Sarah Catherine “SC” Perot’s many Vanderbilt roles—volunteer, adjunct professor, ambassador—keep Perot, BS’13, active at the university. But her service also works to expand and enhance alumni engagement, which benefits the entire Commodore community.
As chair of the first Next Generation Leadership Summit Host Committee, she worked with fellow alumni and the university’s Development and Alumni Relations team to engage young graduates who are committed to long-term leadership and philanthropy.
Years in the making—the event was initially conceptualized in 2022—the summit became an outlet where Perot could celebrate and share her enthusiasm for Vanderbilt with others.
“It’s really incredible that I am still making new Vanderbilt friends,” she says. “I believe that if I am able to re-engage someone with the university, it’s going to be a huge gift in their life.”
The three-day summit in fall 2024 provided the group an unprecedented opportunity to gather, network and learn directly from university leaders, board members and one another to cultivate a deeper relationship with Vanderbilt and to focus on advocacy and support.
“I believe that if I am able to re-engage someone with the university, it’s going to be a huge gift in their life.”
Perot spoke in a panel discussion about lifelong engagement and leadership. Attendees also heard directly from leaders about the student experience and such key university initiatives as Immersion Vanderbilt, Dialogue Vanderbilt, Career Advancement and Engagement, and Future VU.
“We accomplished our goal in that every attendee left reinvigorated and recommitted to leaving their mark on the university—whether through time, talent or treasure,” Perot says. “I’m so grateful to the development team for the extraordinary personal touch they add to this type of alumni engagement.”
Perot has also become a consistent philanthropic supporter of numerous initiatives across the university. She made her first major gift commitment in 2023, further highlighting a dedication to and belief in Vanderbilt that began long before she graduated. Her Vanderbilt experience began while in high school, when she first stepped on campus to visit her older brother Hill Perot, BA’09, and her time as a student only strengthened her Commodore spirit.
Perot has remained deeply connected since graduation, even returning to serve in a faculty role in fall 2023 after a career in law. She became an adjunct professor in the Department of Human and Organizational Development, her own bachelor’s program, and she relishes the opportunity to mentor students with the familiar emphasis on connection.
“I encourage my students to see our class as an opportunity to form a new community at Vanderbilt,” she says. “If I can help facilitate new friendships, new relationships, that’s such a gift to me.”
—Connie Harris
