The History of the Hispanic undergraduate community at Vanderbilt University takes up but a few pages in the book of this Universitys rich tradition. Hispanics did not begin to arrive here until the early parts of the nineteen-eighties. In the beginning, there were just a handful of Hispanics, and together they laiud down the foundations for the first Hispanic organization on campus, the Vanderbilt Association of Hispanic Students. The orginal purpose of VAHS was to give Hispanic students the opportunity to interact with people from the same background, people who understood where they were coming from. Adriana Laza, the organizations founder and first president, started from scratch. At first she had neither an office nor a constitution, not many of the essential [tools] necessary to develop a strong organization. She counted solely on the help of a limited number of members: her meetings rarely exceeded a group of six people. Recruitment efforts began to have an impact on the number of Hispanics arriving here, [In] November 1991, the history of the organization took a turn for the better. The freshman class that entered the University that year was composed of approximately 40 Hispanic students, most of which were eager to contribute to the development of the organization. Elections were held that year and the first board took office. It was composed of five very different people who were truly representative of the diversity within our community: Shirley Collado, the president and first generation Hispanic-American from New York; Pablo Coballasi, the secretary, and Cristobal Mendoza, the treasurer, both international students from Mexico and Venzuela respectively; William Castro, the Committee Chairperson, and Vanessa Perez, both Hispanics who reside in the the U.S. The impact of the new board was felt immediately. The first thing they did was to establish themselves in an office and write a constitution for the organization. The group began to organize itself more neatly; the number of people at meetings increased and the number of activities and events increased as well. The founders of VAHS would never have imagined that with the help of a small number of people and in such a short amount of time, VAHS could develop into what it is today; an energetic and vital part of the Vanderbilt community that keep growing every year.
Ustariz, Lily. Enlace. October 1996. Volume 6.1.

Our Mission is to provide an embracing community that fosters interaction, unity, diversity, teaching, learning and fun while striving to build upon our differences as well as our similarities or the empowerment of the members of VAHS. We connect with the greater Vanderbilt and Nashville communities and extend our diverse cultures through organized activities that promotes awareness, education and interaction.

The Constitution of the Vanderbilt Association of Hispanic Students