The Magazine of Rhodes Spring/Summer 2026

Rhodes Rhodes

Rhodes Travels the Globe Alumni on Stage

Retiring Faculty Reflections

The Magazine of Rhodes College

SPRING – SUMMER 2026

Jennifer M. Collins PRESIDENT

Jenna Goodloe Wade P’28 VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT

Tracy Vezina Patterson ’84, P’22, J.D.

DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE RELATIONS

SENIOR GIFT PLANNING OFFICER

Mimi Reed Salazar ’96, P’26 DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS

Linda Bonnin

VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Martha Shepard ’66 EDITOR EMERITA

Samuel X. Cicci ’15

EDITOR & SENIOR WRITER

Larry Ahokas

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jana Files ’78

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

Charles Kenny

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

CONTRIBUTORS

Dionne Chalmers

Simran Kumar ’26

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Dee Birnbaum

Justin Fox Burks

Jana Files

Juan Patino

Lola Scott

Rebecca Finlayson

Breanna Stalsitz

Caroline Yang

A LETTER FROM PRESIDENT JENNIFER COLLINS

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2026 edition of our magazine! I am excited for you to read this vibrant and eclectic edition of the magazine, which beautifully highlights some of the programs and people that make Rhodes so special. For example, the college is truly a global institution, with faculty and students studying, researching, and working around the world. As I write this letter, we currently have students and faculty exploring the world in Maymester programs in countries ranging from Belgium to Ecuador to Namibia to Uzbekistan. The magazine also features our new Literary NYC: Reading the City program, another wonderful display of our faculty’s creativity and commitment to student success. Under the leadership of Professor Amy Benson, students spend the summer in the Big Apple, reading literature set in New York City while working in a fellowship in fields such as publishing and advertising. Indeed, even our alumni get to travel with our Rhodes faculty. You will read about our delightful Hemingway in Paris program that was led last summer by Professors Marshall Boswell and Rebecca Finlayson; another alumni group headed to Thailand this summer with Professor Brooke Schedneck. I hope you will consider joining us on a future international adventure.

You will also learn about the fascinating career journeys of some of our most creative graduates— alumni who have found success on the stage, on television, and in comedy clubs. Did you know, for example, that one of our alumni is the warm-up comic for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon? It is no surprise that our alumni have found such success when you consider the extraordinary talent displayed by our students who participate in Rhodes Theatre Guild productions or in our improv group, Contents Under Pressure. Come to a performance on campus next year to be dazzled by our students.

The magazine also celebrates some of our outstanding faculty who have contributed decades of service to Rhodes. I hope you will enjoy their reflections about the college as they prepare for very well-deserved retirements. We will miss Shubho Banerjee, Dee Birnbaum, Tom Bryant, Darlene Loprete, and David McCarthy terribly, and are so grateful for the many ways they have inspired our students and provided a truly transformative educational experience.

Thank you for supporting Rhodes this year. Because of the dedication and hard work of our alumni, students, faculty, and staff, we vastly exceeded our goal of contributing 50,000 hours of service to Memphis as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the college’s move to our beloved city. Remarkably, we have contributed 70,800 hours of service, and we are still counting! We are also very grateful for your generosity during our annual Day of Giving in April, which concluded with 1,003 donors and $272,890 raised. We thank you for being part of the Rhodes community, and hope you are making plans to join us for Family Weekend, CajunFest, or Homecoming/Reunion Weekend this fall—or join us for all three! I look forward to seeing you on campus soon.

Jennifer Collins

For

Newstok Awarded Grant from the State Research Agency of Spain

Scott Newstok, professor of English and executive director of the Spence Wilson Center for Interdisciplinary Humanities, has been awarded a four-year grant from the State Research Agency of Spain. This award will support his scholarship on the multilingual heritage of early modern English across legal, religious, political, and literary discourses. Newstok’s project was one of 37 funded among 254 applications; in the three-year history of Spain’s research program, he is the second recipient who works in the humanities, and the only recipient from a liberal arts college.

To conduct this research, Newstok will return to the institution that hosted him as a 2022 Fulbright Scholar, the University of Murcia, whose Department of English Philology includes faculty cohorts in Renaissance culture as well as digital corpus studies of historical sociolinguistics. A Fellow of the English Association, Newstok is editing Michel de Montaigne’s educational writings with award-winning translator Tess Lewis. He spoke about this project upon receipt of the 2025 Parnassus Prize, and he is currently teaching a Rhodes seminar devoted to Montaigne’s legacy.

Newstok will continue as executive director of the Spence Wilson Center through Oct. 1, when the center will host Robert Macfarlane’s lecture “Is a River Alive?”

Mock Trial Finishes 4th at Nationals

Rhodes’ 2025-2026 mock trial season concluded in midApril with an impressive fourth-place finish at the American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament in Washington, D.C. Out of approximately 800 mock trial teams, only the top 50 qualified to compete at the national level.

“Our Rhodes A team showcased outstanding skill and determination, winning every round of competition against formidable opponents from the University of Michigan, UCLA, Emory, and William & Mary. Although tiebreakers placed us fourth in our division, this speaks volumes about the team’s talent and hard work,” said Anna Eldridge, director of Mock Trial.

Rhodes students who represented the college at nationals include Zoe Haug ’26 and Eli Palmer ’28 (captains), Yasmeen Abunasrah ’27, Julia Brinker ’29, Johnathan Burch ’27, Sienna Collier ’27, Mitchell Leander ’27, Amelia Rursch ’27, Musa Sheriff ’29, Hadley Wright ’28, Evie Shankel ’28, Dana Shala ’28, and Cece Warhurst ’27

In the tournament, Leander was named an All-American Witness and Haug was named an All-American Attorney. The competition marked Mock Trial’s 38th visit to the championship tournament in the program’s 40-year history.

Rhodes Achieves 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

Souper Kitchen is just one community service program that contributed to the Carnegie classification.

The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named Rhodes as one of 237 U.S. colleges and universities to receive its 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement (CE) Classification. In 2006, Rhodes was one of the first institutions to earn the designation, which recognizes an institution’s exceptional commitment to mutually beneficial partnerships with communities. The college again earned the classification in 2015, and the new classification is valid until 2032.

Becoming a classified institution requires the investment of substantial effort by participating institutions to provide evidence of achieving meaningful outcomes in the lives of their students and communities. Rhodes’ application documented excellent alignment among campus mission, culture, leadership, resources, and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement. Individuals from the college work with schools, businesses, nonprofits, neighborhood associations, and community residents.

Bakewell Appointed Inaugural Endowed Visiting Professor in Greece

Geoff Bakewell, professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies, has been appointed the inaugural holder of the Brian D. Joseph Endowed Chair in Classics at College Year in Athens. His three-year (visiting) term begins Sept. 1, 2026.

As holder of the chair, Bakewell will teach one course per semester and collaborate with College Year in Athens faculty on curricular and pedagogical matters, combining teaching and research. At Rhodes, he has directed Search, the college’s signature interdisciplinary humanities program, and the Meeman Center for Lifelong Learning.

Bakewell’s scholarship emphasizes deeply contextualized readings of Athenian literature and philosophy. His work includes translations of several plays, more than 25 articles and book chapters, and an acclaimed monograph, Aeschylus’ Suppliant Women: The Tragedy of Immigration

Rhodes Into Memphis Service Campaign Tops Goal

As part of the 100 Years in Memphis celebration, Rhodes pledged an ambitious 50,000 hours of service to local partners during the 2025-2026 academic year, celebrating the college’s century-long commitment to the City of Memphis since relocating its campus from Clarksville in 1925.

The college has exceeded this goal! The academic year wrapped up with a total of 70,800 service hours logged. Rhodes students have made a significant impact as researchers, fellows, interns, and volunteers. Faculty and staff have also volunteered their time and expertise with various organizations and by hosting events.

Webb Appointed to New Panel Dedicated to Shaping Data Policy in U.S. Higher Education

Tara Webb, associate vice president for institutional effectiveness, has been appointed to the new AIR Data Policy Advisory Panel established by the Association for Institutional Research (AIR). Her two-year term, which will last through December 2027, allows her to represent Rhodes in national advocacy efforts related to data policy.

Founded in 1966, AIR is a global association dedicated to institutional research, effectiveness, and strategic planning in higher education. The newly formed panel brings together nationally respected professionals with extensive experience and recognized leadership in postsecondary data, analytics, and policy. Its purpose is to enhance AIR’s capacity to engage in and influence discussions surrounding higher education data policy.

Webb

Rhodes Recognized as a Top Producing Fulbright Institution

Rhodes has been recognized as one of the Top Producing Institutions of accepted applicants to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2025-2026 academic year. This marks the fifth time the college has received this prestigious distinction, which underscores the commitment by Fulbright Top Producing Institutions to foster global connections.

Four members of the Class of 2026 were selected to receive Fulbright U.S. Student Awards for the 2026-2027 academic year. They have had opportunities to teach English abroad and serve as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. in countries ranging from Bulgaria to Colombia to Spain.

Profs. Alexandra Kostina and Jason Haberman serve as co-directors of postgraduate scholarships at Rhodes and assist applicants who are interested in embarking on the life-changing experiences provided by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

“Many applicants note that it is Rhodes’ liberal arts curriculum that prepares them for the kinds of skills and projects that the Fulbright Foundation supports. Our office and many faculty mentors and reviewers serve as encouraging and guiding stewards,” said Kostina.

Gottlieb Receives Second Fulbright Scholar Award

Eric Gottlieb, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has been granted a Fulbright Scholar Award to teach and conduct research in mathematics at the University of Primorska in Koper, Slovenia, from October 2026 to February 2027. This is Gottlieb’s second Fulbright, having received the award in 2004 to conduct research in Chile and teach calculus courses at the Universidad de Talca. Since 2018, Gottlieb has conducted research on combinatorial game theory with Profs. Matjaž Krnc and Peter Muršič of the University of Primorska. This field involves the analysis of sequential games of perfect information and no chance. According to Gottlieb, chess is an example of a game of perfect information with no chance, while poker involves chance in the deal of cards and lacks perfect information since each player’s hand is concealed from the other players. One objective is to classify games’ losing positions.

In his project, titled “The Computational Complexity of Some Combinatorial Games on Integer Partitions,” Gottlieb proposes to analyze the computational complexity of certain combinatorial games. This is a way of describing how difficult it is to play a game well. Because of the computational nature of the project, Gottlieb will be part of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Primorska. He will teach a course on discrete structures at the University of Primorska using Mathematicabased modules illustrating the application of course topics to combinatorial game theory.

Shin Publishes Debut Book Exploring the Intersection of Politics and Industry in Mississippi

Casey Shin, assistant professor of politics and law, has released his first book, titled From Nothing to Nissan: Industrial Policy in Mississippi (University Press of Mississippi, 2026). The book provides an in-depth exploration of the policymaking efforts that convinced a major automaker to establish a presence in Mississippi.

According to the publisher: “Extremely thorough yet readable, From Nothing to Nissan gives readers an overarching history of industrial policymaking and development from the state’s foundation through the year 2000. The book also examines the multiyear process to acquire Nissan and build the factory in Canton as well as the human and community costs in building an automobile plant.”

Johnson Awarded Prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship

Caroline Johnson ’26 has been selected for the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides a $40,000 stipend for a 12-month journey to pursue an original project on a global scale. She is one of only 40 fellows chosen nationwide for 2026.

Watson Fellows have the freedom to decide where to travel and when to change course, without the need to affiliate with an academic institution or hold formal employment. The program is designed to produce a year of personal insight, perspective, and confidence.

Johnson’s project is titled “The Economic Future of Craft” and includes proposed destinations of France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Kenya, and Colombia. “My Watson year will explore how craft and tradition generate cultural and financial value through innovative business models,” said Johnson. “I’m interested in how artisanal traditions—from Colombian textiles to French couture—sustain themselves.”

Morgan Honored for Distinguished Service by Financial Aid Administrators Association

Michael Morgan P’22, director of financial aid, has been awarded the 2026 Distinguished Service Award by the Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (SASFAA). The award was presented during the association’s annual conference held Feb. 15-18 in Charlotte, NC.

Morgan previously served as president of SASFAA from 2022 to 2023, during which time he also acted as a representative for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Business Students Triumph in Investment Research Competition

Cole McNair ’26 (business), John Mori ’26 (business), Jason Rubinstein ’27 (business), Graham Allen ’26 (business), and Ismail Malik ’26 (economics and business) secured first place at the Mid-South competition of the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Institute Research Challenge held Feb. 21 at the University of Memphis.

Dr. Andrey Zagorchev, associate professor of business, serves as the team’s advisor and said, “The students on the Rhodes team demonstrated the depth and versatility of a liberal arts education in a real-world financial setting. Throughout the CFA competition, the students drew on a broad spectrum of academic experiences, integrating principles from their business coursework with the analytical rigor and critical thinking skills cultivated across various disciplines.”

For the competition, each team was tasked with researching and analyzing a designated publicly traded company, writing a report about their findings, and making a recommendation regarding buying, selling, or holding its stock. The Rhodes team presented their analysis of AutoZone Inc.

Students Among Winners of Memphis City Hackathon

Computer science majors Karti Bomb ’27, Jack Seigerman ’26, and Juan Perdomo ’27 were members of winning teams at the third City of Memphis Hackathon.

Bomb and Seigerman competed on team Pixelz, which won challenge one for their project—a blight data analytics app. Perdomo was on team Xtra-M, which secured victory in challenge three with a project designed to assist small businesses.

This 36-hour competition took place in November and was organized by the City of Memphis, Innovate Memphis, and a steering committee comprising local tech professionals and entrepreneurship organizations. Participating teams utilized their technical skills and creativity to develop solutions to various challenges facing the City of Memphis.

The objective of the team Pixelz’s project was to create an algorithm featuring map visualizations and historical data analysis (including evictions, police incidents, and deteriorating properties). This tool aims to help city staff and community members prioritize properties for blight mitigation and take proactive measures to prevent further blight.

Team Xtra-M’s project aimed to develop a web and mobile application that aggregates schedules and business opportunities, allowing service vendors and organizers to effectively schedule, plan, and staff local events.

Zahariadis to Lead South Region of International Studies Association

Nikolaos Zahariadis, Mertie Buckman Chair and professor of international studies, has assumed the role of co-president of the South region of the International Studies Association (ISA). The term is from January 2026 to December 2026.

A native of Greece, Zahariadis has taught at Rhodes since 2016 and has published extensively in the areas of European public policy, comparative political economy, foreign aid, and nationalism and security in Southeastern Europe.

