Gridiron Belles

It’s official, Vanderbilt was one of my favorite stops of the tour!

Monday night, I was welcomed at the Vanderbilt KD house by an eager audience of fellow KD ladies.  Twenty minutes later, I was out in the dining room signing books for some of the most wonderful women I have met this fall.

These women were kind, genuine and excited to read about their school and it’s place in the world of SEC football.  These KDs were asking questions about pass interference, how to improve their tailgates, how quickly thank you notes should be sent and how to land a post graduation job in Washington, D.C. .

This stop at Vanderbilt was exactly what I hoped my tour would be, a chance to reach out to young women and help motivate them to follow their dreams the way I have followed mine.

Fast forward to Friday at the You’re Invited book signing. What a huge success!  Anna, the owner, was generous enough to lend me her adorable tailgate items so I could display them on Talk of the Town, a local variety show.  You’re Invited has everything a Gridiron Belle needs for hosting a tailgate and stocking up on hostess gifts.   I did some shopping myself and checked off my hostess gifts for my last 5 games of the tour!

Saturday morning was a beautiful day for a football game, and almost the perfect day for an upset. However, an early morning text from my favorite KD, Hali, assured me that hell had not frozen over and in fact, it was eerily quiet on fraternity row just two hours before kickoff.

Because I needed to know for myself, I headed to campus anyway to gather what material I could. Sure enough it was a ghost town. I saw tumbleweeds in the road, empty lawns and grills still covered without hot charcoal.

Arkansas on the other hand, had arrived early and was collapsing on the stadium in large numbers.  I was impressed by the Arkansas faithful and the outfits of their Belles!

A slow start in the Greek world, however, did not influence the speed of the Commodores on the field.  The Vandy football team dominated the entire game against the 10^th ranked Razborbacks and  started to show the SEC world just how much potential the ‘Dores have.

I scooted out of town before I was able to see the post almost-biggest-win-of-the-season festivities but I heard the celebrating was in full effect. No fear, pictures have been sent and clearly indicate those Commodore students know how to party… they just get a little bit of a late start.

Vanderbilt moved up in the Gridiron Belles rankings. I loved the people, the town and the tenancity that the team played with on the field. I’m looking forward to my next visit and a chance to wear black and gold again!

Thank you Kappa Deltas, Hali, and You’re Invited, you made my trip so very memorable.

Xs and Os,

Christie Leigh