<P> In 2002, the university decided to rename Confederate Memorial Hall, a residence hall on the Peabody campus to Memorial Hall . Nationwide attention resulted, in part due to a lawsuit by the Tennessee chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy . The Davidson County Chancery Court dismissed the lawsuit in 2003, but the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled in May 2005 that the university must pay damages based on the present value of the United Daughters of the Confederacy's contribution if the inscription bearing the name "Confederate Memorial Hall" was removed from the building or altered . The Court of Appeals' decision has been critiqued by legal scholars . In late July 2005, the university announced that although it had officially renamed the building, and all university publications and offices will refer to it solely as Memorial Hall, the university would neither appeal the matter further, nor remove the inscription and pay damages . In August 2016, the university agreed to remove the word "Confederate" from the building after "anonymous donors" donated $1.2 million to repay the United Daughters of the Confederacy . </P> <P> In 2009, Vanderbilt instituted a no - loan policy . The policy states that any student granted admission and a need - based aid package will have an award that includes no student loans . Following this, in 2015, Vanderbilt implemented Opportunity Vanderbilt, which committed the University to need - blind admissions, meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need of admitted students, and including only grants in awards . </P> <P> In 2011, the Oakland Institute, an Oakland, California - based think tank, exposed Vanderbilt University's $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 . By 2013, Vanderbilt administrators had divested from EMVest . </P> <P> In 2015, Vanderbilt opened a new innovation center, the Wond'ry, as part of its Academic Strategic Plan . The three - story, 13,000 - square foot building is meant to serve as an interdisciplinary hub of knowledge for the Vanderbilt community, serving as the location of hackathons, partnerships with the Nashville Entrepreneurship Center, and several social venture programs . </P>

What is the university of vanderbilt known for