Founded in 1959, ISA is dedicated to understanding international, transnational, and global affairs. Its more than 7,000 members span the globe— comprising academics, practitioners, policy experts, private sector workers, and independent researchers, among others.

Zahariadis serves as co-president along with Dr. Adam Van Liere of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In their roles, they will champion the organization’s policies and governance, enhance member engagement, and implement strategies that pave the way for growth and success.

Clary Inducted into 2026 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame

Longtime coach and administrator Mike Clary ’77 P’01, P’04 has been selected for the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Sponsored by the Tennessee Lottery, the Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made a significant impact on the history of sports in the state.

A former student-athlete, Clary dedicated 44 years to the college in various roles as coach and administrator, making him the longesttenured athletics staff member in the school’s history. He served as the head football coach from 1984 to 1996, leading the Lynx to national prominence during the late 1980s and establishing himself as the winningest coach in the program’s history.

In addition to football, Clary coached men’s track and field and swimming and diving and later guided the Rhodes women’s golf program to unprecedented success. Under his leadership, the women’s golf team won three NCAA Division III National Championships, in 2014, 2016, and 2017, including the first national title in the college’s history.

Clary also served as director of athletics from 1990 to 2016. During his tenure, Rhodes significantly expanded its athletic offerings and

Bond Receives

SPARK Award for Service to Mid-South Chapter of the American Red Cross

Anaya Bond ’27, an environmental sciences major from Jackson, TN, has been honored as one of the 2025 recipients of the SPARK Awards. These awards celebrate individuals, nonprofits, corporations, and schools across 13 different categories who are igniting change and making a positive impact in the Greater Memphis community.

consistently ranked among the top NCAA Division III programs nationally for both competitive excellence and academic achievement. In 2016, he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his extraordinary contributions.

The 12th Annual SPARK Awards, a collaboration between television station WKNO/PBS and cityCURRENT, premiered on Dec. 15 on WKNO. Bond was recognized as the collegiate individual winner for her volunteer work with the Mid-South chapter of the American Red Cross, where she has contributed to disaster response efforts and preparedness programs.

At Rhodes, Bond also is pursuing a minor in Africana studies and is a participant in the Bonner Scholarship program, which connects students’ academic studies, personal beliefs, leadership skills, and philosophy of service with real-life situations and organizations in Memphis. Bond began volunteering at American Red Cross as a result of being a Bonner Scholar and said, “It’s humbled me. It’s made me get out of my comfort zone and really connect with people I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to before.” She also has assisted with the organization’s annual Red Boa Bash to raise funds for victims of house fires and with blood drives to benefit individuals with sickle cell disease.

Rhodes Recognized Nationally for Study Abroad Participation

Rhodes ranks among the top institutions in the nation for study abroad participation, according to the Open Doors 2025 Report on International Educational Exchange released by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

Rhodes ranked in the following categories:

• No. 30 for number of undergraduates participating (284 total for Rhodes)

• No. 34 for participating baccalaureate colleges

• No. 18 for numbers of students participating in short-term programs

These rankings reflect U.S. students studying abroad during the 2023-2024 academic year. The Open Doors report is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding from the U.S. Government and support from IIE.

RHODES SPORTS ROUNDUP

MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING saw another record broken this season. The 400-yard medley relay team of Josh Denckhoff ’28, Jack Whitten ’26, Liam Ashton ’28, and Will Wertenberger ’27 set a new school record of 3:14.30 at the NCAA Tournament prelims, before securing 8th in the nation at the finals. At the SAA level, the team finished 3rd at the conference championship meet. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Wertenberger, Jonas Hostetler ’26, Jeb Brownell ’26, and Nick Kunst ’26 set a new SAA Championship record with their 1st-place finish.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING secured a 3rd-place finish at the SAA Championship. Gracie Shapard ’26 earned a fourth-consecutive gold medal in the 100 backstroke. Charlotte Hill ’29 took gold in the 200 butterfly and was named Women’s Rookie of the Year.

MEN’S BASKETBALL capped a historic season, winning the first SAA Championship since 2016-2017 and earning the program’s fifth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Zo Goodson and his staff were named SAA Coaching Staff of the Year. Phil Dotson ’26 was named to D3Hoops.com’s All-Region Second team. Dotson and Jackson Huxtable ’26 were named SAA First Team All-Conference and to the All-Tournament team,

Men’s Basketball Conference Champions

while Shawn Jones Jr ’26 was named Second Team AllConference.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL battled through a challenging season while earning several key conference victories, securing two wins over rival Sewanee. Following the season, Rhodes welcomed a new era for the program by naming former Rhodes Men’s Basketball MVP Andrew Galow ‘13 as head women’s basketball coach.

MEN’S TENNIS put together another strong season, advancing to the SAA Tournament semifinals. Head Coach Tyler Cempre and his staff were recognized as SAA Coaching Staff of the Year. Oliver Bonovich ‘26 and Christian Mainella ‘26 earned First Team All-SAA Singles honors, while Bonovich was also selected to the SAA All-Tournament Team after an outstanding season-long performance.

WOMEN’S TENNIS advanced to the semifinals of the SAA Tournament. Gracie Rask ’26 was named First Team All-Conference – Singles and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Agda Laakso ’26 and Lilly Higgins ’27 were named First Team All-Conference–Doubles, while Laakso was also named to Second Team AllConference – Singles.

MEN’S LACROSSE secured back-toback Southern Athletic Association (SAA) titles this season, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Gavin Nagle ’27 and Lucas Pagliarulo’26 earned Honorable Mention All-American recognition from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. Pagliarulo was also named SAA Defensive Athlete of the Year, while Griffin Galloway ’29 was named Co-Rookie of the Year. Pagliarulo, Nagle, and John Mori ’26 earned First Team All-Conference honors; Galloway and Nicholas Wheeldon ’29 were named Second Team All-Conference.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE reclaimed the SAA title with a defeat of Sewanee and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. There was plenty of SAA recognition after a successful season: Head Coach Ellison Sherill and her coaching staff earned conference Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

Daryn Raleigh ’27 was named SAA Defensive Athlete of the Year, Sam Horowitz ’26 Midfielder of the Year, Sadie McRae ’29 Rookie of the Year, and Annabelle Kinzell ’29 Co-Goalkeeper of the Year.

Caroline Kardian ’26, Payton Stevens ’28, Rory Monohan ’26, and Horowitz, Raleigh, and Kinzell were named First Team All-

Conference, while Delaney O’Mailey ’28 and Maddie BeVier ’27 secured Second Team spots. Post-season, the Intercollegiate Woman’s Lacrosse Coaches Association selected Horowitz to compete in the 2026 Senior All-Star Games.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD continued to build on a successful season, with the women finishing fourth and the men placing sixth at the SAA Outdoor Championships.

Tatum Duncan ’29 was named the SAA Indoor Track & Field Rookie of the Year after an outstanding debut season. Olivia Freeman ’26 qualified for the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in the 60m dash for the third consecutive year.

SOFTBALL won the SAA Regular Season Championship for the first time, advancing to the SAA Tournament. Head Coach Rebecca Arbino and her staff were named SAA Coaching Staff of the Year. Isabela Barber ‘29 was named SAA Rookie of the Year. Harper Allee-Press ‘26 and Athena Gonzalez ‘27 earned First Team All-SAA honors. Taylor Petty ‘27, Peyton Rohrig ‘26, Katie Bejian ‘27, Talia Travis ‘27, and Jasmyn Stanley ‘26 were all named Second Team All-SAA.

BASEBALL finished as runners-up in the SAA Championship and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Lynx also picked up their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2018, marking another milestone for the program. Following the season, Corbin Martens ’29, Brad Larson ’28, and David Albert ’29 earned Second Team All-Region honors. At the SAA level, Martens was named Rookie of the Year. Head Coach Rob Schreier and his staff were named Co-Coaching Staff of the Year. Larson, Albert, Jackson Stanyard ’29, Cooper Angilly’27, and Ben Daniel ’27 were First Team All-Conference, while Austin Smith ’27 and Will May ’26 earned Second Team placements.

WOMEN’S GOLF finished 6th in the SAA Championship. Interim Head Coach Mike Clary was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Lauren Schwing ’26 tied for 10th at the SAA Championship Tournament and was named Second Team All-Conference.

MEN’S GOLF placed 5th at the SAA Championship. Sujay Mukatira ’28 and Christian Iwai ’29 were named Second Team All-Conference.

The Podium

A successful lacrosse career lays the foundation for a fruitful Rhodes experience.

During her college search, Alban Erdle ’27 knew that lacrosse would be a big part of her undergraduate experience. But she also wanted to explore her other interests outside of athletics. Rhodes allowed her the platform to do just that, alongside finding success on the field.

The junior from Alexandria, VA, had played lacrosse her whole life. After playing at boarding school in Rhode Island, finding the right college fit was her next step. “I wanted to be at a smaller school where academics really matter,” says Erdle. “But I also wanted a school where sports would be a big part of my experience, where I could compete on a good team to win lots of games. And when I visited Rhodes, it had the full experience I was looking for.”

Under Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Ellison Sherill, Erdle has gone from strength to strength throughout her three seasons on the team. During her first year, she was part of the team that secured a ninth-straight Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Championship title with victory over Sewanee. Her sophomore year, she quickly became a fixture in the starting lineup, scoring 23 goals and tallying five assists through 18 appearances. While 2025 resulted in a secondplace finish in the SAA Championship, that only motivated the team

“ There’s a huge focus on taking care of ourselves outside of lacrosse so we can play to the best of our ability. ”

to come back even stronger this season.

“That’s something that sticks with you, as we know we can perform better,” she says. “We’ve tested ourselves against really high-level competition this season and have competed well. Knowing that we can hold our own against these top-level teams sets us up for success in the conference and beyond.”

At the end of the 2026 regular season, Rhodes defeated Sewanee to earn the top seed in the SAA Tournament, setting the stage for an exhilarating conference rematch of last year’s final. The team harnessed that momentum to secure the conference title with a 16-9 victory, earning a trip to the NCAA DIII Championship Tournament.

Erdle credits Sherill with creating an environment that allows athletes to flourish both on and off the field; monthly one-onone meetings with coaching staff include conversations that cover outside of lacrosse. “They want to get to know you personally,” says Erdle, “they want to know what’s going on in your life, to make sure they can provide us a platform for success. They really value us as individuals, which is beneficial to everyone on the team.”

That same approach extends to team building. Outside of practice, the players regularly get together for team dinners, ice cream outings, or other activities. “There’s a huge focus on taking care of ourselves outside of lacrosse so we can play to the best of our ability,” says Erdle. “There’s been a growing focus on that sense of love and community that lets us flourish. We work hard and are laser-focused at practice and in games. But we still have fun and can be goofy together, and we play at our best when we’re having fun and really enjoy playing alongside each other.”

An equal focus on off-field goals has allowed Erdle to explore plenty of academic and extracurricular opportunities. She is a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and represents her peers on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Erdle has also been involved in the Rhodes’ One Love Foundation branch, a national nonprofit focused on preventing relationship abuse; next year, she’ll take up the mantle of president.

An English major on the creative writing track, Erdle has deepened her love for writing and literature through associate professor of English Amy Benson’s creative writing seminars and department chair Seth Rudy’s 18th Century British Fiction class. That passion led her to pursue a semester abroad last fall, where she studied English at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. “We studied more creative writing, drama classes, and took science-oriented classes that studied how nature and literature connect,” she says. “It was an amazing experience, as we were also able to become really involved in

That same fall semester, four other classmates on the lacrosse team were studying abroad in Europe. The five were able to reconnect when they met up in Paris, France, for a weekend trip. “Some coaches aren’t super keen on having their players go abroad,” says Erdle, “but Coach Sherill knew that this was an important experience for some of us and encouraged us, and I think that just speaks to how invested she is in us having that full college experience, not just

With her English degree as the foundation, Erdle plans to pursue a career in marketing and operations management. After her sophomore year, she worked as a leasing and marketing intern for a realty company in Charlotte, NC, helping create content for their website and managing events. This summer, she has an internship lined up with First Horizon Bank headquartered in Memphis. “I’ll be helping with their marketing and strategic operations,” she says. “I enjoy using my critical thinking and analytical skills from the classroom in real world situations, so it’s an exciting opportunity to company.”

RHODES AROUND THE GLOBE

Lynx take their local strengths to the international stage.

SSpin a globe, close your eyes, and point at it as it stops.

Chances are, your finger lands where a member of the Rhodes community is currently researching or studying abroad, taking the rigorous academic and leadership skills acquired in Memphis and applying them to issues on the global stage. Or perhaps you land on a location where members of our community call home. Either way, you’ve found that the idea of a “Global Rhodes” includes students, faculty, and staff contributing to a world built on solid international and cross-cultural experiences.

The Buckman Center for Global Engagement, led by executive director Erin Hillis, is Rhodes’ hub for all things international. And while study abroad might be the most eye-catching component, the Buckman Center is involved in so much more. “Rhodes’ global story is visible in all areas of the college,” says Hillis. “It spans every division, all academic departments, student life, engagement in Memphis, internships, study abroad. All of it is huge. And we help manage all these moving pieces.”

The opportunity for travel is a huge draw, with more than half of the student body electing to take advantage of study, serve, and intern away opportunities. The Open Doors 2025 Report on International Educational Exchange ranks Rhodes as 30th in the country for student participation. During the 2025-2026 academic year, students from 27 different majors traveled to 31 countries, ranging from Argentina to Morocco to Uzbekistan.

Rhodes students also regularly earn prestigious awards that enable them to continue their global stories. The college is recognized as a Top Producing Institution for the Fulbright U.S. scholarship program, which selects students to teach English abroad and serve as cultural ambassadors. Associate professor of Russian Alexandra Kostina and associate professor of psychology Jason Haberman advise students on their Fulbright applications, and credit Rhodes’ curriculum for the high number of acceptances. “Many applicants note that it is Rhodes’ liberal arts curriculum that prepares them for the kinds of skills and projects that the Fulbright Foundation supports,” says Kostina. “Our office and many faculty mentors and reviewers serve as encouraging and guiding stewards.”

Erin McTigue ’26, an English and German studies alumna from Collierville, TN, received both a Fulbright U.S. Student Award for 2026-2027 to teach in Germany and an earlier Robert Buckman Fellowship, which supported her study abroad in the fall of 2024 in Freiburg, Germany, where she combined her passion for film, writing, and photography with community outreach. She has spent the last two years tutoring others in German and English; last year, she also interned at World Poetry Books in New York City as part of the Literary NYC: Reading the City program.

“I studied abroad and volunteered in Germany,” she says. “I hope to use the cross-cultural teaching and communication skills I will gain through the Fulbright fellowship in order to pursue a career in teaching and publishing.”

on behalf of Konnit Play to Learn.

