New home for VUSM trophies, including one thought long forgotten

Thank you to the Class of 2016, in conjunction with the Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association, for their class gift of a new trophy case for the student lounge.

The new trophy case will house several awards and trophies, including the Boards Bash trophy, the College Cup, and a 1985 lacrosse trophy. Yes, a lacrosse trophy!

For years this trophy has called the student lounge home, but how did it get there? Thanks to a recent visit from alumni Dr. Ted Chambers, class of 1987, we now know the history.

Dr. Chambers visited campus with his family and took a stroll through Light Hall, where a first-year student let him tour the student lounge. There in the lounge sat the trophy from the first official Volunteer State Lacrosse Club game between Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee, which Vanderbilt won.

In 1985, Dr. Chambers was a coach and a player. He remembered that game being particularly fierce because of the in-state rivalry. The game was wet and muddy, and UT had a comeback after halftime, but Vanderbilt prevailed!

He recalled lacrosse being the source of a lot of jokes since few down south were familiar with the game back then, so he brought sticks to all the med school picnics and outdoor events to introduce the sport to his class.

Dr. Chambers gave the trophy to Dr. Felts (the Dean of Students at the time) and not knowing what to do with it, Dr. Felts put it on a shelf in his office. What a surprise to find that trophy over 30 years later!

“Someone had the respect (or sense of humor) to keep the trophy after I left Vandy, and it now is found in an amazingly prominent location, with two other trophies at its side in the lounge. I cannot believe it is still there and that it is intact. Someone thought enough of this small artifact from 1985 to preserve it and to give it a place in Light Hall, most likely not knowing whose it was. This person nonetheless felt that it was important simply because a VU medical student had probably brought it there. That was a huge surprise to me, a very special moment,” wrote Dr. Chambers.

Dr. Ted Chambers earned a medical degree with honors from Vanderbilt University and completed his internship and residency training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he published seminal papers in radiology and received international recognition for his work. After completing his residency, he accepted the position of Winthrop Fellow in Body Imaging and Instructor at Johns Hopkins Hospital followed by fellowship training in vascular and interventional radiology at the Miami Vascular Institute. While practicing in the metropolitan area of Washington, DC, he consistently earned recognition as a “Top Doctor” in Washingtonian magazine. Board certified in radiology, Dr. Chambers specializes in dialysis access management as well as uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), a non-surgical treatment for uterine fibroids that he has been performing since 1998.

A native of Baltimore, MD, he attended Hampden-Sydney College on an academic merit scholarship, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude and was the college’s first NCAA lacrosse All-American. He is active in his community and continues to pursue his passion for lacrosse, coaching both boys and girls in the sport.

Come visit us often, Dr. Chambers…and be sure to bring some sticks next time!