Nearly disbanded after the pandemic, the Rhodes Outdoor Organization has been completely revamped under a new executive board and was named the 2023 Student Organization of the Year at the annual Campus Life Awards.

Anne Strickland, director of student engagement at Rhodes College, recently received the Award for Fraternal Excellence from Kappa Alpha Order at its annual convention held in Orlando, FL.

Rhodes College marks its 175th anniversary this year and is celebrating with a full schedule of events as it reflects on its liberal arts and sciences history and embarks on a future that will continue to inspire students, transform lives, graduate trailblazers, and advance the college’s national and international stature. As part of the celebration, the inauguration of the 21st president of Rhodes College, Jennifer M. Collins, will take place Oct. 21.

As part of its 175th anniversary celebration, Rhodes College will present a conversation with New York Times op-ed columnist and author David Brooks on American Politics and Society at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 21, in McNeill Concert Hall.

At the beginning of the school year, Rhodes holds a highly successful Meet the Firms event, with accounting firms, finance firms, and corporations on site to meet students with accounting-related career interests (accounting, finance, computer science, data analytics, etc.).

Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College will present Young, Gifted and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art on Sept. 8. Making its debut in the American South and on view through Dec. 9, 2023, this wide-ranging exhibition highlights artists of African descent whose work explores politics, identity, and art history, among other themes.

Rhodes College scored 4.5 out of five stars on the Campus Pride Index, which rates colleges and universities nationally based on institutional commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policies, programs, and practices.

The 15 participants of Rhodes’ Summer Service Fellowship program fanned across Memphis this summer, each completing 35 hours per week of community engagement. Now in its 20th year, the program gave Rhodes students the opportunity to work with a Memphis nonprofit organization of their choosing.

Dr. Shadrack W. Nasong'o, professor of international studies at Rhodes, is co-editor of African Immigrants and the American Experience: Race, Anti-Black Violence, and the Quest for the American Dream. Born and raised in Western Kenya, he has been widely recognized for his prolific research and scholarship on Africa.

The Rhodes Theatre Guild won eight awards at the Ostrander Awards which celebrates excellence in collegiate, community, and professional theater in the greater Memphis area. The Wire in the Garden ensemble brought home seven of the eight awards, and Maggie Emmendorfer won leading actress for Once Upon a Mattress.