“My pedagogical approach includes implementing interactive lessons that incorporate visuals, simplified instructions, and movement-based activities to reach learners of varying abilities,” she says.

2025 Mertie W. Buckman International Intern Lydia Gold ’26, a Chinese and international studies double major from Madison, WI, traveled to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to design play-based STEM lessons for children

Where were our students last year?

The year prior, she studied abroad at the National Taiwan University via the Robert Buckman Fellowship for Study Abroad, taking classes in Mandarin while teaching English. This year, Gold also received a 2026-2027 Fulbright Scholarship and will teach in Taiwan.

Faculty are also frequently earning awards that send them overseas, with several earning prestigious recognition. This academic year alone, Geoff Bakewell,

professor of ancient Mediterranean studies, was appointed the inaugural holder of the Brian D. Joseph Endowed Chair in Classics at College Year in Athens, where he will start a three-year visiting term beginning this fall; Eric Gottlieb P’20, associate professor of mathematics, received his second Fulbright Scholar Award to teach and conduct research at the University of Primosrka in Koper, Slovenia, from October 2026 to February 2027; and professor of English Scott Newstok was awarded a four-year grant from the State Research Agency of Spain to support his scholarship at the University of Murcia on the multilingual heritage of early modern English.

All of these awards, recognitions, and opportunities combine to tell the story of Rhodes’ global footprint. Students are eager to travel, and faculty are equally keen to create these opportunities. “There’s always been passion for study abroad from our faculty,” says Hillis. “Going back more than twenty years, faculty have consistently advocated for and supported study abroad opportunities. This is visible by the number of students who participate in these programs and pursue international opportunities and who pursue international opportunities after graduation. Rhodes is fortunate to have faculty who are deeply engaged in international research and collaborations, including those who develop and lead Rhodes’ own study abroad and away programs.”

LOOKING AHEAD P

lans for new programs and international experiences are always in the works, with faculty eager to build new opportunities for academic exploration. The Buckman International Curricular Development Grants support up to ten faculty members dedicated to innovative teaching and curriculum development. Their grant-funded site visits both enrich their own academic research, which makes its way back to the Rhodes classrom and or aid in developing new study-abroad or study-away programs.

Five faculty received grants this summer and are currently scattered from Europe to Asia. For example, Joel Parsons ’07, assistant professor of art and director of Rhodes’ Clough-Hanson Gallery, toured the Venice Biennale—a famous exhibition in Italy tracing back to the 19th century that showcases Italian art and architecture—with an eye on developing a new summer program focusing on the intersection of art and art history, gender and sexuality studies, and international studies.

Brian Larkins, associate professor of computer science, and Ricardo Martins, assistant professor of modern languages and literatures, journeyed through Japan to develop a new summer program exploring the evolving fields for robotics and gaming. The program will incorporate many disciplines, from computer science to media studies, art to psychology, or business.

Laura Loth, associate professor of French and Francophone Studies, and Benjamin Curtis, visiting assistant professor of interdisciplinary humanities, will travel to France independently for their development. Loth’s journey will take her to several locations around the country

with the aim of updating an existing course centered on conservation, climate change, and cultural practices within France’s wine industry. Her research may also contribute towards an upcoming program at the Meeman Center for Lifelong Learning, which has offered recent global excursions to France and Thailand. Curtis, meanwhile, is studying artistic, literary, and philosophical movements in Paris to develop a new course in the Foundations Curriculum.

A further innovative approach to global learning has recently been trialed in the Modern Languages and Literatures department. Collaborative online international learning (COIL) is a pedagogical teaching approach that connects students and faculty from around the world through virtual collaboration. This approach introduces students in different classes from across continents for the purpose of working together on projects and research. Currently, associate professor of Spanish Eric Henager ’89, P’26, who has led the immersive summer program in Ecuador for more than 20 years, leads one such project with Magali Arteaga at the Universidad del Azuay. “Students taking Spanish here work with students studying English in Ecuador,” says Hillis. “And the two group meet regularly online, cooperatively design learning tasks, present research to each other in English and Spanish, and receive feedback from the other cohort. Connecting with peers in environments like this may provide just the right amount of encouragement needed for them to consider studying abroad.”

In Memory of Trustee Emeritus Robert H. “Bob” Buckman (1937-2026)

Bob Buckman was a champion of international education, working to help improve lives and provide access to new opportunities; the Buckman Center, named for his parents Stanley J. Buckman and Mertie Buckman, opened in 2002 and has enabled students to live and study abroad. Bob and his family have been huge supporters of Rhodes for decades; he joined the Rhodes Board of Trustees in 1980 and was actively involved with the college for 46 years. The Buckman’s generosity has and will continue to enable hundreds of students to live, work, and study abroad.

Abig part of Rhodes’ globalization efforts involves looking inward. While students and faculty travel the world, Rhodes also hosts a robust community of international faculty and students. When international students enroll at Rhodes, Hillis’s team understands they are transitioning, not only from high school to college, but also between languages, countries, and cultures, so the team works tirelessly to make the transition as soon as possible. As the new students filter in to Memphis for orientation, faculty, staff, and international peer advisors volunteer to pick them up from the airport, armed with “jet lag” survival kits: T-shirts, water bottles, toiletries, Rhodes swag, and snacks. “After checking them in at the Buckman Center, our incredible volunteers take them to their residence halls so they can begin to settle in.” International Peer Advisors continue serving as support network after arrival.

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple MAKING MEMPHIS HOME

By Simran Kumar ’26

Rhodes College’s New York City Internship program has provided students the opportunity to spend a semester studying theater and history in the Big Apple since 2019. In the summer of 2025 a new program shifted the focus to the written word to immerse students in the rhythm of one of America’s oldest and greatest cities.

The Buckman Center’s robust services for these students include everything from connecting to other support offices at Rhodes, obtaining a local SIM card for their phones, helping set up a U.S. bank account, or giving continuous English language support for classes and tutoring, among many other services.

“In fall 2004, Rhodes enrolled four new international students, so shopping for college necessities was as easy as picking them up in one car for a quick Target run,” says Hillis. “Now, we regularly charter multiple buses for orientation and those important shopping trips.” For the Class of 2029, 12 percent are international students. In the 2025-2026 academic year, 240 students from more than 60 countries attended Rhodes.

Similar to cultural excursions that study abroad students receive, Rhodes is now planning special out-of-city trips for international students, helmed by director of education abroad and away Elin Ovrebo. Proposed destinations include Nashville, New Orleans, and other iconic American cities. “We’re exploring the idea of a music, food, and culture comparison series,” says Hillis, “to give our students the chance to see more of the country while they’re calling Memphis home. The students fall in love with Memphis, and excursions like these will help them get an even greater exposure to U.S. culture in other cities.”

Literary NYC: Reading the City is the brainchild of Amy Benson, associate professor of English, who received a grant to do preparatory work for the program. A former New Yorker, Benson accompanied the students for the first five weeks of the two-and-a-half month program. “I was excited to start something in a place where I had lived and worked for a long time,” says Benson. “I could try to help students feel more connected—less like a tourist—and have a real sense of purpose in being there and experiencing New York for a short time like a local would.”

The eight-credit program bridged extensive readings, daily observational writing, a hands-on fellowship project, and individual internships, giving the

students opportunities to learn about their surroundings from different angles. Benson worked with independent bookstores in New York to choose the program’s coursework, using them not only as a resource for their knowledge of literature but as an interesting way to get students out in the city. The cohort’s fellowship project included a destination map of more than 70 independent bookstores; each student visited a few of their choice and asked staff members for book suggestions that accurately reflected the city.

While much of the coursework was discussed in a classroom, the texts also brought them outside—whether through the literary walking tours hosted by Benson’s colleagues, or by the desire to replicate the written adventures they discussed with such intensity. Billy Flukinger ’26, an English literature major from Austin, TX, recalls discussions of Open City by Teju Cole and says, “The rigor of having to read maybe 70 pages a night and then write a discussion post on it and then talk about it the next morning was intense, but I felt like I should have always been taking classes that way. I had never felt like a class was so engaged across the board in what we were talking about and had delved into a book so completely.”

nonprofit that works to support and fund highly researched independent journalism. Bold Type Books also gave Flukinger the opportunity to work on a book proposal of his own, a rare opportunity for a college student.

Jeb Mathis ’27, an English and history double major with a political science minor from Conway, AR, interned with the staff writing and operations team of Octus, a financial credit news agency. He helped with the writing of daily articles about market trends and assisted with office work and the company’s website. Mathis, who has an interest in the law, enjoyed the opportunity to work with not only the writers and financial advisors, but also the lawyers on staff. While Octus does not

History Immigration Center, helping families research their immigration history. She hopes to work on the East Coast after graduation, and says the internship provided networking opportunities and taught her how to become a more successful advocate for herself.

Richter’s favorite reading in the program was also Open City. For her, the program readings helped conceptualize the city— something that echoed how her health equity classes help students to understand urban social contexts and how they shape health in the U.S.

From learning the subway system to budgeting expenses to coping with traffic, navigating life in New York was itself educational, but Flukinger, Mathis, and Richter all agree that the program fulfilled Benson’s desire that students would be connected to the city in a meaningful and deeper way than being a tourist.

typically offer internships, Mathis’ role was created with the help of a Rhodes alum at the company.

Mathis describes it as being in tune with the city, noting the high energy, chaotic pace, and ever-present culture of the city, saying, “You know you’re a real New Yorker when you’re able to drown out the sounds. The Literary New York program was one of a kind. It changed me personally, emotionally, and spiritually in ways I could never forget.”

The bulk of the program was the internship portion. Each student had sought out— with the help of Benson and the English department—internships in various fields such as publishing, advertising, library sciences, and business.

Flukinger interned with Bold Type Books, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group. As an editorial assistant, he read nonfiction manuscripts and book proposals and worked with editors to discuss future steps about publishing the pieces. He worked closely with an editor who was an intermediary between Hachette, Bold Type Books, and the Type Media Center—a

Mathis was initially drawn to the Literary New York program for its readings, including James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Colson Whitehead, and Walt Whitman, but also found that the daily observational writings helped shape his perspective of New York and strengthened his connection to the city.

While most of the students commuted to work via train, one student had to hop off the subway and then onto a ferry to get to her internship. Eliza Richter ’26, a health equity and Spanish double major, interned for the Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, which controls the operation of both Ellis and Liberty islands. She worked in the American Family

Richter, a native of Dallas, TX, says the accessibility and attitude of New Yorkers helped her become a more independent person, whether in meeting new people or discovering a new falafel place around the corner. The subway system was also liberating to her as someone from a nonwalkable city: “If I needed to get anywhere, I didn’t have to rely on anybody—I just did it.”

Adds Flukinger: “Having the Literary New York class to go along with living and working in New York constantly inspired me to explore the city, get out of my comfort zone, and see the language in everyday life. It molded me into someone who moves faster and with more intention; it felt like I was becoming a New Yorker in a real way.”

HEMINGWAY IN PARIS

A riveting summer trip traces the Lost Generation through France.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

— Mark Twain

On the streets of 1920s Paris, flitting between cafes and jazz bars, literature and nightlife, bookstores and salons, notable minds and luminaries gathered to escape the disillusionment of post-World War I America. Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many of their peers moved freely about the city, channeling their aimlessness into a bohèmien lifestyle that would unfold into much of the century’s great prose and literature. Last summer, professors of English Rebecca Finlayson and Marshall Boswell gathered a group of alumni, parents, staff, and friends of Rhodes to immerse themselves in Paris and to visit the same haunts where those literary predecessors fomented their transformative art.

Avid travelers, Finlayson and Boswell have been all over the globe. With their love for travel, they had always had it in the back of their minds to lead an educational and recreational trip abroad. While brainstorming locations, France constantly appealed as an option. “We’ve always had a love affair with Paris,” says Finlayson. “I lived there in graduate school, we travel there a lot, and now we take our kids there.”

It certainly sweetened the pot that one of America’s most iconic writers spent a good chunk of his life and work focused on Paris. “The most important prose stylist of the first half of the 20th century is Hemingway,” says Boswell. “The stripped-back-minimalist style wasn’t just a revolution in diction and voice, but carried with it a vision of the world that was post-war. Early Hemingway is just some of the most important literary fiction of the 20th century, and his influence remains.”

While their ideas percolated, Finlayson read Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast straight through during a road trip to Florida and was convinced; they had their trip. As part of the Meeman Center for Lifelong Learning, last summer

the two kicked off a nine-day immersive class inspired by Hemingway’s Parisian experiences. But they didn’t want to simply retrace his footsteps. “What we did is center this trip around the sensuous nature of Paris,” says Boswell. “The nature that comes out in A Moveable Feast : Paris as a place of food and wine, of art, literature, and just visceral pleasure.”

The class spent nine days and eight nights in Paris with their home base at the boutique Villa Pantheón hotel in the city’s Latin Quarter. Grounding the trip at a central location was an intentional choice, meant to provide the sensation of living in Paris, rather than hopping from locale to locale as tourists In the mornings, the group would gather to eat breakfast at the hotel and then meet in a beautiful courtyard for an intensive discussion on the required reading: A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises. The participants, ranging from ages 27 to 75, recreated the Rhodes classroom experience more than 4,500 miles away from campus, each eager to contribute. “We were all from different places, different backgrounds, at different places in our lives,” says Finlayson, “but everyone did the reading, brought their own experiences to the table, and had a great time together.”

Once classes wrapped up in the morning, the group, armed with their Paris metro passes, had the run of the city. Finlayson’s mother had authored a travelogue titled Hemingway’s Paris, which catalogued the cafes, restaurants, and museums he frequented, which helped inform their itinerary. Then, the food, art, and history beckoned, just as it did with the Lost Generation. There were Bastille Day celebrations, complete with a parade on

the Champs Elysees; a private boat cruise on the Seine River, passing by many iconic bridges and monuments that inspired Hemingway; walking tours through the Latin Quarter and Saint Germain des Prés; hands-on time with a fromager in an Île Saint-Louis cheese-making class; meals at Brassier Lip, Polidor, Le Dôme Café, or Les Deux Magots; and plenty of other activities to partake in during their free time.

“Everything was about camaraderie; about coming together over a meal, about having fun.” says Finlayson. “We would go to the market Hemingway frequented and make meals from ingredients we purchased there.

We were tipped off to a crowd-free location to take in fireworks on Bastille Day against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. So while we planned excursions, there was also a lot of spontaneity. We were living like Hemingway, in a sense.”

Adds Boswell, “Rebecca arranged it in a way where we had one major thing we did every day. But that also meant that, outside of the itinerary, everyone had the space to do their own trip. They could go to the Louvre, they could go to Notre Dame. It gave everyone a sense of ownership over the experience.”

