The Rhodes College Orchestra is a finalist in the college/university division of The American Prize national non-profit competitions in the performing arts. The orchestra is being recognized for a 2018 performance of Terry Riley’s In C, including video by Karl Erickson, assistant professor of art at Rhodes, and lighting work by alumnus Marcus Tate ’19.

Dr. Timothy Huebner, associate provost and the Irma O. Sternberg Professor of History at Rhodes College, has been admitted into the 2021–2022 Senior Leadership Academy of the Council of Independent Colleges and the American Academic Leadership Institute. Up to 40 participants from independent colleges and universities are selected for the competitive year-long program, which is intended for administrators advancing in responsibilities in college administration or seeking senior leadership positions.

Rhodes College physics major Giuliana Hofheins ’22 has been selected to receive a Society of Physics Students (SPS) Leadership Scholarship for $4,000 based on her outstanding academic performance and SPS participation. She is co-founder of Rhodes’ Aerospace Engineering Club and president of SPS at Rhodes.

Art students at Rhodes this spring found new opportunities to express themselves virtually. Including collaborations with artists in the Memphis community and with support from faculty, their work culminated in three major projects that are available to view virtually on the Rhodes College website.

The Mike Curb Institute for Music at Rhodes College's New Arboretum Records label has released a new arrangement of "America the Beautiful" that recasts the song in Memphis and the Mississippi Delta and features Bobby Rush, Eddie Cotton, A-list Memphis musicians, and Rhodes College students.

Dr. Russell Wigginton, a member of the Rhodes Class of 1988, has been named president of the National Civil Rights Museum. He will begin the new position August 1. Wigginton’s professional career also spans more than two decades at Rhodes, having served as vice president of student life, vice president of external programs, vice president for college relations, assistant to the president for community relations, and faculty member in the history department.

Carroll D. Stevens, J.D., took office today as interim president of Rhodes College. A member of the Rhodes College Board of Trustees, President Stevens is one of the country’s top innovative leaders in education. Since 2013, he has served as president of the public benefit corporation Ardeo Education Solutions, and he recently served as vice president for advancement at Claremont McKenna College.

Dr. Rashna Richards, professor of English and chair of media studies at Rhodes College, has been promoted to dean for faculty reviews and assessment effective July 1, 2021. She has served as director for faculty reviews since 2019 as part of the Office of Academic Affairs’ leadership teams.

Environmental science major Claire McGuire ’20 was a member of a research team at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, in 2018, focused on recording and analyzing microplastic pollution in New England salt marshes. Now, she is one of the authors of “Salt Marsh Sediments Act As Sinks For Microplastics And Reveal Effects Of Current And Historical Land Use Changes” published in the international peer-reviewed journal Environmental Advances.

In September 2019, Rhodes College’s Liberal Arts in Prison Program began its first for-credit classes—a four-course, 12-credit sequence called Culture and Values—with inmates of the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center (WTRC), a 1,200-bed facility operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction in Henning, TN. In May, five participants received an Undergraduate Certificate in Liberal Arts from Rhodes at a graduation ceremony held at WTRC.