News and relevant information about Rhodes students, faculty, and staff making the most of living in Memphis. 

Indie Memphis’ Black Independence Film Series, through partnership with Rhodes College and the Brooks Museum, is showcasing this fall work from the past 50 years by some of the world’s most significant Black independent filmmakers. Set in locations such as Senegal, Paris, New York, South Central Los Angeles, and the South Carolina coast, most of the films will be screened for the first time in Memphis. “Hyenas” (1992) by Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty is one of the films that will be shown at Rhodes.

First-year students toured The National Civil Rights Museum with faculty and administrators supplementing the exhibits with lectures on African American history, ​​​​​​​Brown vs. Board, the Selma to Montgomery march, the Sanitation Workers' Strike, and the life and work of Dr. King. All four class years at Rhodes have now participated in the experience.

Refugee Empowerment Program is located a five-minute drive from the Rhodes campus in the Binghampton neighborhood. REP assists the refugee and immigrant population of Memphis through education, advocacy, and support programs.Rhodes students Khiem Nguyen and Mildred Vazquez spent this summer there serving as literacy coaches.

"I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change" was also nominated for Best Choreography, Best Music Direction, and Best Direction by Professor Joy Brooke Fairfield.

While undergoing chemotherapy treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after being diagnosed with leukemia at age 16, Adam Cruthirds began to think about fundraising ideas for the hospital. As a result, he founded Adam’s Army, which has raised more than $700,000 to help end childhood cancer. Cruthirds, a rising senior at Rhodes, was recently honored by Leadership Memphis as a Change Maker.

As a 2018 Rhodes Summer Service Fellow, JB Hayes ’19 worked for Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA). There, the urban studies major helped develop a new program that helps to break the social isolation and loneliness felt by many homebound seniors.

Senior neuroscience major Elizabeth Gaudio was one of the first interns of Rhodes’ Le Bonheur Summer Plus Program, which was established in partnership with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in 2017. Now, the research she has produced as part of her internship is published in the Journal of Child Neurology.

For Madeleine O’Toole ’22, healthy eating has long been a passion. A native Memphian, O’Toole created the Instagram account and online blog granolagrrl to spotlight local restaurants, share recipes, and to emphasize that healthy food can be accessible to all. 

A computer science major, he is founder of tech marketing and education startup Augseption. His talk will focus on how he has been working with schools in Shelby County to promote the adoption of virtual and augmented reality in classroom curriculums.