News and information about the Rhodes campus experience.

The Baccalaureate Convocation of the 173rd session of Rhodes College will be held on campus Friday, May 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the multi-sports forum of the Bryan Campus Life Center. Senior Rabbi Micah D. Greenstein of Temple Israel, which is one of the largest Reform congregations in the United States, will deliver the Baccalaureate address, titled “Terra Mater More than Alma Mater.”

Rhodes College is one of the nation’s “Best Value Colleges” for 2022, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company chose only 209 schools out of the more than 650 institutions it surveyed last academic year after analyzing data that included academic rigor, cost/financial aid, Among private schools, Rhodes made the Top 50 Best Value Colleges and Top 20 Best Schools for Internships.

Gil Villanueva, associate vice president and dean of admission at the University of Richmond, has been named vice president for enrollment at Rhodes College. He will assume the role in July, when President-elect Jennifer Collins takes office, and will provide high-level strategic direction for the college’s admission, enrollment services, and financial aid operations. In addition, Villanueva will be responsible for collaboratively developing and leading a comprehensive, data-informed enrollment strategy consistent with Rhodes’ vision, strengths, culture, and values.

They were recognized at the college’s annual Awards Convocation, held on campus April 29. Prof. Finlayson of the Department of English received the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Teaching. Prof. Casey of Educational Studies received the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research and/or Creative Activity.

Rhodes College is pleased to announce that Deborah Craddock has been elected chair of the Board of Trustees following the completion of Cary Fowler’s tenure. Craddock, who will be the first woman to serve in the position, will take office July 1. She graduated from Rhodes in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and is a principal at Southeastern Asset Management Inc. She served as vice-chair of the Board of Trustees 2017-2020 and over the years has continuously served both her alma mater and the Memphis community.

At the Campus Life Awards ceremony on April 18 hosted by the Rhodes Student Government, members of the Rhodes community were recognized for their outstanding level of commitment and passion in their respective areas of campus involvement. Awards are selected each year by various organizations and groups on campus.

Rhodes College’s Department of History and the Africana Studies Program will present a book launch and discussion of Dr. Samson Ndanyi's Instructional Cinema and African Audiences in Colonial Kenya, 1926 – 1963 (Lexington Books, 2022) on April 25. Open to the campus community, the event begins at 4:30 p.m. in Blount Auditorium.

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is America’s oldest collegiate honor society. Its campus chapters invite for induction the most outstanding liberal arts students at America’s leading colleges and universities. Fewer than one percent of U.S. college graduates are eligible.

Professor of History Michael Drompp, whose career at Rhodes College spans more than 30 years, will deliver a retirement lecture titled “Asian Studies and the Liberal Arts: A Life of Teaching and Learning” on April 19 in Blount Auditorium. Hosted by the Asian Studies Program and the Department of History and open to the campus community, the event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. Attendees are required to wear a face mask.

Dr. Jennifer D. Sciubba, associate professor of international studies at Rhodes College and a political demographer, has a new book out titled 8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World. On April 12 on campus, she will give a talk and sign copies of the book. Free and open to the public, the event begins at 6 p.m. in Blount Auditorium of Buckman Hall.