JD Willis, a Rhodes College first-year student from Madison, AL, will perform the role of Jean-Michel in Theatre Memphis’ production of La Cage aux Folles. The musical runs March 4-27. Students enrolled in Rhodes dance courses taught by choreographer Whitney Branan this semester are planning to attend the show. “Performing for an audience brings out a unique energy that doesn’t come from anywhere else,” says Willis.

Dr. Charles McKinney, the Neville Frierson Bryan Chair of Africana Studies at Rhodes and associate professor of history, recently was appointed to the Shelby County Historical Commission. In the role, he will help to preserve the history of Shelby County, TN. Members of the commission are nominated by the Shelby County Mayor and approved by the Shelby County Commission to serve four-year terms. Votes by the commission for McKinney’s appointment were unanimous.

Last summer, Jay Chatterjee '23 served as a Policy Research Intern in Macedonia, Greece, and is excited to again intern abroad this summer in London as a recipient of a Mertie W. Buckman International Internship Award. “The Rhodes Edge is real," says Chatterjee. "That’s helped with my internships and networking. To me, it’s all about bridging the gaps. It is about learning in a smaller, liberal arts environment and then applying what we are learning in a broader, global context.”

Rhodes College is included on the list of more the 125 U.S. colleges and universities that have sent the most Fulbright U.S. Scholars and Students to study and work abroad in the 2021-2022 academic year. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s highly prestigious international educational exchange program, and each year the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the top producing institutions in the program.

Rhodes College faculty continuously explore topics in their areas of expertise and produce publishable work. The roundup shares some of their research and creative activity in the last three months.

Rhodes College senior Sabrina Simpson recently won the Undergraduate Paper Prize presented at the Southeast Regional Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. The award was for her paper, “Animal Ethics in Thai Buddhism,” which she wrote for the Buddhism in Thai Society Summer 2021 course taught by Dr. Brooke Schedneck.

The Rhodes Women’s Basketball team finished the regular season 20-2 overall and 12-0 against Southern Athletic Association (SAA) opponents with a win over the Hendrix College Warriors Feb. 15. This is the first time in program history that the team finished their conference schedule undefeated. Go Lynx!

Since its beginnings in 2018, the Wellness and Stress Clinic of Memphis has offered a wealth of primary care, mental and behavioral health services, legal services, and health lifestyle classes. Dr. Peter Hossler, assistant professor of urban studies at Rhodes College, is program director and oversees grant writing initiatives at the clinic.

The Rhodes College chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) has won an Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS National Office. The designation is given to fewer than 10 percent of all SPS chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally, and it recognizes high levels of outreach as well as unique approaches to fulfilling the mission of SPS to “help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community.” The Rhodes chapter is advised by Professor of Physics Dr. Brent Hoffmeister and is led by student officers Giuliana Hofheins ’22 and Olivia Kaufmann ’23, both physics majors.

A classroom discussion led by Dr. Charles McKinney, the Neville Frierson Bryan Chair of Africana Studies at Rhodes and associate professor of history, is airing during Black History Month on NBCLX, a digital news network owned by NBCUniversal. Taped during the 2021 fall semester, the broadcast focuses on how McKinney and his students are tackling uncomfortable conversations about America’s past and present.