Dr. Leslie Petty, professor of English and the T.K. Young Chair of English Literature, has co-edited a new book titled Voices and Visions: Essays on New Orleans's Literary History (University Press of Mississippi).

Megan Starling, director of admission at Rhodes College, received the William Starling Award for Mentoring at the annual conference of the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling held March 30-31 in Atlanta. In her tenure at Rhodes, she has held leadership roles in campus hospitality while also managing territory assignments and application/scholarship review processes. She also has supervised the entire admission team including all student employees and Rhodes Student Associates.

Dana Potter, a junior psychology major and Nolan Colladay, a senior business major, presented research at the 40th annual Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference, which was held April 2-5 in Denver, CO, and brought together leading experts, researchers, and practitioners from around the globe.

Dr. Miriam Clinton, associate professor of art and art history and the L. Palmer Brown Chair of Interdisciplinary Humanities, has been named one of nine Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows. Each fellow takes on a two-year role at their institution involving a portfolio of responsibilities or a distinct institutional project.Clinton will assume the role of associate dean for teaching, learning, and emerging technologies.

Julie Gehrki, an alumna of Rhodes College and president of the Walmart Foundation and senior vice president of philanthropy at Walmart, will receive the 2025 Luminary Award presented by the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation at its centennial celebration, set for April 11 in Nashville.

Maya Khalife-Hamdan, a senior with a double majoring in international studies and Spanish, presented a poster of her Honors project in international studies at the 82nd Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference held in Chicago April 3-6.

Rhodes senior Eleanor Ellsworth, who is pursuing a double major in biology and Chinese studies, represented her research group at the ASIANetwork 2025 Annual Conference and presented results from their project titled “Asian Foodways in Memphis: Reasons for Rebrands.” The group includes Sophia Burke ’26, Stella Venn ’25, Gwen Williams ’24, and Silvia Flores ’24.

Members of the Rhodes community celebrated the many paths that lead students to Rhodes and into their futures. Rhodes Giving Day was held April 2-3, and the campaign received 1,210 gifts and raised $236,490.

Rhodes students Jennifer Bui ’26, Hugh Ferguson ’27, Layla Lammers ’27, Trinity Liaw ’25, and Catherine Prabish ’27 traveled to Washington, D.C., in March to discuss their undergraduate research with U.S. senators and representatives. The trip was part of their participation in the Students Transforming Through Research Advocacy Program presented by The Council on Undergraduate Research.

The Spence Wilson Center for Interdisciplinary Humanities at Rhodes College will host a conversation with Dr. Shelly Lowe, former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities on April 24. Lowe will speak on “Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future: The State of the Humanities Today.”