As their French experience wound down and the group prepared to return home, they packed their bags and reminisced about their very own moveable feast: a unique, magical Parisian memory that would nourish their souls in perpetuity. The same streets, cafes, and museums that so enchanted Hemingway and company enraptured this cross-generational Lynx cohort. “People became comfortable with our discussions, with sharing and understanding each other’s perspectives, and with interrogating the texts in the ways that we hope our undergraduates do,” says Finlayson. “And they all indulged in that sensuousness of Paris while their heads were in the language of Hemingway.”

SERVICE AT SEA Alumni Spotlight

LCDR Brooke Bierdz ’15 counsels service members at home and helps lead humanitarian aid efforts abroad on behalf of the United States Navy.

Navy Lieutenant Commander Brooke Bierdz ’15 always knew that she wanted to help people in her career. Mental health and psychology had always interested her, but she didn’t quite know where her path would lead as a professional. After pursuing her interests during her undergraduate years, she found herself following in the footsteps of her parents and grandparents by joining the United States Navy, a calling that would see her eventually board the USNS Comfort to provide humanitarian aid internationally.

The Millington, TN, native grew up having seen the rewards of serving in the armed forces, with her parents having moved to Millington to serve at the Naval Support Activity Mid-South base. “My grandparents both served,” says Bierdz, “and my parents genuinely loved their time in the Navy and it set them on a path to success. I can’t say that I necessarily planned on taking this path, but it was on my radar more than for some.”

Bierdz quickly decided that she would follow her interests and pursue a major in psychology. “I’ve always been fascinated with understanding why people do what they do, why we become the people we are,” says Bierdz. “I view psychiatry as the storytelling component of mental health, where the experiences of the patients are very important to helping them.”

While weighing early on whether to chart a path to obtain a PhD in psychology or become an MD of psychiatry, she began conducting undergraduate research with professor emeritus of psychology Marsha Walton, who specialized in developmental psychology and

children’s stories. “She’d been studying children’s stories and the role they play in development,” says Bierdz, “and conducting that research with her really crystallized my love for stories and what I wanted to do with my life. Plus, throughout college I had been the friend that people came to when they were distressed, and I’d help them work through it. So I’d been refining those soft skills over those four years, and it all coalesced to lead me to mental health.”

With her path clear, her sophomore year Bierdz utilized Rhodes’ early selection program with George Washintgon University in Washington, D.C., to land a spot in its School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Seeking a way to help finance the degree, Bierdz was alerted to the military’s Health Professions Scholarship Program, which provides medical school scholarships in exchange for years of service as a commissioned healthcare officer on active duty. She signed on the dotted line with the Navy, was sworn in immediately after her Rhodes graduation, and remained on inactive reserve during medical school.

commissioned in 1986 to provide mobile emergency medical facilities to U.S. military personnel, and hospital services to support disaster relief and humanitarian operations around the globe. The Comfort has been deploying for decades, starting with providing aid during the Persian Gulf War, and has also provided aid at home, such as for victims affected by Hurricane Katrina. “There is a small crew always on the ship; I’m part of a larger group who will board the ship and work when it is activated for whatever reason.”

Day-to-day, Bierdz spends her time as a psychiatrist at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA. “I mainly work in the inpatient ward,” she says, “seeing active duty service members admitted for psychiatric distress. I’ve always enjoyed teaching residents through our residency training program, who join us from the Uniformed Services University and other local schools.”

But at any point, she could be called to board the Comfort and set sail. That finally happened last year for the Continuing Promise 2025 mission, and Bierdz boarded the ship at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia to begin her mission.

the Seabees—the Navy Construction Battalion—who will work on infrastructure projects in each host country. The Navy Band also accompanied the voyage, putting on shows and livening the mood.

During the 79-day trip, Bierdz acted as Officer in Charge (OIC) of three of the medical sites, essentially running the clinic, managing personnel and overseeing a large chunk of the 12,600 patients who were served throughout the mission. “I’d applied to be OIC, and it was a great opportunity to gain experience through leadership positions. The Navy is really positive about creating those opportunities. It was tough,

running a clinic in a place you don’t know with a language you might not speak; but ultimately, they’ve been doing these for years and we have a great system in place to help a lot of people who need it.

“I’ve always been fascinated with understanding why people do what they do, why we become the people we are.”

The Navy fully covered her expenses, plus provided a stipend, and provided opportunities for Bierdz to attend rotations at military treatment facilities. Postgraduation, she did her residency at San Diego Naval Medical Center before moving back to the East Coast.

Her first orders? Assignment to the USNS Comfort, a 1,000-bed hospital ship

Continuing Promise is a series of periodic military exercises that has provided medical, dental, and veterinarian aid to people in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2007. “These missions are meant to foster goodwill, and establish and strengthen relationships with other countries,” says Bierdz. The Comfort traveled to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago during its voyage. “We set up these huge, first-come firstserve clinics to provide free healthcare at each location,” she continues. “Adult and pediatric services, optometry, dental, surgeries . . . there are so many services we provide.” The crew often includes

“I was really grateful to be a part of Continuing Promise,” says Bierdz. “We know service is good for our mental health. Service to others is a fundamental part of my ethos, and a lot of that stems from some of my experiences at Rhodes, where that was a big focus during my time as an undergraduate.”

Bierdz’s current order set continues through 2027. Once her time in the Navy is up, there are plenty of paths for her to take. But one thing for certain is that she’ll continue to help people. “I love this job, I love the population I work with,” she says. “Young folks who are away from home for the first time and are learning to manage the stress associated with military service. I find really good opportunities to intervene and potentially make long-lasting differences in people’s lives. And there are so many ways I can do that.”

ENTER STAGE RIGHT

Alumni in the performing arts take curious, winding, and sometimes unconventional paths to stardom.

Do you remember where you were when you decided what you wanted to do with your life? Sometimes the decision is made in the Rhodes career center; for some, it’s decided at a very young age. Or, perhaps, the moment of clarity dawns during a conversation with classmates, or following a simple rejection, or during an intensive cross-country trek, throwing open the door to numerous possibilities. Many alumni finding success in the performing arts have taken the road less traveled towards their careers, pivoting away from successful (and stable) careers in advertising, business, and corporate life to fulfill their ambitions. And on stage, under the glow of the spotlight, four alumni have found it all to be worth it.

On Stage at the Comedy Club

Comedian Seth Herzog ’92 did a heck of a lot of things growing up. He acted in numerous amateur and professional dramatic theater productions, played football, rode crew, and ran track. At Rhodes, he embraced the liberal arts lifestyle, hanging out with friends, relating his classroom experience to history and culture while studying abroad in Europe, and writing plays and auditioning for roles in the Rhodes Theatre Guild. But the one thing he didn’t do was stand-up comedy. “I had considered myself not just a comedic actor, but a serious theater and film guy who also could do comedic roles,” says Herzog. He would elicit much laughter during crowd interactions after shows and when making jokes to students around campus, but had never organized a formal set.

With his sights set on a serious acting career, he sat down with longtime former Rhodes theater professor Cookie Ewing, who told him he should change his focus. “She told me, ‘Do comedy, you’ll be much happier.’ And I said ‘What, how dare you? I’m an actor.’”

But Ewing’s advice would prove correct. Herzog moved to New York City shortly after graduation to pursue a role in theater. Then, a few friends who performed on the MTV sketch comedy show The State invited him to perform at comedy clubs. He found joy in performing and producing these shows, and eventually decided to forego acting to be a full-time comic. “Once I made that decision, doors started opening,” he says. “I started booking and producing more shows, and once I

“ There are no more gatekeepers, and the means of production are in your pocket, so make your own stuff, keep creating and producing, because no one’s going to remember what bombs; they’ll remember the two or three things that hit.”

became a stand-up, people assumed I was also a writer, and I got a lot of writing gigs.”

Herzog made frequent appearances on the talking-head-style shows popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with steady roles on the VH1 network. Meanwhile, many of his New York actor friends had also hit it big. Saturday Night Live alumnus Jimmy Fallon, having spent a few years looking for his next big thing, reached out to Herzog with an opportunity. “We’d been hanging out more for a few years after his run on SNL, and in 2009 he was planning to launch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and asked me to come on and be the warm-up comic.” Herzog was hesitant, but eventually accepted, becoming a fixture of the show, and is now on Fallon’s current program, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. For the last 17 years, Herzog has elicited plenty of laughs from audience members to get them in the mood before the cameras start rolling.

In between tapings, Herzog has maintained a steady routine of other shows and projects. He’s led movies, appeared on tv shows such as 30 Rock, and also headlined large events. He is a frequent performer at The Big Slick fundraising event in Kansas City, taking the stage alongside Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, David Koechner, and Heidi Gardner, to name a few.

Since 2004, Herzog has produced his own stand-up variety show called Sweet, showcasing various celebrity guests and the unique brand of comedy that has made him a fixture of the New York scene. Historically, he has always incorporated lots of zany dancing and musical bits; one of his highlights is a dance to the Wonder Woman theme, wearing a version of Lynda Carter’s iconic costume. He also frequently invites his mother on stage for a bit of repartee. Whatever the approach, Herzog says it’s important to keep at it. “There are no more gatekeepers, and the means of production are in your pocket,” he says. “So make your own stuff, keep creating and producing, because no one’s going to remember what bombs; they’ll remember the two or three things that hit.”

Those moments that do hit make the comedic grind all worth it for fellow comedian (and occasional Herzog collaborator) Paul Ollinger ’91. The high is such that it persuaded him, in the midst of a highly successful business career, to switch gears and take to the stage full time. “I was always into comedy, but it was never something that I thought I would do,” he says.

Ollinger arrived at Rhodes to play football thanks to some persuasion from longtime Rhodes Athletics administrator Mike Clary ’77, P’01, P’04, taking to the field while working towards a business and economics major. After graduation, he worked in the Rhodes Development office for several years before pursuing a Master’s degree at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. “I wanted to be a bank loan officer and drive a Buick LeSabre and have an office with a credenza,” says Ollinger. “That’s what success looked like to me before, and I aspired to that upper-middle-class success; nowhere in there was being a comedian.”

But his attitude changed when a friend at Dartmouth asked him to coheadline a school talent show. With Ollinger known as a “smart aleck” around campus, the friend thought he would bring a good energy to the proceedings. But Ollinger raised the bar and had the whole crowd in tears. “It was some good-hearted ball-busting, just poking fun at him,” says Ollinger. “And as it continued I thought, ‘Wait a minute, this is stand-up comedy. And I want more of that.’

“It’s a semi-narcotic experience,” adds Ollinger, “And when you do it, they say you get the bug, because your brain just lights up with joy when it goes well.”

He certainly caught the bug, and despite having his sights set on the business world, he kept thinking about his comedy. But first, Ollinger took part in a few other notable ventures. He joined the small music website launch.com before it was purchased by Yahoo, and then decamped to Los Angeles to kickstart his comedy career. He began performing in shows, met his wife, Stacy, and tried to chart a path towards a sustainable performing career when a friend from

“ It’s a semi-narcotic experience, and when you do it, they say you get the bug, because your brain just lights up with joy when it goes well.”

Yahoo called. “He asked if I’d like to join a small social network called Facebook,” says Ollinger. “It seemed like a good gig, and I joined up and became the 250th employee there.”

But after four and a half years of business development at Facebook, Ollinger felt financially stable enough to be a comedian full-time. “I always say I left Facebook too early, but at that time it felt that if I had

a dream that I knew I wanted to follow and was stable enough to do so, it was a dereliction of opportunity to not pursue that dream.”

Ollinger brings an openness and authenticity to his acts that call on his life experience and trials in the early days of online startups. His comedic chops have taken him to clubs around the country, earned him a finalist’s spot at the Boston Comedy Festival, and even garnered him a slot opening for the rock band Styx. He also explores his and others’ professional journeys on his Reasonably Happy podcast—billed as “the skeptics guide to finding contentment”—talking life and financial success versus fulfillment with Nobel Prize winners, former Olympic skater Apolo Ohno, PGA Tour champion Rich Beem, celebrities such as LL Cool J and Judd Apatow, and plenty of other luminaries.

But 30 years on from his first show, it’s that same performance high that drives Ollinger, just like it did at the Dartmouth talent show. “It’s the same feeling: you want to do more of it, you want to do it every day, you want to get better and you want to be the best in the club that night.”

On Stage at the Theater

Four days into bicycling the 1996 500-mile Heartland AIDSRide from the Twin Cities to Chicago, Doug Trapp ’85 pedaled to the top of a large hill and stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts. He remembered a conversation with his best friend at the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, where Trapp confided that his dream was to be on Broadway.

“I was riding for a friend of mine who has since passed on,” says Trapp. “And at the top of the hill I thought, ‘Life is just too short not to do what I want to do with it.’ And I burst out crying, riding down the hill with happy tears, realizing that I had to quit my job.”

As a lifelong singer and actor, Nashville native Trapp had traveled the three hours down I-40 to begin his undergraduate life at Rhodes, eager to perform. He joined the Rhodes Singers under Professor Tony Lee Garner ’65, P’91 (and sang alongside current professor of music Carole Blankenship ’85) and performed in productions at McCoy Theatre and around Memphis. “I had always been into musical theater,” he says. “My dad was a naval officer stationed in Staten Island in the 1960s, and my parents were huge fans of Broadway, so I grew up listening to the original cast albums from Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Man of La Mancha …”

As a self-professed theater geek, Trapp was unsure what his career path would look like. “Theater and singing were hobbies, not what I was thinking about as a career,” he says. “The nice thing about Rhodes was that I could try a lot of things and see what worked for me.” He

“ Everybody’s path is the way it is. You take the victories you get; I haven’t felt so good about my work in a long time as I do now. My path has led me to a place where I feel sharp, I feel prepared, and I feel flexible to take on a role as needed.”

quickly discovered that design and illustration were excellent creative outlets for him, and pursued his post-graduate studies at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta with an eye towards working in advertising.

He built a successful career, starting work in South Carolina before relocating to Minneapolis, MN, which ended up being the perfect landing spot. “Minneapolis was one of the places, in the late ’80s, to be doing really creative work outside New York, Los Angeles, the usual spots.” Alongside working as a creative director, Trapp joined the aforementioned Gay Men’s Chorus and, realizing that he really missed acting, used that as a springboard to get back into theater. His acting existed in tandem with his advertising work until that fateful bike ride. After completing the 500 miles, muscles sore and resolve solidified, he started planning for a theater career. In 1998, he walked into his boss’s office and said he planned to pursue theater full time. “I remember he said, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ Then he pulled out a dollar from his wallet and said ‘Let me know if you want to see one of these again,’” recalls Trapp with a laugh. “And I did continue freelancing for them, but all my coworkers, boss included, were really supportive of my decision.”

