This issue of Rhodes is all about the college’s substantial presence in Memphis, the 20th largest city in the United States—in terms of population. The 2010 census puts Memphis ahead of Baltimore (21), Boston (22), Seattle (23), Washington, DC (24), Denver (26), Atlanta (40) and Miami (44). Note: The count extends to the city limits, not the metropolitan areas. Still, being a nationally-ranked, small liberal arts college in the 20th largest city in the country has untold advantages.
Because Memphis is a center for major corporations, health care facilities, finance, transportation, education, professional sports, the arts and entertainment, not to mention the location of a world-class zoo—with pandas—75% of our 1,800 undergraduates complete internships or fellowships all over town, learning from, and contributing to, their jobs as they go. Some students are paid, others receive academic credit for their efforts.
Reaching out to other parts of the community, more than 80% of our students perform an amazing amount of volunteer service, which for the second year in a row has earned Rhodes Newsweek’s No. 1 ranking as the “Most Service-Oriented” college in the country.
Such is the college’s growing involvement in the city that within the year, Rhodes will gather seven student-faculty research programs that deal with the culture of the area under the umbrella called the Memphis Center. The center will be centrally located on campus and open to students, faculty and scholars everywhere to collaborate on new and existing projects.
So it seems that wherever you turn, Rhodes pretty much has Memphis covered, and vice versa.
In fact, we like to say we’re located in the very heart of Memphis. And vice versa.
Martha Hunter Shepard ’66
Editor, Rhodes