The year 2025-26 might just end up being the best in Vanderbilt sports history. This success is due, in no small part, to the work of proud Commodore Candice Storey Lee, who has been at Vanderbilt University since arriving on campus as a student in 1996. After a playing career on the Vanderbilt basketball team and an academic career that boasts three degrees, Lee began her professional career in the Vanderbilt Athletics department under trailblazing former athletic director and Vice Chancellor David Williams II. Nearly two decades later, Lee became AD herself.
As the vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs, Lee has a clear vision of what she wants Vanderbilt sports to be-namely, a winning program. That she's been able to execute on that vision is a testament to her leadership, which she says is built on having core values that, when practiced every day, create the conditions that allow for success. Now that success has arrived, Lee has no plans to let it go. "When you've lost a lot, you have gratitude for winning," she says. "And you know you can't take it for granted, so I never will."
CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL
Ironically, Lee says one of the keys to winning is to not focus on winning, because so much of it depends on factors you can't control. "It's easy to lament things you can't control," she says. "We never want to do that." Instead, she says, her focus is on helping create the conditions that set up Vanderbilt-coaches and student-athletes-for success. "It's then up to each individual to give their maximum effort. You can't always control for winning, but you can always control your ability to compete."
IT STARTS WITH VALUES
How do you create a healthy environment that allows for the greatest chance of success? By identifying core values and consistently acting in accordance with them, regardless of the situation. Lee sees the values of Vanderbilt Athletics as integrity, leadership, resilience, passion and competitiveness. "It's okay to feel how you feel, but what really matters is what you do," she says. "You are accountable for what you do, how you act and how you respond. That shows the true character of who you are."
DON'T FORGET TO HAVE FUN…
Lee highlights joy as another important value. "I know from being a slightly above average athlete that winning is a result, but it's not the thing that brings you joy," she says. "It's the commitment to the process, pushing yourself and achieving your potential. I don't see how you can not have joy in a healthy culture. I mean, we're playing games. We're having fun. Yes, we're serious about the work-we just don't take ourselves too seriously."
…BUT DON'T GET COMPLACENT
While Vanderbilt's FirstBank Stadium was being renovated, there was some talk that Vanderbilt should temporarily play home football games elsewhere. It was hard to move around, and the video board was hanging from cranes. But Lee saw it as a good opportunity to send an important message. "I thought it was really important to play in FirstBank, once I got confirmation it was safe to do so," she says. "Because there are some people who will think [our success] happened overnight. And what I wanted was for fans, alumni and student-athletes to watch that space be transformed while we came in every single day. It's a beautiful reminder that change doesn't happen overnight and of what trusting the process looks like."
"I have learned that you have to put your energy where you're going to get maximum return." - Candice Story Lee
HAVE A NEXT-PLAY MENTALITY
One of the lessons from her days on the Commodore basketball team is this: Always have a next-play mentality. Dwelling on past mistakes is a surefire way to make more in the future. "You can train yourself to move to the next thing," she says. "You still get into the film room, and you figure out why you made that mistake. You're probably going to make some new ones. But you watch film so you don't make the same mistake again."
FOCUS ON THE MAIN THING
"Keeping the main thing the main thing" is important, Lee says. For Vanderbilt, that's combining academic distinction with championship-level athletic performance to transform the lives of young people. "Everything should be about that," she says. But even though she has a vision of where she wants to go, she needs the help of the head coaches to carry it out-and she's hired seven since becoming Vanderbilt's athletic director. "I'm looking for people who believe deeply in what Vanderbilt is, because every day is not sunny. If your foundation isn't strong and you don't believe in it, then on the days that are challenging, it's going to be hard to stay motivated." To focus on the main thing, she says, you have to eliminate distraction. "I have learned that you have to put your energy where you're going to get maximum return. If it doesn't tie to that, and to our high aspirations, then it's a distraction. It's noise. As a leader, you have to learn how to identify noise because we have a finite period of time, and I really want to make the most of it."
