National and global news about Rhodes students and alums

Award-winning poet Caki Wilkinson’s poem “Fox Song” from her book The Survival Expo was featured online Oct. 6 on Poet Daily, whose editors say they select the best and most interesting poems from publications for their thousands of readers.

She received the 2022 Henry C. McBay Outstanding Teacher Award at the 49th annual meeting of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers held in Orlando, FL, on Sept. 28.

The Department of Psychology at Rhodes has a long history of involving students in faculty-mentored research including more than 50 students annually on research teams. So far this year, three research teams have presented their research at different national conferences.

Emerson Fellows are placed with community-based organizations across the country and with policy-focused organizations in Washington, D.C. to make a difference in eliminating hunger and poverty in the United States. The new cohort of 18 change-makers began their work this month.

Three physics majors at Rhodes College— Mackenzie Gibbs ’22, Jess Hamer ’23, and Olivia Kaufmann ’23—have received national recognition through the Society of Physics Students.

Visitors of Rhodes College often will comment that the campus’ Collegiate Gothic architecture, with its limestone arches, stone walls, stained-glass windows, and slate roofs, makes them feel like they are in England. Twenty-one Rhodes students had the opportunity to actually study in England as part of the Rhodes Summer School in London program led by Associate Professor of Music Vanessa Rogers in coordination with Professor of Art Victor Coonin and professors and staff from the United Kingdom.

Saylor Tettleton ’22 will be studying in Germany for one year as a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Fellow. She is one of only 75 Americans awarded the competitive fellowship, which is funded by the German Bundestag and U.S. Department of State. Tettleton graduated from Rhodes in May with a bachelor’s degree in educational studies and is interested in learning more about educational systems in Germany over the next year. She plans to teach at the elementary school level when returning to the U.S.

Samuel Cross, a rising junior from Griffin, GA, is among the new members of the 2022-2023 Hillel International Student Cabinet. His one-year term began in July. Founded in 1923, Hillel International has grown into the world’s largest Jewish campus organization.

The Rhodes Singers and Chamber Singers went on an international choir tour in May that included performances in Germany and the Czech Republic. The choirs performed in beautifully historic cathedrals and churches to packed houses of enthusiastic audiences, whose appreciation demanded encores.

Molly O'Shea, who recently graduated from Rhodes College with a bachelor’s degree in international studies and history, is the college’s latest recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Student Award for the 2022-2023 academic year. She will serve as an English Teaching Assistant in Turkey beginning in the fall. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.