Trapp spent five years acting consistently in Minneapolis before taking the plunge and moving to New York City. “My big break came with an off-Broadway production called Silence! The Musical, a musical version of Silence of the Lambs.” Trapp was the swing—or understudy—for five different roles in the musical.

“It was brutal, but a great crash course in being part of such a buzzy production, and I loved being around Broadway royalty.

Broadway itself hasn’t happened yet, but I’m still auditioning for shows and you never know.”

But Trapp didn’t only focus on theater. He also sought auditions for television and film, landing some pretty impressive spots. One of Trapp’s highlights was being cast on 30 Rock as Liz Lemon’s (Tina Fey) accountant, Howard. “My first big break and I was doing a scene across from Tina Fey . . . I was lucky, my confidence was sky high after preparing for the five roles of Silence. I thought, ‘I can do this.’ This changed my life and really launched my TV career. But working alongside Tina was amazing, and that really solidifed my kind of career as a character actor on TV.”

Trapp’s list of credits are impressive, and include being lambasted by Rami Malek on Mr. Robot and tortured by Queen Latifah on The Equalizer, along with memorable roles on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Blacklist, and plenty of others. And Trapp doesn’t regret a single step on his current path. “Acting has given me so much,” he says. “It introduced me to my partner of 27 years now. Everybody’s path is the way it is. You take the victories you get; I haven’t felt so good about my work in a long time as I do now. My path has led me to a place where I feel sharp, I feel prepared, and I feel flexible to take on a role as needed.”

Holt quickly jumped into community theater, working on plenty of shows in Atlanta and building his resume before a 1995 role in Black Nativity really brought him to wider attention in the city. But Holt credits a lucky break for reaching the next level. The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta was preparing to perform James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner, directed by Tony-winning director Kenny Leon, but an actor dropped out weeks before the show. “Someone recommended me to Kenny, and he called me up and said, ‘You don’t have time to audition, can you do this?’ I said ‘yes,’ and he said, ‘You can join under one condition. And that’s you better be good.’”

Fellow stage actor Charles Holt ’89 had a similarly winding path to acting as Trapp. In fact, his initial urge was to pursue a career in professional sports, having been recruited to Rhodes for football. When he switched tack to join the corporate world, he secured a job at IBM in Memphis for two years before moving to a new company in Atlanta.

“These corporate cultures weren’t really places I was suited for,” recalls Holt. “And I got fired a year after I moved to Atlanta, which was actually a blessing in disguise.” In between working two jobs to make ends meet, Holt started attending an open mic night, drawing on his experience singing in his church choir while growing up. “A gentleman, heard me singing one night and asked if I’d done musical theater and I said no way, I’m a football guy,” says Holt. “But I found myself interested in hearing more about theater, and I auditioned for a production he was working on. He’s still a mentor, and I acted in his production of Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope just earlier this year.”

“ Every production changed my life . . . there are just so many ways to express myself, to tell stories. My path has been meandering, full of weeds and bobbles, but I’m grateful for the journey I’ve had and where I am.”

Holt fulfilled the role successfully, and during the run, sitting in his dressing room one night, a voice told him “It’s time.” He booked a ticket to New York for a month to try his luck on Broadway. Near the end of the month, he booked a role on the national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. His star quickly rose from there, earning roles on Smokey Joe’s Café, touring Europe as the first Black actor to portray Rocky in The Rocky Horror Show, and then returning home to land a lengthy run in The Lion King on Broadway, in what was an absolute theater juggernaut just after the turn of the millenium.

“Every production changed my life, but that was such a phenomenal show,” he says. “And after, I thought, ‘I want to do even more, so I looked into TV, I looked into voice acting. I do motion capture for video games, and I also started writing. There are just so many ways to express myself, to tell stories. My path has been quite meandering; it’s been full of weeds and bobbles, but I’m grateful for the journey I’ve had and where I am.”

Five departing professors reflect on their careers at Rhodes

David McCarthy — Professor of Art and Art History

Perhaps the most difficult part of leaving campus was transporting the vast collection of art, office decorations, and books David McCarthy had accumulated from his office to his home. “This was floor to ceiling books before,” he says on a warm spring day from inside an admittedly still-full office. The objects lining the shelves and hanging on the walls trace every school year since his arrival at Rhodes in 1991: the students he has helped shape, gallery openings featuring art he has covered for decades, and projects conducted in tandem with community partners such as the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

McCarthy’s mother was an art enthusiast and a librarian, which meant growing up he perused art books she’d bring home and made frequent museum excursions. He watched his grandfather turn pieces of cardboard into beautiful landscape portraits in the basement atelier of their Boston home. McCarthy’s introduction to art has always fueled his approach in the classroom. “I was smitten watching my grandfather create, and my mother exposed me to the art history side of things. In my experience at graduate school, it was strictly one or another when it came to studio art versus art history. One of the things I really value about the department here is that we worked hard to eradicate that line between work in the studio and art history. Here, those lines are completely permeable.”

During his years at Rhodes, McCarthy, who received the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2023, has been adamant that teaching and his independent scholarship are not separate pursuits.

“What I’ve always found is that students bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to the conversation, and sometimes they take you in directions you could not anticipate,” he says. “So whether your audience is students just learning the ropes, or scholars who have dedicated their lives to this, there are still possibilities of discovery in both.”

Throughout his career, McCarthy made a point to walk through Clough Hall several times a day, stopping to absorb the artwork created by students that hung on the walls. “I have new moments of revelation all the time,” he adds. “It’s deepened in the sense that, especially as Rhodes

“ What I’ve always found is that students bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to the conversation, and sometimes they take you in directions you could not anticipate.”

has diversified its faculty and staff and its student body, the students and my colleagues have a much wider frame of reference than I had coming in here 35 years ago, and that the school had 35 years ago. And with that, it means that every single occasion that I have to talk with the students about their art in the studio, or to talk to them about stuff in the classroom, means that the possibility for learning more from my perspective has just increased over the years.”

Much of McCarthy’s research has focused on American, Contemporary, and Modern art, and how artists mold and reflect the times in which they live. Notably, McCarthy has interrogated how American artists have depicted the causes and effects of war through their art, chiefly through the work of American printmaker and sculptor H.C. Westermann. “I’ve long been attracted to art that has, let’s say, a point of view or an attitude,” he says. “What I really value is the way in which artists use their creativity to talk about the world around them. I think of it as casting a vote, but doing it in public because their work is on display.”

McCarthy built his own faculty capstone after assistant professor of art Joel Parsons ’07 encouraged him to host a final exhibit in the Clough-Hanson Gallery this past spring. A Well-Trained Eye: The Work

and Collections of David McCarthy gathered works from his personal collection, centering many of Westermann’s works, delving into themes of anti-war and familial influence, but also showcasing student collaboration and engagement with Memphis artists. “As we were putting this together, my wife and I looked through much of the art we’d collected over the years from Memphis artists,” he says.

Notable attention was given to the Memphis World Catalogue, a research partnership with the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art from 2007 and 2008. McCarthy and students worked alongside the Brooks to collect old photography from the Memphis World, a Black newspaper that circulated from 1931 to 1973 and gave voice to members of the Civil Rights Movement. “Like a prior catalogue we’d done on Pop Art, these projects really gave students a tangible way to interact with Memphis work and its history,” he says.

But while McCarthy’s time as an academic tied to Rhodes College has come to an end, his pursuits as a scholar will continue. “I have no plans to give up my life as an art historian,” he says. “I have a couple of essays in the pipeline. There are some pieces at the Brooks I’ve had my eye on for years. I’d like to do some research about those things, and I’ll just keep plugging away and look for new opportunities.”

Darlene Loprete — Professor of Chemistry

What do mushrooms and people have in common? A lot more than you might think, with the two sharing nearly 50 percent of the same DNA. While the HBO hit show The Last of Us brought that connection into the wider pop culture zeitgeist with a fantastical take on the subject matter, outgoing professor of chemistry Darlene Loprete spent a large chunk of her career focusing on more tangible possibilities born out of those similarities.

“Fungi are good and bad,” says Loprete. “They give us things like beer and wine. But they’re also pests. They cause diseases; you can get a fungal lung disease if you have a compromised immune system. People get toenail fungus that’s hard to get rid of. And some of the drugs to treat those are very rough on the body. Fungi are very similar to us, but one distinguishing factor is the cell wall. If you wanted to design an antifungal drug, that would be the place to start. So a lot of my research has been towards analyzing that cell wall, and how that can be used to specifically target fungus in the body and not your own cells.” Loprete’s research focused specifically on the Aspergillus nidulans, a filamentous fungi used as an important focus of cell biology.

A biochemist by trade, Loprete grew up loving science and knew she would work in the field.

“It was always just a matter of where I was going to land,” she says. In graduate school at the University of Rhode Island, faculty lauded her talent for presenting her ideas and synthesizing them for others. “So I thought, well, maybe I should go into teaching.”

After receiving a PhD, the New Jersey native accepted a position at Rhodes in 1990 and decamped to Tennessee, her first time in the South. But her culture shock didn’t last long, and she quickly embraced the Rhodes experience. “I’d interviewed other places, but the quality of students was certainly attractive to me, and it being in a very rich medical community with St. Jude Children’s Research

“ It was always really rewarding to travel to conferences around the world and show my colleagues in the field what our students had been working on.”

Hospital, University of Tennessee, and the University of Memphis all around the corner. When I was starting out, most schools had separate biology and chemistry departments, but Rhodes allowed us to combine those fields in interesting ways.

“Plus, I really wanted to be in a metropolitan area,” adds Loprete. “Having grown up just 20 miles outside New York City, that was a must. Luckily, Memphis ticked all the boxes.”

Loprete conducted research with professor of biology Terry Hill and professor of chemistry Loretta Jackson-Hayes, among others, and worked closely with local organizations such as Buckman Laboratories. And she also found a wealth of students eager to learn on the job. “We had lots of students who had a thirst for something extra outside the classroom. I’ve taken students who have just been here one year and want a summer opportunity, or those who want to be part of a lab during the semester,” she says. “My goal was to teach students enough about what we’re doing, even if they didn’t have the classroom background to do it. Some students outside the chemistry track would express an interest, or I would invite others who displayed good techniques to join me in the laboratory. And it was always really fun to get groups of students together in the lab and have them learn from each other.”

Loprete would stagger her research teams, retaining a couple of students each year to mentor new students coming into the lab. She enjoyed creating opportunities for students to

share this research, traveling nearby to North Carolina or farther afield to Copenhagen, Denmark. “It was always really rewarding to travel to conferences around the world and show my colleagues in the field what our students had been working on,” she adds.

For much of the last decade, Loprete stepped back from research to focus on the classroom and other administrative work. “There was a really intense period where I did a lot of research, but that wound down and I turned my focus elsewhere, such as acting as the department chair for several years. That kind of work keeps you busy, but I still found time to take students to conferences and share their work.”

Post-Rhodes, Loprete will travel, play some tennis, and continue to uphold Rhodes’ commitment to service by volunteering around Memphis. “I’ve always played tennis, so I’ll continue to do that, alongside getting better at golf. I’ve got the Country

Music Festival in Nashville on my radar, the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, and then our annual family gathering in Atlantic City.

Then of course I’m a wine lover, so I’ll go to Oregon to drink some wine.”

Dee Birnbaum, Associate Professor of Business

With her eye on pursuing a career in music, Dee Birnbaum could have let an early osteoarthritis diagnosis derail her. A lifelong interest in artistry and performance—after discovering she had perfect pitch at five years old—was upended when doctors recommended that she quit playing.

“I’d fallen in love with the cello as a kid, and played in music festivals and got a music scholarship to college,” says Birnbaum, who retired as associate professor of business in December. “But I started having trouble with my hand. I wasn’t able to play or hold my bow, and was feeling pain when I carried my case around. So I had to give that up.”

But any of the students who took a class with Birnbaum during her 35 years at Rhodes know she’s not one to give up easily. A career as a professional musician may have been swept off the table, but she took the no from doctors and flipped it into a resounding yes: yes to a lengthy career in academia working around issues she was passionate about, and yes to traveling the world with students as she

shared her expertise in Middle Eastern dance and jewelry.

But immediately after making the decision to walk away from the cello, Birnbaum reflected on her doctor and hospital visits

“ I was amazed at how good the undergraduates at Rhodes are compared to when I’d been teaching master’s and doctoral students.”

and pivoted to healthcare. She worked as a hospital administrator in New York City before she pursued an MBA in healthcare management. She became interested in the intricacies of running a hospital and, at the time, the worldwide shortage of nurses. “I eventually decided I wanted to pursue my doctorate focused on the business of running a hospital and healthcare.” After earning a PhD, Birnbaum taught healthcare management at University of Kansas and then Tulane University in New Orleans. While she was

mulling over a change of scenery, she met an acquaintance who had worked at Rhodes. “I looked into it and heard really good things about the school,” she says. “I visited twice, met the administration, and thought ‘yeah, ok, this is it.’”

Birnbaum relocated to Memphis in 1991 and was immediately taken aback by her classes. “I was used to teaching graduate students, but I was amazed at how good the undergraduates at Rhodes are compared to when I’d been teaching master’s and doctoral students.”

Once she found Memphis as the place she wanted to be, she continued the globetrotting adventures she’d started in the ’70s, taking a

deep dive into Middle Eastern culture. She took interest in a wide variety of Middle Eastern forms of dance, full of fluid movements that allowed her to reconnect with music without aggravating her arthritis. “Lots of the movements allowed me to dance and strengthen my body. I practiced and performed regional dances, called folklore, from Egypt and Lebanon for a long time, and also taught seminars at Rhodes and around the country.”

Birnbaum had also been gathering textile and jewelry throughout her travels, picked up from bazaars she would frequent or presented as a gift from one of the many host families she’s stayed with over the years. Her personal

collection is vast, encompassing pieces from North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. “During one of my early travels to Afghanistan and through India, I was really taken with these small pieces of silver jewelry I saw, just going into shops,” she says. “That’s kind of where it got started, and I just kept collecting. I was fascinated with small towns in Syria; in each town the women would make their own clothing, and they’d all use different embroideries and colors. You could trace where people were from based on the design, and so every piece is an important cultural design.”

