News and information about the Rhodes campus experience.

Annual awards were presented at Rhodes College’s Alumni Convocation on Nov. 16 during Homecoming/Reunion Weekend. Dr. William Van Davidson from the Class of 1962 received the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Sherry L. Turner from the Class of 1984 received the 2019 Black Student Association Distinguished Alumni Award.

After a competitive national search, Rhodes College president Dr. Marjorie Hass has appointed Dr. Katherine Clay Bassard as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs effective July 1, 2020. Bassard earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University, an M.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a doctorate from Rutgers University. She will also serve as professor of English and Africana studies.

Rhodes and WKNO-TV will present a screening and panel discussion of “College Behind Bars.” The film tells the story of incarcerated individuals in New York turning their lives around while pursuing college degrees. Since 2016, Prof. Stephen Haynes has directed Rhodes’ Liberal Arts in Prison Program at the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center in Henning, TN.

The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded Rhodes College a $300,000 Campus Grant, which will fund a coordinated effort to enhance programs related to the prevention of, and response to, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. 

Rhodes College President Marjorie Hass announced today that Dr. Meghan Harte Weyant will join the college’s senior leadership team as Vice President for Student Life beginning July 1, 2020. The appointment is the result of a national search led by a campus committee composed of faculty, staff, and students.

The Rhodes College Board of Trustees unanimously adopted the college’s new ten-year strategic plan, Achieving Our Best: A Strategic Vision for Rhodes College 2020-2030. The plan will strengthen the college’s commitment to provide a decidedly residential liberal arts and sciences education and maps the college’s objective to facilitate growth sustainably while maintaining and enhancing the academic and creative excellence that gives Rhodes graduates an edge that they carry throughout their professional life. 

Rhodes student leader Dorian Canales ’20 has set his sights on leading businesses into the future and empowering others to succeed. This past summer, he worked as a global planning and engineering technology intern at FedEx Express, as well as attended the Harvard Business School Summer Venture in Management Program. “Rhodes has helped me develop a strong foundation and the necessary transferable skills to thrive in any industry,” says Canales.

Rhodes College launched a new Athletics Giving Challenge on Oct. 22, and the results are in—$71,232 in donations and 568 donors. “The outpouring of support we’ve received in our inaugural Athletics Giving Challenge was overwhelming and proves how special the Rhodes community is when it comes to our student-athletes,” says Matt Dean, director of athletics. “We can’t thank our alumni, parents, and friends enough for surpassing our initial goals.”

Visiting assistant professor and internationally-renowned music director, conductor, and scholar Zak Ozmo's Arts Entrepreneurship class, which has brought together students from a vast array of disciplines, seeks to broaden students' understandings of careers in the arts and expand their professional networks. The class includes a lectures series featuring Memphis leaders who work at the intersection of arts and business and is open to the entire Rhodes community.

Although Africans had a presence in the Americas in the 1500s, it is the year 1619—with the arrival of Africans in Virginia— that is commonly used as a starting point for teaching about slavery in the United States. The story of these captives 400 years ago has set the stage for discussions about the institution of slavery and its aftermath. Professors Trimiko Melancon, Gordon Bigelow, Kijan Bloomfield, and Charles McKinney are joining in Oct. 21 with a panel discussion on campus.