News and information about the Rhodes campus experience.

Annual awards were presented at the 173rd Commencement Exercises of Rhodes College held May 14 on campus. Natalie L. Smith received the Peyton Nalle Rhodes Phi Beta Kappa Prize. The college presented Rhodes professors Dr. Gary J. Lindquester and Dr. Michael Drompp each the Distinguished Service Medal. The 2022 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards were presented to graduating seniors Mi’Destini Victorian and Dulce Maria Salcedo and Christy Weir Krueger ’85 of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-South.

Financial expert and community leader Vicki R. Palmer ’75 of Atlanta, GA, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree at the 173rd Commencement of Rhodes College on Saturday, May 14. Palmer is president of The Palmer Group LLC, a general management consulting company which she started after retiring from Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. in 2009 as executive vice president for financial services and administration. Her career with Coca-Cola spanned more than 25 years.

Six seniors’ portraits will be added to Rhodes College’s Hall of Fame on the second floor of Southwestern Hall. They are John Howell, Mariam Khayata, Karrington Knight, Brandon Lemus, Ava Mitra, and Rebecca Winchester. Selection to the Hall of Fame, which was established in 1931, is based on individual merit, leadership in student activities, service to others, and overall contributions to the campus community. Honorees are chosen by their peers.

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.