Nyob rau hauv 2011, the Oakland Institute, an Oakland, California-based think tank, exposed Vanderbilt University’s US$26 million investment in EMVest Asset Management, a private equity firm “ accused of ‘land grabbing,’ or taking over agricultural land used by local communities through exploitative practices and using it for large-scale commercial export farming … in five sub-Saharan African countries, including Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. ” The revelation made international headlines, with coverage in The Guardian, and led to student protests on campus in 2012.
ក្នុង 1979, Vanderbilt បានទទួល Peabody មហាវិទ្យាល័យ, បន្ទាប់មកគេហៅថាជា “Peabody មហាវិទ្យាល័យចចសម្រាប់គ្រូបង្រៀន”, រស់នៅលើ 53 ហិចតានៅជិតសាកលវិទ្យាល័យ. នៅដើមទសវត្សរ៍ឆ្នាំ 1980, សាកលវិទ្យាល័យ Vanderbilt ជាអ្នកគាំទ្រហិរញ្ញវត្ថុនៃសាជីវកម្មរបស់អាមេរិកកែតម្រូវមុនពេល IPO របស់ខ្លួន.