A Rhodes College Data Analytics team took home the Best Data Visualization Award at the American Statistical Association (ASA) DataFest held at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, TN, April 24-26.The winning Rhodes team includes Eba Deressa, Aleem Azhar, Golam Hisham, Phuong Tran, and Aayan Pratim Deb.

In making his college decision, the top priority for urban and education studies major Mitchell Leander was community. “I knew I wanted to go someplace where I could do a lot of different things, and I knew that I would be really supported at Rhodes,” says the Nashville native. “Another big reason was because historically the mock trial team is the best in the country. I am interested in law and wanted to learn what it meant to use law as a tool for advocacy.” 

Rhodes College junior Johnathan Burch, who is a political science and health equity double major from Heath Springs, SC, is among 55 outstanding college students from across the country who have been named 2026 Truman Scholars. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation made the announcement today.

Over the course of eight weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lily Grace Richey '27 didn’t just study global issues; as a Mertie Buckman International International Scholar, she lived them.

Dr. Žak Ozmo, a visiting assistant professor of music at Rhodes College, has been named the first recipient of the Health & Wellness Award presented by the Soulsville Foundation. The award will be presented April 30 at Crosstown Theater in Memphis during the foundation’s Power of Music Honors event.

The 2025-2026 mock trial season ended April 17-19 with Rhodes competing in the American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament. Rhodes achieved an impressive fourth place finish. Out of the original 800 teams, only the top 50 made the finals.

Dr. Geoff Bakewell, professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Rhodes College, has been appointed inaugural holder of the Brian D. Joseph Endowed Chair in Classics at the College Year in Athens. His three-year (visiting) term begins Sept. 1, 2026.

Dr. Eric Gottlieb, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Rhodes College, has been granted a Fulbright Scholar Award to teach and conduct research in mathematics at the University of Primorska in Koper, Slovenia from October 2026 to February 2027. This is Gottlieb’s second Fulbright, having receive the award in 2004 to conduct research in Chile and teach calculus courses at the Universidad de Talca.

The highly anticipated Rhodes Giving Day was held April 8, and this year’s event met its goal of reaching 1,000 donors in just one day. The campaign received 1,003 gifts and raised $272,890, highlighting the commitment and passion of supporters.

Dr. Scott Newstok, professor of English and executive director of the Spence Wilson Center for Interdisciplinary Humanities at Rhodes College, has been awarded a four-year grant from the State Research Agency of Spain. This award will support his scholarship on the multilingual heritage of early modern English across legal, religious, political, and literary discourses. Newstok’s project was one of 37 funded among 254 applications; in the three-year history of Spain’s research program, he is the second recipient who works in the humanities, and the only recipient from a liberal arts college.