Vanderbilt is big winner after reforms

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2007 | by Tom Weir

NASHVILLE -- Academic pride has made sports different at Vanderbilt University. Consider the graffiti on the wall of a men's bathroom stall at McGugin Center, the main athletics building.

There's an inspirational quote from Gandhi. Right next to that, someone has chosen to pass his private time by listing all 50 states, in meticulous alphabetical order.

Despite a 93% graduation rate for Vanderbilt athletes, the sports world generally agreed the school's chief egghead had cracked four years ago.

Chancellor Gordon Gee disbanded the athletic department, did away with the position of athletics director -- and decreed Commodore sports would meld into the cumbersomely named Division of Student Life and University Affairs. The goal, Gee said, was to fully...