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Green Spaces
Filled with centuries-old magnolias and
dozens of other species of trees, the Vanderbilt
campus was certified by the Association
of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta as
a national arboretum in 1988. Vanderbilt’s
arboretum specializes in native species, although
students affixing flyers to some of the specimens
probably don’t notice whether they’re
stapling into a shagbark hickory or a sassafras
tree. The trees—6,000 of them by one estimate—form
a leafy canopy over a living mosaic
of grassy lawns and flowering plants, offering
quiet spots to walk or pause and reflect.
Nature lovers should stop by the Vanderbilt
bookstore and pick up a copy of a small paperback,
The Trees of Vanderbilt, which suggests
several campus walking routes and tells more
information about the trees.
One of the most notable trees on campus
is the Bicentennial Oak. Near Rand, the tree
dates to the Revolutionary War and was designated
a Bicentennial tree during the country’s
200th birthday celebration in 1976. You’ll
also find some very old Osage orange trees,
catalpas, pawpaws and princess trees that
sport showy purple blooms in the spring.
The iris garden next to the Divinity School
includes numerous Dykes Medal-awarded
hybrids. You can see much more exotic species
of plants at the Vanderbilt Greenhouses
(Stevenson Center, Building 2, Seventh Floor,
615/322-4654), where Jonathan Ertelt, greenhouses
manager, is happy to show off the
orchids, African violets, lipstick plants, bromeliads,
aroids, cacti, succulents and other plants
that flourish under his care.
F or more greenery, head across West End
Avenue to Centennial Park, Nashville’s
version of New York’s Central Park. Centennial
Park is a popular destination for Vanderbilt
students, with plenty of paved paths and
roads for running, inline skating and biking.
The park’s centerpiece is the Parthenon, the
world’s only full-scale replica of the original
Greek temple in Athens. It’s also the city
of Nashville’s art museum. Inside, sculptor
Alan LeQuire, BA’78, spent years on his rendition
of the “Colossus of Athena Parthenons,”
goddess of war and patron of Athens. LeQuire’s
giant, gold-leafed statue of Athena is the best
estimate of what the original in ancient Greece
looked like and, standing 42 feet, is the largest
indoor statue in the
Western world.
The park also features
a mile-long road
for running or walking,
plus a band shell
and models of a
steam locomotive and
an Air Force fighter
jet. You can relax and
feed the ducks at Lake
Watauga, a large
pond with paddleboats
for rent. In the summertime, huge crowds
gather at the park for craft fairs, free film
showings, symphony performances, big-band
dances, and annual events such as the Nashville
Shakespeare Festival.
V a n d e r b i l t M a g a z i n e 51