Many of the pieces decorate Birnbaum’s house in Memphis, with jewelry carefully arranged

on tables and textiles and apparel hanging in every room. Many of the pieces in her collection are on display in the Dee Birnbaum Collection of Textiles and Jewelry at Indiana University: shawls, tunics, pants, veil ornaments, handcrafted bangles, and jeweled necklaces are just some of the many items on display, and she has no plans to stop collecting. “A lot of these

are very personal to me,” she says. “I’ve made a lot of friends during my travels, and many have gifted me with these beautiful things after hosting me. You can learn so much about culture, politics, anything, through items like these.”

“It’s crazy to think about, but I’ve been to a lot of interesting places,” adds Birnbaum.

Tom Bryant, Professor of Music

Associate professor of music Tom Bryant ’s passion for piano and all things musical started out as more of a competitive rivalry.

“I’m the youngest of three brothers,” he says, “and my mother signed us all up for lessons when we were kids. So we had that element of ‘oh, I can’t lose to my brother.’” While his siblings moved on to other things, Bryant’s talent shone through in his early lessons. By the sixth grade, he was performing at his church, and he hasn’t looked back since.

The Rhodes community has been graced by many of Bryant’s confident and composed performances since he arrived on campus in 1990. Echoes of Schubert, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff, some of his favorite composers, shine through as his fingers fly across the keys. But Bryant doesn’t simply take the stage to show off his incredible solo prowess. Rather, he sees himself as support for the many talented students who desire to take the stage.

“During a [Rotary Foundation International] Fellowship at the Vienna Academy of Music in Austria, after my undergraduate studies, I found that I really excelled in collaborative piano,” he says, “accompanying singers, violinists, cellists, and all sorts of groups.”

Bryant’s April 26 concert, Prelude to the Ninth featuring Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, performed with the Rhodes Singers and Choral Collaborative and organized by assistant professor of music and director of choral activities Jason Bishop ’98, was one of the most memorable of his career. “It was almost like the whole department came together for my retirement. I’ve enjoyed every performance, but getting to be a concerto

“ Music fills your cup, it can be healing to the soul. It makes you a better person . . . it’s what keeps us human.”

soloist alongside our choir and orchestra students was so meaningful. But I look back fondly on many of the performances, both with students and with other faculty members, whether it was a piano quartet or my frequent collaboration with [professor of music] Carole Blankenship ’85.”

“I fell in love with Egypt, everything about the culture, and was able to take students on a few semesters abroad there to work with small business owners and see how they operate. I’ve been to Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and so many other places. And now that I’ve retired, the traveling will continue.”

If his performances have always looked effortless, Bryant’s skills were forged in fire during his four years of undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia. “We had this very small instructor, and she was the most intimidating person we’d met,” recalls Bryant. In between her shouted instructions and demanding methods, he could glean her desire for improvement. “It was very tough, but I could always feel the bar rising, and I could see that she was communicating to me that she knew I could do it, she believed in me, and she really was the greatest teacher. And she was the one who recommended me to Vienna.”

While his undergraduate experience was very old-school, Bryant’s approach to class takes a much more supportive tack—an approach that fits in very well with Rhodes’ Department of Music. “Our department is unique in music education in that we’re all very supportive of each other,” says Bryant. “We of course have healthy disagreements, but all the faculty are supportive and encouraging of each other’s corners of the music world. The support from colleagues, and the challenges from students, keep us on our toes and push us to improve.”

In the classroom, in lessons, and even when out just enjoying concerts, Bryant views music as a form of nourishment. While academics and athletics feed the body and mind, Bryant views music as feeding the soul, with benefits to all students no matter their discipline. “You can’t give anything to anybody if your cup is empty,” he says. “Music fills your cup, it can be healing to the soul, it can get you through the death of a loved one. It can be fanfare, celebratory. It’s a realm that’s kind of abstract, but it

makes you a better person, a better lawyer or physician. It’s what keeps us human.”

The greatest reward, he adds, is watching students who attend a music class solely for the credit start to open up. The early weeks of a semester, in his experience, sees these students hang back, mildly disinterested, before the subject matter slowly reels them in. “I wait for the moment when they uncross their arms, lean forward, and become engrossed.”

To make his love for music infectious, Bryant has always sought to make sure his passion and enthusiasm is at maximum for each class—a lesson he learned from his son, Sam. “My son has Down syndrome, and I’ve found young men and women with Down syndrome are the happiest creatures on earth. There’s no filter, which can work against you, but it gives you a confidence and vulnerability that you need to embrace when you’re getting up on stage around hundreds of people.

“He shows me an unconditional love which has really informed my teaching philosophy,” he adds. “And I need to bring that same unconditional love for music into the classroom to keep our students engaged. If I can bring a tenth of what Sam shows on a regular basis to the classroom, that’s success, and seeing him embody this every day has made me a much better professor.”

While stepping back from full-time teaching, Bryant will still be a regular face around campus, stepping in to teach part-time. He will also continue to host solo piano lessons

Shubho Banerjee, Professor of Physics

When he first set foot on Rhodes campus, professor of physics Shubho Banerjee was enthralled. The Collegiate Gothic buildings, standing quietly on a brisk winter day, were unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

“Rhodes has such a different character in the winter,” he says. “I’d come to campus to have my first ever interview for a teaching position, and I kept thinking ‘I really hope I get this job.’” Rhodes proved to be his first and only interview for a teaching position; after starting in 2002, he decided that Memphis was the right fit for him and made the college home for a near-quarter century before his retirement earlier this year.

for interested students. “Piano and music have blessed my life in so many ways, and I want to continue to convey that passion to others.”

The world of physics and science is almost the family business for the Banerjees. “I really grew up in a physics household,” recalls Banerjee. “My mother has a master’s in physics. My younger brother ended up being a physics professor. My younger sister is a mechanical engineer, but she is married to a physicist, and their son just finished undergraduate with a degree in physics.” It was almost ordained, then, that he would immerse himself in that world. But he dipped his toe into a bit of everything during his fiveyear spell at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. “We did a lot of mathematics, chemistry, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, you name it.” Those five years solidified his resolve to work in physics, and

“ It’s really great to build these connections with students and see where they go . . . even if it’s students outside my specialty, or first-year advisees from other disciplines seeking advice.”

his next steps took him to a PhD program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, followed by a two-year postdoctoral appointment at the University of Maryland, College Park.

As he grew into academics at Carnegie Mellon, Banerjee had taken on a teaching assistant position. His open door policy proved so successful that students would constantly be in his office, setting up camp to do homework, chat with each other, or just pass the time. “I enjoy research, but I found the most rewarding part of the job was interacting with undergraduates and helping them grow,” he says.

That’s why Rhodes, with its small class sizes and close interactions with students, was such a great fit for Banerjee. During his 24 years at the college, he taught introductory and upper level classes, while working with students on research centered around electrostatics and mathematical physics. And all the while, he kept that same open door policy in his office in Peyton Nalle Rhodes Tower. “It’s really great to build these connections with students and see where they go,” says Banerjee. “Even if it’s students outside my specialty, or advisees from other disciplines seeking advice. I had a lot of students who came into my office to discuss classwork, or just chat about how their life was going. I’ve kept in touch with a

lot of physics and med school graduates, and even with first-year advisees who appreciated having a sounding board when they got to campus.”

After his retirement, Banerjee traveled back to India to spend time with his family. “My father passed away during COVID, so I will be going back and forth to spend more time with my mother, and just be available if she needs me.”

Outside of family commitments, he relishes all the free time he’ll have, picking up hobbies that he can do whether he’s in the United States or India. An avid cycler, Banerjee plans to hop on his bike and explore the country when he’s in Memphis. “I live near the Greenline here in Memphis, in High Point Terrace, so that’s always very convenient. But I’d like to go around the United States and find these rail trails, which are train lines that have been repurposed into really nice bike trails. They can be hundreds of miles long, so I’m looking forward to finding those.”

Banerjee is also taking the time to put a renewed focus on some of his favorite instruments. During his latest stint in India, he practiced his bansuri, or Indian

bamboo flute. “It’s one of the most ancient instruments,” he says, “probably one of the first instruments ever invented because it doesn’t use any metal, and it produces this very beautiful, organic sound.” And in a nod to his time in the American South, he’s also working towards perfecting his chromatic harmonica performances.

Even though his tenure as a full-time academic is finished, Banerjee’s mind still races with thoughts and possibilities for future research. “There are some projects I’m thinking about that are very complex,” he says, “and I keep thinking about them. All of this unrestricted free time, will give me the opportunity to really think through and work on these research projects, and I’m really looking forward to that.”

But between his cycling, practicing instruments, and research, if a former student ever wants to ask about something physicsrelated or simply have a quick chat to catch up . . . well, Banerjee’s proverbial door is always open.

COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES

of the

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVENTH SESSION of Rhodes College

It was another warm spring day as students gathered to receive their diplomas at the 177th Commencement at Rhodes College on May 16. President Collins welcomed faculty, staff, and families as 416 undergraduates and graduate students honored tradition by taking their first steps over the Rhodes seal in Southwestern Hall while moving towards Fisher Memorial Garden.

The college conferred its Distinguished Service Medal, in recognition of individuals with outstanding service to the greater community, to retiring bursar Richard Huddleston ’84, who served Rhodes for 42 years.

LEGACY PHOTO

Members of the Class of 2026 gathered in Fisher Memorial Garden for the traditional Senior Class Toast, where faculty, staff, alumni leaders, and family members celebrated the soon-to-be graduates with champagne and sparkling juice. Incoming Rhodes Alumni Association President Melanie Elliott Hillard ’92 welcomed the class into the Rhodes College International Alumni Association.

On May 8, five ROTC cadets and members of the Class of 2026 received their officer commissions during ceremonies hosted by the Army and Air Force/Space Force. Head Football Coach Rich Duncan presented each new officer with a flag flown over the Rhodes campus to commemorate their commission. From left to right: President Jennifer Collins; 2d Lt Sadie Gray ’26, USAF; 2d Lt Camren Stevenson ’26, USSF; 2LT Liam Conroy ’26, USA; 2LT John Seabolt ’26, USA; 2LT Annie Wilford ’26, USA; and Head Football Coach Rich Duncan.

2026 RHODES COLLEGE HALL OF FAME

graduating seniors were

to

Members of the Rhodes Baseball Team celebrated their Commencement several days later on May 18 in the Paul Barret, Jr. Library, after competing in the NCAA Tournament. From left to right: assistant baseball coach Malcolm Rohlfing ’25, head baseball coach Rob Schrier ’04, Reid Brigham Lampert ’26, William Reed May ’26, Evan Prakash Pant ’26, Peyton Bailey Phillips ’26, Jonmarc Joseph Ranallo ’26, assistant

and assistant baseball coach Major McIlvain.

class notes

Did you graduate prior to 1957 and have news you would love to share? Please send your news to:

Tracy V. Patterson ’84, P’22 pattersont@rhodes.edu

Senior Gift Planning Officer, Director of Corporate Relations Rhodes College, 2000 N. Parkway Memphis, TN 38112

If you are not receiving requests for updates from your Class Reporter, please send your e-mail address to alumni@rhodes.edu. You may also need to add your Class Reporter’s email address to your list of contacts.

1957

Reporter: Mary Frances Files Silitch silitch@gmail.com

Your class reporter is on the board of the nonprofit Open Air Shakespeare, which is producing The Taming of the Shrew and All’s Well That Ends Well in Lisbon, Portugal. Let me know if you’re going to Portugal this year!

Charlene Jayroe Allen and her husband Jim are delighted to welcome their fourth greatgrandchild, Turner Michael Donoghue, born last August. The proud aunt is Maggie Donoghue Zambetti ’14.

1958

Reporter: John Quinn jhquinnjr@gmail.com

Robert Neil Templeton writes: “Karen and I wish all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Since our number is shrinking, we should pick up our reunion time. How about 2026? LOL.” Later, Temp reported that his sister was in an automobile accident in North Carolina and that he has been extensively engaged in providing support for her during the Spring.

Lewis Murray writes: “I am happy to report that Giorgina and I are both doing extremely well given the non-secret of our advanced age. In respect to Giorgina, I will not give a precise number of the years that have been accumulated. We continue to live in Chevy Chase, MD, and Rome, Italy, where we spend about three months in each home, followed by three months in the other one. So far, there are no serious health issues, and we both drive and can find our way home. Like many of you, we are fortunate to have children and grandchildren, all successful and of course beautiful. With no great grandchildren so far. Regards to all!”

Martha Sigler Guthrie writes from Metairie, LA: “Thank you for reaching out to everyone. I was worried that after Lorraine passed, we might lose touch, so I appreciate your keeping us connected.

I am happy to report that I am still ‘kicking’though perhaps not quite as high as I used to! I am still living independently and staying active, though I have limited my long-distance travel. That said, I am looking forward to a Caribbean cruise with some friends this May. I am also still painting, specifically focusing on landscapes of the beautiful City Park here in New Orleans. The lagoons and live oaks with Spanish moss are wonderful subjects. Every Thursday, I pick up an artist friend, and we go out to paint together. On a personal note, my youngest son lives in Maryland, and all three of my grandsons live away as well, so I don’t get to see them as often as I would like.”

Dickie Jones reports: “In October, Joan and I took a cruise from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale via the Panama Canal. Arriving back in San Diego, Joan fell getting out of an Uber and fractured her hip. She had hip replacement surgery and is recovering nicely with the help of physical therapy. I retired from the real estate appraisal profession at the end of December. We both have mobility issues and plan our outings based on how far we must walk. Seems like most of our time is spent going to doctors’ appointments.”

Linda Hardesty Schroeter reports that she lives in Independent Living in Charter House, across the street from Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN. She and her late husband, Arnold, moved there in

2012 after he retired as chair of the Department of Dermatology at the Mayo Clinic. They have four children, one of whom teaches high school chemistry in Wisconsin, another of whom is a nurse living in Northern Minnesota, near the Canadian border; the youngest of three sons lives and works in Pittsburgh, and her daughter is a medical social worker in a hospital in Los Angeles. She doesn’t travel much these days, but her children frequently visit her. She also welcomes friends, including classmates, who come to the Mayo Clinic for treatment and encourages everyone to come to Rochester in the summer to enjoy the beautiful weather and Minnesota scenery.

From the Class Reporter: “I strongly agree with Temp’s proposal that those of us still able to travel make a special effort to attend Homecoming/ Reunion Weekend, November 12-14 (and possibly a brunch on Sunday, the 15th), this year. Tracy Patterson advises that plans are being made for a special Golden Lynx event at the National Civil Rights Museum on Thursday, November 12, and we are again invited to the President’s brunch for Golden Lynx members on Saturday morning, November 14. Save the dates, and please plan to join other classmates this coming November.

My spouse (Joan) of almost 54 years and I also continue to live in the same house, in Arlington, VA, into which we moved following our wedding. Of course, downsizing makes logical sense, but our fortunate good health, subject to age-related vicissitudes, keeps postponing that change of status and lifestyle. Mercifully, I continue to practice law in Washington, DC.”

