Apparently, this was ESPN’s decision, but I am not buying that completely. The administration has been doing whatever it can over the past year to cater to the freshmen in every way possible and this is just another way they are doing it. The Commons is nice, but it is really far away from the stadium and 3/4 the campus lives 15 min away not to mention where will non students park to get the this location? I think they may hurt attendance at the event more than help. I would have preferred Alumni Lawn personally. It is similar in landscape to Peabody lawn, and more convenient for everyone.

The Commons is a huge selling point to prospective students and also something that could help Vanderbilt rise in the national rankings. I’m not saying that this should be the rationale in selecting a location for the GameDay set, but I would not be surprised if it was.

Shochat, you raise a fair point, but I don’t think proximity to the stadium matters since kickoff isn’t until 5. Also, if students can’t walk 15 minutes to take part in something that every college student dreams about, then that’s their problem. We are privileged to be at Vanderbilt to experience something like this and if The Commons isn’t packed Saturday morning, then shame on us.

Is The Commons the best spot? Maybe, maybe not. I think we can all agree that it is the most beautiful and will most certainly make Vanderbilt look good to the national audience. I would have loved to have the Vanderbilt sports complex in the backdrop, but I think the GameDay set has gotten too big to fit either on Olin Lawn or by Vandyville. And if it comes down to Alumni Lawn or Peabody, both of which are campus settings, why not pick the prettier location?

I mean I see why they did it. It should help promote the school which also helps recruiting for the football team. I just wish it were closer to the stadium and more convenient for non students to get to. I know I would probably walk 30 min to get there if I had to, but I definitely think that a lot of people will be too tired from Friday night to feel like walking to the Commons for Gameday. I can hear people now " I will just watch it on T.V.“. It is shame on us, but we know Vandy. Students here care more about fratting hard than representing the school as evidenced by the "blackout”. Also, non-students are going to have to walk a ways to get to Commons because parking around there isn’t great…I hope that doesn’t deter people.

Alumni lawn is located within 2 minutes of where about half the student body lives (Tolman, Cole etc., Vandy/Barnard, Kissam, and Towers) and about 4 min from where a good number of others live in Branscomb….I understand your point, but I think that putting it in the middle of Alumni lawn would have been even better for the late Friday Nighters since about 3/4 of the campus could have rolled out of bed and been right there in a minute or two (although i will be there at least an hour early haha). Also, it is closer to all the athletic buildings and is much more convenient for those looking for parking.