Roots at Rhodes, a student organization on campus dedicated to gardening and the study of plants, recently was presented the Mike Kirby Service Award at the annual meeting of the Vollintine Evergreen Community Association. The award—established in 2015 and named in honor of retired Rhodes urban studies professor Dr. Mike Kirby—recognizes volunteers who have rendered exceptional service to the association.

Ada Limòn, the 24th United States Poet Laureate, will read from her poetry as part of the annual Jack D. Farris Visiting Writers Series at Rhodes College on Thursday, Feb. 23. Free and open to the public, the event begins at 5:30 p.m. in the McCallum Ballroom of the Bryan Campus Life Center on campus and will be followed by a reception and book signing.

Dr. Shadrack W. Nasong’o, professor of international studies, is co-editor of the new book The Palgrave Handbook of Kenyan History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) with Maurice N. Amutabi of Technical University of Kenya and Toyin Falola of the University of Texas at Austin.

Roots successfully launched the college’s first-ever compost project last semester, adding to the sustainability efforts initiated by students at Rhodes.

Dr. Sarah Rollens, the R.A. Webb Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College, has been appointed as the next executive editor of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.

Ten international studies majors have been selected as Mertie Buckman International Interns to travel abroad and intern in a country of their choosing during 2023.

Rhodes College has established a $1 million endowment thanks to the generosity of Patricia and Charles Robertson, Jr. The Charles and Patricia Robertson Biology Faculty Research Fund will provide $50,000 annually to the Department of Biology to fund new and ongoing faculty-led research projects.

The Rhodes College chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) is the recipient of an Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS National Office, a designation given to fewer than 10 percent of all SPS chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally.

Dr. Francisco O. “Frank” Mora recently was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States. He served on the Rhodes College faculty from 1994 to 2004.

The Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) has announced that Dr. Eric Henager, associate professor of Spanish at Rhodes College, is one of 10 academic leadership fellows, following a competitive selection process among ACS member institutions. The ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows program, supported by a $1.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is aimed at providing leadership experiences to a diverse cohort of humanities faculty members, thereby expanding the demographics of academic administrations at ACS colleges and eventually beyond.