Caroline Johnson ’26 Awarded Watson Fellowship to Travel the World While Studying the Economics of Artisanal Traditions

Caroline Johnson, a Rhodes College senior from Nashville, TN, has been selected for the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides a $40,000 stipend for a 12-month journey to pursue an original project on a global scale. She is one of only 40 fellows chosen nationwide for 2026. Watson Fellows have the freedom to decide where to travel and when to change course, without the need to affiliate with an academic institution or hold formal employment. The program is designed to produce a year of personal insight, perspective, and confidence.

Rhodes Women’s Basketball Makes History Finishing Season Undefeated

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!

Rhodes College Society of Physics Students Recognized with National Award

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.

African American History Class Taught by Prof. Charles McKinney Featured on NBCLX

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.

Rhodes Mock Trial Team Wins Regional Championship, Despite Challenges Caused by Ice Storm

Facing massive power outages in Memphis caused by the recent ice storm, the Rhodes College mock trial teams quickly packed up and headed to Olive Branch, MS, to turn hotel rooms into courtrooms for Regional Tournaments hosted by Connecticut College and Pennsylvania State University via Zoom Feb. 5-6. Rhodes B finished as Regional Champions with a perfect record after defeating teams from the University of Maryland, SUNY-Binghampton, Holy Cross, and Villanova.

Rhodes Alums Present Research at National Meeting of the Society for Classical Studies

Rhodes College alumni Adam Wyatt ’21 and Veronica Kilanowski-Doroh ’21 recently presented research at the annual meeting of the Society for Classical Studies, which is the national association for classical studies. Their papers were written in conjunction with Ancient Mediterranean Studies courses at Rhodes in the fall of 2020 and selected by anonymous reviewers appointed by Eta Sigma Phi, the honorary society for the discipline.

Senior Biology Major Sinead Eksteen Wins Scholarship and Map Competition for GIS Research

Sinead Eksteen ’22, a biology major from Vienna, VA, won the annual scholarship presented by the Memphis Area Geographic Information Council. The $2,000 award was announced at the group’s Geospatial Conference recently held at the Memphis Botanic Garden. Eksteen submitted a written research proposal and then gave a 20-minute research talk titled “Benthic Biodiversity and Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise in the Chesapeake Bay” at the conference.