Vanderbilt Announces Research Partnership with NSA

After hosting a summit on modern conflict and emerging threats with the National Security Agency (NSA) in May, Vanderbilt University has announced a five-year “education partnership agreement” with the government agency. 

“This partnership will bring together the sharpest and most innovative minds across military intelligence and higher education to address these urgent and complex issues,” said Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. “Drawing on our strong track record with military-academic collaborations, Vanderbilt provides the intellectual forum to explore these challenges from new and cross-disciplinary perspectives.” 

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Vanderbilt Medical Professor Supports Wearing Masks, Even for Those Vaccinated Against COVID-19

William Schaffner, M.D.

A professor at Vanderbilt’s School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases reportedly said this week that new government guidelines saying that even vaccinated people should wear masks in some areas is an idea with which he agrees. William Schaffner, who serves as a professor of medicine, reportedly told The Epoch Times that he believes the new guidance makes sense.

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Fauci to Give Vanderbilt Graduation Address

The chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, largely responsible for America’s COVID-19 response, is set to give the graduation event at Vanderbilt University. 

“Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top leader in infectious disease research, will be giving an address to Vanderbilt University graduates this year,” according to Fox17. “Dr. Fauci is slated to speak at the virtual Graduates Day event on May 14 when he receives the Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal.”

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Vanderbilt Professor’s Book Scolding the South and Midwest for Conservative Politics Gets Protests

  A Vanderbilt professor who recently wrote a book impugning people in the American South and Midwest for supposed racism and for clinging to conservative political values is fending off fierce protesters during his book tour. As The Tennessee Star reported, Jonathan Metzl, professor of sociology and medicine recently wrote a book called Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland. Specifically, the book focused on people in Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. Ironically, none of the protestors reportedly harassing Metzl are documented to have come from any of those three states or anywhere else in the South or Midwest. Mainstream media outlets say these protestors instead are white nationalists who have caused trouble in Washington, D.C. and California. According to TheHill.com, “white nationalist groups have targeted bookstores and library events in multiple states.” The co-founder of the American Identity Movement reportedly told The Washington Post he organized a protest at an event Metzl scheduled to promote his book. As The Star reported, according to Metzl, white Tennessee residents endanger their own health by rejecting government health care programs and by embracing pro-gun and anti-tax policies. Metzl said in a press release he set out to “understand…

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Vanderbilt Should Hire Drew Maddux for Basketball Coach

Former Commodore star calls this his dream job. For years, Vanderbilt University has been one of the toughest places to play for opposing teams. Their arena, Memorial Gym is the most unorthodox venues in college basketball in the country. Opposing coaches must get used to their bench being behind a basket instead of on the sidelines. Also, the floor is elevated so the game looks like a Broadway production. Through the years, Vanderbilt teams have enjoyed beating top teams because of their advantage. “Memorial Magic” has been witnessed many times on West End. Recently, Vanderbilt fired their head men’s basketball coach Bryce Drew. Drew came in as an up and coming coach from a mid-major program in Indiana, Valparaiso University. At his opening press conference, Drew discussed coaching a Vanderbilt team to a Final Four. Three years later, the Commodores are looking for a new coach. National names have been rumored to be front runners for the job. Former Georgetown University coach John Thompson III, University of Central Florida coach Johnny Dawkins, Murray State University head coach Matt McMahon and Lipscomb University’s head coach Casey Alexander to name a few have been discussed. All have great resumes, but they all…

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Community Oversight Now Tries to Frighten Athletes Away from Tennessee

Members of the group Community Oversight Now say they have an unorthodox way to keep state legislators from tinkering with Tennessee’s community oversight boards. Those boards, of course, exist, to monitor police. Members of the Tennessee General Assembly want to place guardrails on those boards, which some people say have too much authority and might exist to retaliate against police. Community Oversight Now, not surprisingly, is suiting up for battle. The group’s strategy — discourage as many talented high school athletes as possible from eventually playing sports at Tennessee’s colleges and universities. This, according to a press release members of the organization released Tuesday on their Facebook page. The campaign will target the top-ranked football and basketball high school athletes in the classes of 2020 and 2021. This includes the top 300 football players and top 100 basketball players in the country that rank in recruitment sites such as ESPN 300 and Rivals.com. They also include first and second team all-state athletes in Tennessee and other Mid-South states, the press release said. “The withdrawal of support means we are making a vigorous effort to steer these athletes away from Tennessee institutions and to accept athletic scholarships elsewhere,” according to the press…

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TBI Agents Arrest Former Vanderbilt Nurse, Charge Her with Reckless Homicide of Patient

Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Monday they had arrested a registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and charged her with patient abuse and reckless homicide in December 2017. As The Tennessee Star reported last year, a Vanderbilt nurse administered a paralyzing anesthetic to a patient by mistake this same month. The patient later died. TBI Agents put out a press release Monday saying that they began investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Charlene Murphey, 75 at the time she died. “On December 26, 2017, Mrs. Murphey was a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Radonda Vaught was a registered nurse who was part of the team providing treatment,” according to the press release. “During the course of the investigation, Agents determined that the actions taken by Radonda Vaught were responsible for the abuse of Mrs. Murphey, and her ultimate death. Vaught is no longer an employee of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.” The Davidson County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Vaught, 35, with one count of impaired adult abuse and one count of reckless homicide. Vaught was arrested Monday and booked into the Davidson County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Medical malpractice A Nashville medical malpractice…

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Atlanta Suburb Honors Hometown Hero, Injured Tennessee State Football Player Christion Abercrombie