Alas, the other responses to my news solicitation message are messages from Google, “Address not found.” Before that response bounces from your address, please let your classmates hear directly from you.

1959

Reporter: Dan Logan danlogan318@gmail.com

1960

Reporters: Dale Pflug: (229) 392-1738 Morris Reagan trawickr@aol.com

1961 65th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend November 12 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Harvey Jenkins whjenkinsjr@gmail.com

Earlier this year I completed a second edition of For Goodness’ Sake—not because of readership, but because of typos and computer glitches in the first edition. More significantly, Johanna and I are preparing to welcome a seventh great-grandchild. Hard for me to believe this year’s Rhodes Reunion marks 65 years since our Southwestern graduation.

Tommy Clinton sends best wishes to all our classmates.

Nancy Myers Smith stays in touch faithfully from Miami.

Writing from Texas, Harry Swinney and his wife Beth Kelley went to Galveston for a few days, where they enjoyed walking along the beach and eating seafood.

1962

Reporter: Diane McCullough Clark granddiva@charter.net

In October 2025, Joe Ajello reported: “I just returned from Finland and France, where I attended the EPSC-DPS (European Planetary Space Physics Conference) meeting in Helsinki, Finland, from September 7-12. I presented a paper, Comparison of Planetary UV Dayglow: Analysis of Titan-Cassini and Earth-GOLD UV Airglow Observations by Laboratory Spectroscopy of N2, applying my laboratory results at University of Colorado to future Exploration of Titan surface and lower atmosphere relevant to the upcoming

exploration of the largest moon of Saturn in the solar system with a thick atmosphere of N2 by the Dragonfly Mission.” In early 2026, Joe adds: “I just returned to the University of Colorado at Boulder after 6-months of watching my farm crops in San Diego county produce in abundance: blood oranges, guavas, avocados, limes, tangelos, etc., and working remotely on my laboratory research results producing two papers on the UV emissions of the moon Titan of Saturn for the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. This spring and summer I plan to work with summer students to continue my laboratory UV studies of electron impact of the gas nitrogen. Nitrogen is the most abundant gas on both the Earth and Titan upper atmosphere. My laboratory work is funded by NASA and NSF. The laboratory results are needed to analyze a 13-year spectrograph (UVIS) of Saturn and Titan. The spectrograph was fabricated at the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, where I have been employed as a Senior Research Scientist for 11 years after 44-years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech.”

Catherine Liddell Skapura writes: “Waiting for summer. Hate the rainy season. Citrus trees in my side yard. I’m thinking ‘lemon icebox pies.’”

We hear from Dave McAdoo: “In early May 2026, I will be attending the 68th reunion of my 1958 high school graduating class. A few years ago we decided to have reunions every two years, so we could see each other and catch up more often before our ranks thin too much. It’s really a hoot to see and hear what some of these folks have done—and are still doing—with their lives. Can I hear a ‘second’ for doing this at Rhodes?”

Warren Nance says: “Still in the pulpit every Sunday and walk an average of five days a week around my neighborhood. Also enjoy reading and working crossword puzzles every day. Let me also use my contribution today to say a word of thanks to our class reporter, Diane McCullough Clark. She takes the time to solicit and coordinate this information, and that gives us all the opportunity to stay in touch in a brief but still very nice way. So, Diane, thank you for your time and effort.”

From Donna Jo Miles Smith comes: “Wish I had some exciting news about travels to exotic foreign countries, but alas, Jackson, TN, and Germantown, TN, are the boundaries of my travels. There are now four beautiful great-grands in my life that I see as much as possible. They are 5, 3, 3, and 5 months. I am serving as program chairman for our MacDowell Music Club this year, and I have recently served on the vestry of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. With the recent ‘snowmageddon,’ I was snowed in for nine days. Thankfully I had food, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, and television, as well as a couple of good books. I will say I do not ever want to be

inside that long again! Sorry to have missed the KD 100th anniversary celebration on campus, but was happy to hear from Barbara Bell Lawrence, whose call I have not yet returned. It is so good to hear about classmates!”

Ran Pickell writes: “As you can imagine not much new here: Dr.s, etc! I did enjoy the last class notes. We have not yet had snow/ice in Decatur, AL (no complaints from me!). DCU seems to have again ‘dodged the bullet!’ To our north, Middle TN suffered serious ice; near us, to the east Huntsville had major ice-caused difficulties, and to the south, Birmingham the same. However, to the west, Mississippi seems to have had the worst hit! Betty and I continue to ‘struggle on’ and we are glad to greet each day!”

Juanita Shettlesworth is still breathing and enjoying retirement in Cookeville, TN.

Diane McCullough Clark continues to teach singing students. This semester she has five students at Northwestern Michigan College and five students in her home studio. She is especially excited about the opportunity to sing with the Grand Traverse Chorale in a performance of the Brahms Requiem with the Traverse City Philharmonic on March 15, 2026. She enjoys singing alto in the Chorale and soprano in the choir at Central United Methodist Church.

From Florida, Sarah Richards High writes: “I am ‘Living My Best Life’ (the quote from the Independent Living Facility in Mount Dora, FL, where I live). Mount Dora is a quaint, tourist town on a large lake in central Florida near Orlando. Waterman Village, the name of the facility, offers a wide variety of activities for keeping our brains active and our bodies pretty well glued together. My favorite activities are workout classes, yoga, and duplicate bridge. There are five of us ladies who eat dinner together every Saturday night... we call ourselves the very unique name (not...) ‘Saturday Night Sisterhood.’ I also belong to a small book group of 10 friends who meet once a month. My ‘Special Friend’ is Mel. There are many opportunities to dance here, and we take every advantage by attending them all. I stay up-todate on politics, have strong opinions, but never discuss them when not in the presence of likeminded friends. I’ve been to Disney with one set of family members from Seattle and to the beach close by with the other set from San Francisco.”

Martha Ann Gooch Hogrefe writes: “Dear classmates, Diane is insistent and very persuasive in her requests for submissions! I am happy to send you all greetings from Charles and me, although I have no special news. We are grateful to be up and about and always look forward to reading the Class Notes in Rhodes Magazine.”

Peggy Welsh Curlovic is “still breathing down here in Sumter, SC. In a weak moment I agreed to

take on Clerk of Session duties at my church and am nearly through the first year and hoping to make it through the second. Then I’m retiring!”

Ed Albright writes: “Hi, all! Over the years I’ve enjoyed hearing from all of you in the class of ’62. I feel bad. I’ve never taken time to share my story. My wife Helen and I celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this summer, and we have had a wonderful life together! After going through a divorce in the early ’70s, we blended our families and raised our four sons together. We are so proud of them. All four graduated from Presbyterian-related colleges. They have given us six grandchildren, and Mark’s (Albright ’90) daughter has been accepted and is seriously considering Rhodes. We are keeping our fingers crossed! That would be three generations at Rhodes! I have served happily over 50 years as an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA (pastor of two churches and the Executive Presbyter of three presbyteries, including St. Augustine, Greater Atlanta, and Glacier Presbytery part-time in retirement). 10 years ago, we truly retired at Westminster Woods at Julington Creek, which is a part of the Presbyterian homes here in Florida. We love it! We are located in St. John’s, FL, which is a town between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Whenever you’re in Northeast Florida we would love to hear from you.”

The latest news from Susan Huffman: “I always love reading about our classmates. Last July, I moved from Houston to Springdale, AR, where my brother, his children, and grandchildren live. It’s been fun attending high school choir concerts, junior high ballgames, and birthday parties ranging from a five-year-old to my brother’s 80th on March 16. This is quite a different life for me. My minister is also a Rhodes graduate, Susan Matthews Arnold ’84. My new location is in Northwest Arkansas in the Ozarks. It’s been challenging driving in these hills! I wish we could all make it to our 65th reunion next year!”

The word from Dick Diamond is that their granddaughter in Tallahassee is pregnant with identical twin boys due to emerge sometime in May. So, four-year-old Barrett (mentioned in our last class notes) will soon be a big brother.

Bill Mankin writes from Boulder, CO, that he is privately remembering the anniversary of the March 7, 1970, solar eclipse, for which two dozen people camped out on a mountain top in southern Mexico for six weeks, prepping a variety of experiments for the three minutes or so of darkness at noon (well, really about 10:30 a.m.), one of the high points of his years at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. He also adds, “I’ve been campaigning on behalf of NCAR, where I worked 33 years from graduate school to retirement, against President Trump’s scheme to dismantle it because he doesn’t want

to admit climate change is real and because he has a campaign to punish Colorado for jailing one of his supporters after she was convicted of three felonies committed while trying to prove the 2020 election was rigged. I fear for the future of our democracy! On a happier note, Mary Beth and I appreciate the opportunity to visit with Charles and Martha Ann Gooch Hogrefe almost every summer when they visit Colorado; Charles and I roomed together one year in Robb Hall near the end of the last millennium.”

1963

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’63 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

1964

Reporter: Mary Lou Quinn McMillan maryloumc1@comcast.net

Greetings all! Recently, I was reminded of this quote from Irish poet, John O’Donohue’s, Blessing for Friendship: “May you treasure your friends. May you be good to them, be there for them and receive all the challenges, truth, and light you need.” As we “connect” with one another through these Class Notes and the opportunities we have to gather with one another, I believe we offer each other the “treasure” of friendship with its challenges, truth, and light!

Bob West writes, “When one grandchild got married last summer in Oklahoma, Cindy and I decided to use the occasion as an excuse to travel in the West. So, we packed up and drove the ‘Great Western Drive’ to South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, Badlands), Wyoming (Devil’s Tower, Yellowstone, Grand Teton), and Colorado (Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak). This year, another grandchild is getting married in Oklahoma, and we are preparing for the southern loop of the ‘Great Western Drive.’ We plan on visiting Arizona (Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Painted Desert), Nevada, Utah (Brice, Zion, Arches National Parks), and southern Colorado (Mesa Verde, etc.) A lot of driving but a lot of fun.”

Charley Killinger wrote to remind us that the second edition of his History of Italy was recently published. If you want to know ALL about Italy … I suggest you check it out!

From Linda Jackson Walter, we hear: “After a tough year last year with each of us having a serious health issue, we are both well and back fully to normal, traveling, exercising, etc. After a trip cruising the small ports of Croatia in a small boat with both children and spouses a couple of years ago, we plan to

repeat that family experience and drive in Puglia in September. Our theme is ‘Following the Trail of the Ancient Olive Trees.’ It should be fun. I lost my younger sister recently to Lewy Body dementia. What a relentless disease! Perhaps one of our brilliant young Rhodes graduates will find a cure for that! Hoping.”

From San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, Hayden Kayden sends greetings. He and his wife Bonnie “settled there” permanently in the fall of 2024 after selling their farmstead in Alaska. “It is a beautiful, small colonial city dating from the 1600’s that has retained its colonial architecture, narrow, cobbled streets and all. We love the people here, the pageantry, the color, the fiestas, the parades, the church bells, even the almost daily fireworks. Our grandson, Hayden Jimenez, from Alaska was with us for two months. He was enrolled in an immersive Spanish language course and found time to play pickup basketball at night with a bunch of waiters from local restaurants whose shifts ended at 10 every night. He also took time to travel to the State of Zacatecas and introduce himself to his Mexican family in the small cowboy town of Nochislan. His other grandfather was from there. He immigrated to the states, got his citizenship, and has a large family in Texas; but he left behind – in Mexico – his twelve siblings who now have their own large families. Hayden’s father, Carlos, was born in the states to an American mother and moved to Alaska in his teens and later met our daughter, Sierra. Grandson Hayden was able to meet the Mexican relatives and was treated like the prodigal son for a week of parties and celebrations. We are happy to be still looking down on the grass and raising an occasional glass to the smile of good fortune.”

Tom Lappage reports: “In July we have a nice trip planned. We will fly to Prague for a few days before going to Budapest to join our Danube River cruise. This time we cruise east ending the cruise in Bucharest. From there we fly to Istanbul for a few days.”

Margaret Rowe Fancher shares, “Doug and I survived the great Ice Storm of 2026, but were VERY cold for four days without power and nighttime temperatures in single digits. We did have water, though, and that was a huge blessing, and we were very lucky to get power back so soon. The cats did very well, but then they have fur coats! Many people in Oxford and the surrounding county did not get heat, lights, and in some cases water for many weeks. The town still looks like bombs exploded with trees broken in half and still hanging plus big piles of tree parts on the sides of every street in town. Many cities sent teams to help get all the electric poles replaced and hang new wires, and we are so grateful. Other than that, we are alive, content, and living independently but not as active as in the past. Such is old age!”

As I, Mary Lou write this in mid-March, I have just had a delightful visit from my two children Lisa (from Nashville) and Sid (from Montana) who came to help their mom with the spring yard chores: trimming bushes and trees, spreading mulch, tilling the garden, etc. It is fun to have them here together and an extraordinary gift to have such help! Travel plans for the fall include a trip to Portugal under the guidance and tutelage of Tassie Pippert, a Certified Chef Emeritus and Certified Specialist of Wine who will introduce us to the food and wine of Portugal. A totally new experience that I look forward to sharing with friends. My newest hobby is “playing with clay” as I learn the art of hand-building …mugs, vases, bowls…platters next. I’ve had great fun doing it! My favorite book of 2026 is Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. I highly recommend it! If only we could ALL be as kind and generous as Theo!

1965

Reporter: Harvey Caughey hcaughey@hotmail.com

Teri Tidwell Hornberger has attended every one of our class reunions (except for 1968 when she was in Taiwan giving birth) so she was not about to miss our 60th get together last October. For our 50th reunion Virginia Lowry Ives joined Teri in carrying our Class Flag at the Alumni Convocation, but last year Teri proudly bore our banner alone. As a freshman way back in 1965, Teri was secretary to Physics Professor Jack Taylor ’44. At the class reunion, Teri joined former physics students Bill Boyd and 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award honoree Charles Robertson, thus ensuring that three of the five or six Class of 1965 60th Reunion attendees were connected with the Physics Department as freshman.

Jim Collier really enjoyed the 60th anniversary of our graduation. “I had not been to any reunions before but am getting nostalgic in my 80s and wanted to reconnect. There were only six of us able to make it and it was good to see all the new developments at the college. Janelle and I moved to Austin, TX, three years ago mainly to be close to our daughter’s family. We are involved at Central

Presbyterian Church in downtown Austin, and our major focus is ministry to the homeless. I regularly see Trish Gladney Holland ‘64 who lives near us. I am also very happy to reconnect with Austin Seminary when I spent three wonderful years after college. It is good to be retired and, as a Parish Associate, I can help out but am not burdened with heavy responsibilities. We are delighted to support the campaign of James Talarico our next senator!”

