Dr. Scott Newstok, executive director of the Spence Wilson Center for Interdisciplinary Humanities at Rhodes, has collaborated with John Guillory on a new book titled On Close Reading (University of Chicago Press, 2025) and produced the Close Reading Archive, a free public humanities database.

A business major with an interest in marketing, Addison Leonard completed a marketing internship in the fall of 2024 with ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and will travel to the Czech Republic in the spring on a Buckman Fellowship to study business and marketing.

Bryce Hayes, who received a bachelor’s degree in history in 2020, has been named one of College Sports Communicators’ 30 Under 30 for 2024. He is the director of sports information and sports marketing at Texas Lutheran University.

Catherine Prabish won first place for her oral presentation, and Jack Harper received honorable mention for his poster presentation at the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Conference held in November.

Dr. Timothy Huebner, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Rhodes, is the 2024 recipient of the John T. Hubbell Prize for best article published in the past year in Civil War History. The awarded is presented annually by The Kent State University Press and the winner determined by the journal’s prize selection committee.

Rhodes Mock Trial Team A won the inaugural Texas Showdown, an invitational tournament hosted by the University of Texas School of Law Nov. 16-17. Top teams from across the nation competed. In addition to Rhodes winning the tournament, Bell Tucci was named an Outstanding Attorney and Maya Bridgeman was named an Outstanding Witness.

Julie Gehrki, a member of the Rhodes Class of 2002, has been named president of the Walmart Foundation and promoted to senior vice president of philanthropy at Walmart.

Biology major Sophie Snodgrass ’26 knew she wanted to be a veterinarian from early childhood, and at Rhodes the Fayetteville, AR, native is gaining invaluable hands-on experience with giraffes, rhinos, zebras, and other exotic animals through internships at the Memphis Zoo.

Dr. Michael LaRosa, associate professor of history at Rhodes, is a leading expert on Latin American history and culture. His latest book, co-written with Rhodes alumnus Bryce Ashby, is titled Immigration, Policy and the People of Latin America: Seven Sending Nations and will be released Nov. 20 by Routledge.

Rhodes College sophomore Dania Verbena is the recipient of the Premio “Joven Inspiración Guatemalteca” (Young Guatemalan Inspiration Award) from the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala and Jóvenes Artistas por la Justicia Social. This award is presented to young individuals for their innovative leadership and transformative impact on society.