The 175th Commencement of Rhodes College will be held Saturday, May 11, at 8:30 a.m. in the Hubert F. Fisher Memorial Garden on campus. Prior to the commencement, the Baccalaureate Service will be held on Friday, May 10, at 3:30 p.m. in the Bryan Campus Life Center.

Cali VanCleve, a Rhodes College sophomore majoring in international studies and Russian, is one of 20 students selected as a Key into Public Service Scholar by The Phi Beta Kappa Society.Chosen from more than 700 applicants attending Phi Beta Kappa chapter institutions across the nation, each 2024 scholar will receive a $5,000 undergraduate scholarship and will participate in an educational conference held in Washington, D.C.

Senior studio art major Alice Malone had her video titled Mask featured at the West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival held April 18-21. Karl Erickson, assistant professor of art at Rhodes, also participated in the festival on a panel discussion about art and artificial intelligence and showed his animation Infinite Choices of Latent Space.

Senior computer science major Abbie Seale worked on a project with University of North Texas researchers last summer, and their research will be published in a special volume focusing on state-of-the-art technologies pertaining to digital information and communications.

Economics and mathematics major Drishti Bhatia ’26 presented the winning pitch at the recent Rhodes College Venture Challenge, gaining the $15,000 Grand Prize to help launch PlatePlan, which she co-founded with business major Winston Gasch ’26. Kyla Bursey ’24 was selected People’s Choice Award winner, based on votes by the audience.

Rhodes College team Jackson Thelen, Caroline Buendia and Audrey Griffith was awarded third place for their oral presentation at the recent Louisiana State University Discover Undergraduate Research Conference. Dr. Jamie Engman, assistant professor of biology, mentored the group.

Recently starring in Rhodes Theatre Guild’s (RTG) production of the musical Amélie, French and Francophone studies and education double major Eliza Fleming ’25 rediscovered her passion for the stage. But more than that, her performance was a testament to how she has come into her own during her time at Rhodes.

Rhodes College’s Office of Academic Affairs has added four new key positions. They are Dr. Elizabeth Thomas, who is now dean for faculty development; Dr. Natalie Person, dean for community engagement/executive director of the Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center; Dr. Sujan Dan, dean for post-graduate and special programs; and Dr. Geoffrey Maddox, associate dean for assessment and academic effectiveness.

The Greater Memphis area is home to hospitals and medical research and teaching facilities that are ranked among the best in the nation. In the fall, senior chemistry major Parth Patel will be attending one of those institutions—the University of Tennessee Health Science Center—thanks to learning opportunities at area hospitals and Rhodes’ Health Professions Advising Office. Also recently, he received the 2024 Chemistry Research Senior Award for work done at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

They were recognized at the college’s annual Awards Convocation held on campus April 26. Dr. Erin Dolgoy of the Department of Politics and Law received the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Teaching. Dr. Larryn Peterson of the Department of Chemistry received the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity.