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads and even matzo ball soup.

The menu is specifically geared towards the meat-loving college student, and as an added bonus all of the food is kosher.

HOW IT STARTED Freeling, a human and organizational development major with a corporate strategy minor, teamed up with Rabbi Shlomo Rothstein, Rabbi of the Chabad House, to create the ideal food truck for students on campus.

“For a long time I have had a passion for food, ever since I was growing up,” Freeling explained. “I always wanted to start my own business and actually see one of my ideas materialize … I never really wanted to go the conventional route, going for a corporate company and sitting behind a desk, that just wasn’t for me. This market niche presented an opportunity to put that entrepreneurial energy and my creative nature into a project that serves a purpose: bringing kosher meat to Nashville.”

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When Freeling approached Rabbi Shlomo about this project, Rabbi Shlomo was thrilled at the prospect of finally having kosher meat on campus, as there is currently no place on Vanderbilt’s campus or in the city of Nashville that serves kosher meat. In fact, Rabbi Shlomo says that he often faces questions about kosher food on campus.

“I get calls very often from prospective Jewish families and one of the first questions they ask is ‘Is there kosher meat on campus?’” he said. “As someone who cares about the general Jewish life on campus, it is really an important component of Jewish life on campus to have a kosher meal.”

THE NEED FOR KOSHER FOOD Students who keep kosher on campus have few options besides Grins, which is strictly vegetarian, meaning there is no place right now to get kosher meat. Both Grins and Aryeh’s Kitchen are kosher, but the two feature completely different menus since Grins is solely vegetarian and vegan.

“We don’t believe that it is going to be a competition for kosher food at all,” Rabbi Shlomo said. “We are not going to be selling food that is similar to Grins, we are focused on providing kosher meat to Vanderbilt. We think that what may happen is that more people will keep kosher at Vanderbilt, or start keeping kosher, and because of these options, there might be more business for Grins.”

The university has recognized the need to bring kosher meat to campus. Not only did Vanderbilt Dining approve the idea when it was pitched by Freeling and Rabbi Shlomo, but they also encouraged the project’s place on the Meal Money plan as a way for students to purchase these kosher food items.

“Vanderbilt has been very helpful. From the time we pitched this idea to them, they really said ‘It’s a need on campus. We know it’s a need on campus,’ and they were thankful to us to work with them. We started with Dean Bandas, and from there we went to the other administrators to deal with the financial and the food side of it,” Rabbi Shlomo explained.

CHOOSING THE NAME When it came time to deciding what the food truck should be called, Freeling had only one name in mind. “My Hebrew name is Aryeh Yitzchak, which means Laughing Lion,” he said, adding that “it represents a tough and happy character,” which is what Freeling hopes the food truck will embody. Freeling also said that his Hebrew name was given to him by his dad, who has played a small but important role in the creation of this food truck. “[My dad has] been working from an advising role. He has been a great resource for advice and guidance. But in terms of the actual, on the ground, operational side, that’s kind of where I [and] the rest of the team and Shlomo comes in,” Freeling said.

THE FOOD BEHIND THE TRUCK The head chef of Aryeh’s Kitchen is Eddie King, who has spent the last five years cooking on tour for Rascal Flatts.

He has also previously cooked on tour with Kanye West and Journey. King says that he sees the food truck as an opportunity to experiment with cooking different foods.

King explained that the food truck will be set up as a “party deck.” There will be a chrome trailer with the back cut off, where food will be delivered and ordered. That leaves the front of the truck as a space designated solely for cooking.

King estimates that food will be ready in ten minutes, perfectly suited to the fast-paced lives of college students who are looking for delicious meals in a short amount of time.

Aryeh’s Kitchen will be parked on Greek Row (25th Avenue) and will be open for business before the end of this academic year, where they will serve their regular menu while also adding kosher options during the holiday of Passover. Additionally, Aryeh’s Kitchen will accept Meal Money and will be on the Taste of Nashville program as early as the next school year.

COURTESY OF ZACK FREELING

menu LUNCH The Ox: seared burger and shaved corned beef, fried onions, and demi glace The Big Bird: Turkey burger, greens, avocado, tomatoes, and cranberry aioli The Bronx Bomber: corned beef, with a creamy red cabbage slaw, house made pickles on rye bread So Cal Wrap: Hot grilled chicken with shaved lettuce, tomato, cucumber with avocado aioli Sombrero Salad: Fried tortilla “bowl” with cumin chicken breast, lettuce, roasted corn salsa, black bean hummus and cilantro ranch

DINNER FIRE SALE (changes nightly, chef’s option) Brisket Taco: House made brisket, smoked tomato bbq sauce, corn salsa, and crispy onions, red cabbage slaw, flour tortillas Hangover Burger: Grilled burger with maple bourbon onions, crispy potato hash, beer aioli, with an over-easy egg toast.

Shaved Lamb Flatbread: Roasted lamb, sweet garlic, fresh greens, pickled red onions, red wine demi glace Fried Gnocchi: deep fried dumplings topped with pulled chicken. Side of our housemade roasted tomato ketchup SALADS Sweet: Greens, melon, fresh mint, pickled red onions, herb and truffle vinaigrette Savory: Greens, avocado, grilled scallion, fresh tomato, cilantro, ranch SOUPS Matzo Ball Soup SIDES Skewered Tots Fries (Flavors: Truffle, Spicy Cajun, Herbs and Spices, Duck) Roasted Potato salad Orecchiette pasta salad Grilled seasonal vegetables Aioli (Flavors: Truffle, sriracha, beer, sun dried tomato, roasted garlic, cilantro lime)

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Former United States Senator Rick Santorum joins the Vanderbilt College Republicans yesterday on April 12 at their last general body meeting of the year to speak about the importance of civil liberties in a discussion entitled “Safe Spaces: Is it 2016 or 1984?”