SOUTH FULTON, Georgia – Cheerleaders, students and football players recently filled Westlake High School’s gymnasium for a pep rally, but there was no football game. School leaders welcomed back injured Tennessee State University football player Christion Abercrombie, a Westlake graduate. It’s the first time Abercrombie has made a public appearance since being injured during the TSU game against cross-town rival Vanderbilt University. He suffered a life-threatening head injury during his team’s 31-27 loss. He collapsed on the sideline. The team knew it was serious, but had no idea he would have emergency surgery on his skull that night and many more ahead. “He understands some days and some days he doesn’t. (It) depends on his mood,” said mom Staci Abercrombie. After several surgeries and lots of prayer, Abercrombie is moving quickly on the road to recovery. “Christion is an inspiration to all of us,” said South Fulton Mayor Bill Edwards. “He has persevered through his head injury. In football sometimes, the other team will recover a fumble. Christion has recovered his own fumble and is still on the road to recovery. Today, December 19, 2018 from now on will be known as Christion Abercrombie Day in the City of South…

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New Vanderbilt University Poll Proves They Are Clueless About Politics And Polling

by Steve Gill, Political Editor of The Tennessee Star   Vanderbilt University has just released a new political poll that has anybody with even a remedial understanding of politics scratching their heads about the methodology and results.  With Christmas approaching it looks like Santa will need to add a new category on his Naughty or Nice checklist to accommodate the Vanderbilt political science experts: Nitwits! First, the poll targeted “registered” rather than “likely” voters, which always guarantees a less informed and involved pool of responses. Those who are “registered,” simply because they are automatically registered when they get a driver’s license but don’t actually vote, are not the folks who spend much time getting informed about the candidates or political issues; nor do they consume much news. Second, the Republican-Democrat composition of the poll gives Republicans a small 7 point margin over Democrats (34-27). Really? In a state that has super majorities of Republicans in the State House and Senate; a 7-2 Republican majority in the Congressional delegation; a 26 point Donald Trump margin of victory over Hillary Clinton; a Bill Lee margin over Karl Dean in 2018 by 22 points; and a Marsha Blackburn victory over Phil Bredesen by…

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OFF THE RECORD: Post-Election Video Highlights Errors of Pollsters and Media in 2018 Tennessee Senate Coverage

  How can so many be so consistently wrong? Poll after poll, and pundit after pundit, claimed that the Bredesen-Blackburn Tennessee Senate race was “close.” It was consistently portrayed as one of the best opportunities for the Democrats to flip a Red seat to Blue in the mid-term elections. But when voters actually cast their votes, as opposed to pollsters calling a few hundred people who were often targeted for calls based upon flawed data, Marsha Blackburn earned the title of “Senator” by a 10.8 percent margin, leaving pollsters red-faced and Democrats despondent. An East Tennessee State University poll released just days before the Election claimed the race was a 44-44% dead heat.  Vanderbilt said the battle was a “tossup” and had Bredesen leading by one in mid October. Real Clear Politics moved the race from “lean GOP” to “tossup” on November 5 — the day before the election! They only missed it by double digits. A new video compilation is making the rounds that underscores how so many “experts” couldn’t see what was actually happening in Tennessee. Despite the best efforts of the pollsters, establishment media and some consultants to undercut the Blackburn campaign at every turn, SENATOR Blackburn…

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OFF THE RECORD: Deviant for a Day? What About Two Years?!

Amidst the daily revelations surrounding the scandalous behavior of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Off the Record thought it might be interesting to explore the teachings of Barry’s extremely liberal husband Bruce, who teaches at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Bruce is a member of the national board of directors of the ACLU and is past President of the Tennessee ACLU chapter. According to his Vanderbilt bio: “Professor Barry’s current and recent research explores the social context of ethical decision making, the intersection of ethics and emotion, and deception and entitlement in negotiation.” (Emphasis added.) Vanderbilt also notes that Professor’s Barry’s expertise is in two particular areas: “(1) social issues in management, including ethics, public policy, and workplace rights; and (2) the psychology of interpersonal and group behavior in organizations, including power, influence, negotiation, conflict and justice.” So, exactly how does Professor Barry impart his expertise and research on these issues into the minds of his students? A review of the course syllabus from one of his classes at Vanderbilt’s Owen School a few years back is instructive. The syllabus details the various class assignments and expectations, grading, etc. for Management 443, Power and Influence in Organizations. One particular assignment of interest, representing…

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Nashville Gay Pride Festival Undermines Traditional Beliefs But Draws Broad Support

Organizers of the Nashville Pride Festival are cheering a resolution passed by the Metro Council recognizing June as “Nashville Pride Month.” The annual gay pride event will be held Saturday and Sunday at Public Square Park. The Metro Council resolution, as well as the event’s corporate sponsors, reflect the degree to which what once was a fringe movement has become mainstream, even here in the South where there are still many churches, a number of which continue to uphold traditional beliefs about marriage and sexuality. The resolution says that “the city of Nashville is honored to welcome members of the LGBT community and their allies to celebrate a very special and important event honoring the diversity, inclusion, and history of the pride and gay rights movement.” The resolution also says that the “celebration and movement continues to grow and celebrates inclusion as a necessary ingredient to making Nashville and the United States truly diverse. Nashville Pride has grown immensely and is now one of the largest public weekend festivals in Middle Tennessee, reminding us to embrace what makes each individual unique and to use those qualities to change the world for the better.” More than 20,000 people attended the festival year. This year,…

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Former Vanderbilt and Chicago Bears Quarterback Jay Cutler Will Likely Retire From NFL, Join Fox Sports as Broadcaster

Cutler auditioned with FOX on Thursday, ESPN reported, citing sources. FOX is in need of a replacement for John Lynch after the latter became the San Francisco 49ers’ general manager earlier this offseason. The 34-year-old Cutler has not officially announced his retirement since being released by the Chicago Bears on March 9. However, potential teams in…

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