The theme for Open Access Week 2017 was “Open in order to: __________.” In keeping with this theme, Vanderbilt University invited speakers and held events that were demonstrative of the core principal of the University’s current strategic plan, which states “Vanderbilt University aspires to shape the future of higher education and to foster the creation of knowledge that together improve the human condition.” Events focused on bridging the information inequity gap through the creation and dissemination of Open Educational Resources and open textbooks, encouraging early career researchers to publish openly, and provided guidance on contributing to and using the largest collection of rights-free material, Wikipedia. Open Access Week 2017 events were sponsored by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library, the Vanderbilt Institute for Digital Learning, the Office of the Associate Provost for Digital Learning, and the Vanderbilt Center for Digital Humanities. The Open Access Week events held at Vanderbilt were an official OpenCon Nashville event.