Terri Skinner Chadwick provides this photo with her younger daughter “at my Sage Park Assisted Living Facility in San Antonio where I have lived happily for two years (after a serious go-round with cancer, Covid and pneumonia.) I often think of my wonderful education at Rhodes and give thanks to my super professors who enriched my life. Lewellyn Queener, Ph.D. and others inspired me to achieve a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Texas A&M. I worked until age 72, testing and counseling infants, children, adults and seniors. Our broad liberal arts education (especially the “Man in the Light of History and Religion” course) helped me enjoy the many Rick Steves’ European tours I took in my sixties. Dr. Patterson and Oriental Humanities led to much pleasure in Asian art and literature. Rhodes contributed to my lifetime religion as an active Unitarian Universalist. Supportive friends such as Teri Tidwell Hornberger ‘65 gave me much support at Rhodes. Finally, Professor Lowry’s class, in which he’d ask us over and over ‘Who do you trust?’, caused me to vote regularly and occasionally participate in marches. Hooray for Rhodes!”

Cam Murchison finally retired from his postretirement employment early in 2025 and has since worked with his spouse Joan Herbert Murchison ’64 to downsize from the home they built in Black Mountain, NC, in 2003 and prepare to take up independent residence in a local retirement community. As of October, the move was made and “life in a not so fast lane has proven to be just about what we needed. So, any classmates venturing in this direction are encouraged to look us up so we can help you enjoy the pleasures of this part of the world.”

Peggy Frye Kemp reports that “Ted and I are still in St. Augustine, FL. We now have 13 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and another on the way.

“I was describing to someone last week the graduation dinner held for the biology majors by our professors. It was lobster but, being biology majors, we entertained each other with the names of all the anatomical parts of the lobster while waiting for dinner. Most biology majors went on to become doctors or dentists, but my first job was as a research assistant to a population geneticist at Oak Ridge National Labs. Of course, in those years there were still remnants of WWII left from the Manhattan Project. There was a ‘silo’ in a nearby field that once held a machine gun nest in the turret, and several stories underground was a bomb shelter. The ecology building where I worked was a Quonset hut! Ted still says I glow in the dark from those years working next to the nuclear reactor and catching specimens in the reactor’s settling ponds. Only our dosimeters, which we wore to measure our daily radiation exposure, know for sure!

Years later, when we were living in Charlotte, NC, we attended a reunion party hosted by one of our classmates. Ted asked him if there really was a cheer for our football team: “Repel them! Repel them! Make them relinquish the ball!” Our host replied it was indeed true, but he was not sure it instilled fear in the hearts of our opponents.”

1966 60th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 12 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Sammy Ann Primm Marshall sammyannmarshall@gmail.com

Isabell Van Merlin continues to travel and do many interesting things. Here is her latest news: “I have completed the first ‘goal’ on my bucket list: to set foot on all seven continents. What next? Revisit? I don’t know the Caribbean hardly at all. And I have documented my travels with a new memoir that just went live Saturday—based

mostly on my passports—the first one being when I went to Spain, my junior year at Southwestern!! Great memories of Spain and SW@Memphis. I’m grateful! Of course I mean Rhodes. My memoir is under a pseudonym.”

1967

Reporter: Eleanor Jackson Howe eleanorhowe@icloud.com

Retired Judge Wayne Shelton turned 80 this past November and celebrated with a prime rib with his wife Patty, four of his children and stepchildren, a few friends, his court clerk of 25 years, and his secretary of 40 years. “I’ve been richly blessed, and I’m extremely thankful,” he writes. “I’m doing very well but regret not having retired 10 years earlier.”

human existence and growth. It’s been fun to see how paying attention to a chosen topic opens lots of doors of appreciation. Pam adds that she and her husband Al are taking a spring trip in April to parts of the Southwest, that she’d just begun the book The Antidote, by Karen Russell, and “I really loved her earlier novel, Swamplandia.”

Willie Edington writes that he “finally retired from my lobbying firm, which I ran for 43 years. I sold my house in Alexandria, VA, and am now living in a condo, which takes some getting used to. My wife passed away nine years ago and the kids have moved on, one here in the DC area and another in Asheville. I was saddened that only 10 classmates ended up for our 55th reunion. We shared dinner with the 60th, which only had three. I hope we can do better than both of those for our 60th!”

Although most of the Class of ’67 turned 80 last year, Gail Jennings won’t pass that milestone till Sept 30. “I started college in 1964 and finished in three years,” she writes. Now a self-described “safari addict,” last year in Kenya—her seventh safari—she stayed one night in Giraffe Manor, home to an endangered subspecies of giraffes. Gail also toured New Zealand for three weeks, then cruised for three weeks from there to Singapore, along the way snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.

After graduating from Rhodes, Gail lived in Atlanta, working in IT, learning to scuba dive, and becoming a Master Scuba Diver and Divemaster. Her favorite diving place was the Bahamas, where “the night diving was terrific. I gave up diving about 15 years ago, but I still snorkel whenever I get the chance.” In 2007, when she retired from S2Tech, she was a Subject Matter Expert and trainer. When she isn’t traveling the globe, Gail lives in Collierville, TN, near extended family. This past January, she went to Finland to see the northern lights.

“As an update to my celebrating my (our) 80th year(s) all year long, here have been the items I have focused on,” Pam Richardson Hays reports. “Friends; kind men, including my father, my husband, and my two sons; living in Iowa where there is a distinct change of seasons (especially autumn); the color blue; and sunshine.” In February, Pam wrote, “This month I chose the sun—especially sunshine—but have found myself focusing almost entirely on sunshine, not the sun itself. Living in Iowa does that to you. Sunshine also makes shadows possible (kudos to Carl Jung). I do love the idea of life providing—and needing—both sunshine and shadows for full

Dell Bailey Ford reports that she and Bob “are both reasonably healthy currently and planning visits with family in northern Virginia and South Carolina this Spring and Summer. In early December, we are scheduled to depart for San Juan, Puerto Rico, to begin a cruise of the Eastern Caribbean, then return home for the Christmas excitement. We live in the greater Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area of North Carolina and would be delighted to welcome classmates visiting the area. I would love to hear from Betty Benton.”

and her husband

returned recently after a two-week Viking cruise along the coast of Norway into the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights. “A wonderful adventure, and it gave new meaning to the word ‘cold,’” she writes. “This summer we’ll go to Portland, OR, to visit our son, Brandon, an engineer, and his wife and 12-year-old daughter. Both of my daughters are Rhodes graduates, Jennifer Short Nealy ’93 and Tracey Short Schmidt ’96.” In 2013, when Richard retired, they moved from Virginia Beach, VA, to Roswell, GA, to be near grandchildren. “I’d retired a few years earlier from a career as a licensed clinical social worker. Now I garden obsessively and am active as a Master Gardener. We enjoy traveling, but it takes a bit more effort these days!”

1968

Reporter: Drue Thom White drueboo@aol.com

1969

Reporter: LouAnne Crawford Cooper louanne@me.com

Thanks so much to all of you who sent in something to share or just a quick note cheering us on! The time you took and connections we build are among our most valuable gifts. Enjoy!

Carol Ann Colclough Strickland’s latest historical novel, her second, was published on February 24, 2026. “Sparks Fly Up: The Lost Story of Margaret Fuller owes a lot to my wonderful teachers at Rhodes: Farris, Cooper, Ross, Wolfe, etc. I was an English major, went on to get a Ph.D. in American lit and teach at various colleges. As a journalist and book writer (7 books), I’ve written nonfiction on art, architecture, literature, and two novels.”

To inaugurate the summer of 2025, Noni Harvin Buchanan, Priscilla Hinkle Ennis, Janelle Hood Haseman, Laura Crawford Kinkle, and Susan Lucas embarked on a four-day Celebrity Cruise to Key West and Coco Cay, in the Bahamas. We missed our girl, Drue Thom White! She’s gearing up for this year’s adventure.

First up was Key West. To our surprise, there were chickens on every corner! Under the watchful eye of Ernest Hemingway’s four wives, we toured his home. Then, to escape the heat, we had a delicious lunch, topped off by the city’s signature Key Lime Pie. To end our day, we visited a butterfly conservatory. Its beauty was breathtaking. The next day gave us free time to do as we pleased. Most of the gals assembled a jigsaw puzzle. Janelle read. Jigsaw puzzles are beyond her pay grade!

Our second stop was Coco Cay in The Bahamas, where we spent a relaxing day lounging in the sun and indulging in a banquet of food. We were treated royally by the Celebrity wait staff, perhaps because they were intrigued by this group of ladies who had maintained a friendship of nearly 60 years. We don’t plan to stop these trips anytime soon. Wish us luck!

From Randy Walker this happy note: “Happily married to Gail Barnett since June 2021. Practiced law for 50 years and now enjoying retirement. Wishing good things for everyone!”

Nancy Martin Magallanes shares: “I have so enjoyed reading about classmates that I decided to share what I have been up to since graduation. First, I moved to Monterrey, Mexico, and taught 5th Grade at the American School. At night, I taught English conversation through the American Consulate. At the end of the year, I returned to Vanderbilt with a Teaching Fellowship to complete my Masters in Spanish. It was then back to the American School for another year before I was married and moved to Mexico City. While there, I taught at the Hamilton School before our two boys were born. We moved back to Memphis in 1980. After our boys graduated from college, I taught at the University of Memphis and was the Undergraduate Faculty Advisor for all Spanish majors until retirement. We then moved to Naples, FL, but after two years my husband realized he was too young to retire so back to Memphis it was! While in Naples, I tutored migrant workers’ children after school which was extremely rewarding. Retirement has been great ... lots of travel and fun activities but being a grandmother has been the best! We now split our time between Memphis and our house in Naples, which has turned out to be a magnet for the grandchildren.”

Martha Schulz Thomas seems to be handling life’s challenges and reports, “Last year was difficult: my husband Champ Thomas Jr. passed away, I had a hip replacement, and I ran Champ’s business until his granddaughter took over in August. But then Champ’s sister and I had a wonderful two-week road trip to New York in October, driving back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Biltmore. I would like to nominate myself for the ‘Last to Gray’ in the Class of ‘69. It is not obvious in the picture, but I do have a few gray hairs now. Also: does anyone know if there is a three-strike rule for widows?”

“Hello” from Dr. Lynda Alexander! “In news from the Alexander-Klemba household, Lynda continues her work as organist and director of music with two churches: Los Altos Lutheran and Palo Alto Seventh Day. The big news is she has a new bionic knee and is continuing healing from surgery. Keith is facing another round of radiation for cancer treatment. Life continues to be an adventure. Each day is a gift and we are grateful. All good wishes to my fellow graduates!”

Another doctor (other kind), David Hall sounds like life is good and says: “After graduation from ‘Southwestern’ I went to medical school and completed a urology residency in Cincinnati. My wife Victoria and I moved back to Little Rock in 1980. Since then, I have spent 40 years practicing urology and also working in hospital administration before retiring during the Covid pandemic. After retirement and 52 years of marriage we have traveled quite a bit and when not doing that, I’ve enjoyed woodworking, golf, and fishing, with fly fishing on the Arkansas rivers (Little Red and White) being some of my favorite destinations. We are blessed to have two sons, one in Little Rock and one in Greensboro NC, and four grandchildren (2 boys and 2 girls) and the oldest is starting college next year which is hard to believe. I miss many of my old friends from the college days and sadly many are no longer with us. As everybody else in the class I’m trying to stay upright and on the right side of the grass. My best to everyone.”

“The most interesting thing in my life this year was taking my granddaughter Zara to Paris for her 18th birthday. We had a great time, brought back memories of my first trip to Paris with Mary McLaurin in 1968.

Patricia Gray continues to be involved in lots of music activities. She is the founder of Luna Nova Music (www.lunanova.org), a chamber music ensemble that produces concerts featuring important works from the last 150 years. Luna Nova, in conjunction with Grace-St. Luke’s

Episcopal Church, has produced the Belvedere Chamber Music Festival (www. belvederefestival. org) held each June. She is president of the Beethoven Club of Memphis, founded in 1888, as it continues its work of supporting rising young classical musicians with competitions and concerts series. She sings in the Rhodes Choral Collaborative, the vocal ensemble created by Prof. Jason Bishop ’98, a former student of hers. She also continues to have several wonderful young piano students.

From Carol Caldwell Newman we learn: “Following graduation and marriage, life continued to be grounded in Memphis. I started working in the accounting department of South Central Bell, while my husband, Jim, spent 44 years as a student, then as professor of optometry at Southern College of Optometry. We truly enjoyed being involved in mentoring and encouraging students, often opening our home to them, even after Jim retired. My second job began after our children were older. Tutoring middle and high school math at our children’s school was a great fit. I retired in 1999. In addition to connections with students of many ages, we have been committed to worshipping, learning, and mentoring at our church, through small Bible studies, in individual settings, and in a large Sunday school class that’s been together for 35 years. We have made lots of memories traveling, visiting family, taking many multi-generational trips to Disney World, and later celebrating special anniversaries and graduations with travels in Europe. Now, our great and amazing joy is having four generations of family all here in Memphis—our daughter and our son and their spouses, three adult grandchildren plus one spouse, and two young great grandsons.

Tom Teasley sends a note: “Nothing much to report, but William and I are doing well and looking forward to Spring after a snowy winter in Richmond! Great to hear from my old friends in these reports. We have a bit of travel planned this year—to California in June with friends, and various family jaunts throughout the year—all carefully arranged around doctor and dentist visits!”

Linda Emigh Warren writes: “Life continues to offer my husband and me opportunities to help at a food pantry, Room in the Inn, and to provide fun times with our two grandsons, ages 8 and almost 4. Their mother works for Room in the Inn and their father, our youngest son, works at home

for Guidebook. Plans for the summer of this year (2026) include visiting our oldest son (a Social Studies teacher in California) and his wife (a writer and performer). In July, we will go with a cousin and her husband to Tanglewood and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Pittsfield, MA. At home, my husband and I enjoy our walks around the neighborhood and Shelby Farms. We sing in our church choir, spend lazy days reading, and bird watching.”

Brad Foster happily notes “We’re still in good shape, and Susan Hoefer Foster and I did a great trip to San Francisco and Point Reyes Seashore last month with great weather and sightings on the Pacific. Back to Memphis in a week to see our family and friends back there and enjoy the lunch offerings at Calvary Episcopal Church lunch. If any of y’all have excess snow, please send some to God’s time zone, Montana region. Hope all is well with class members!

I’m including a 1967 picture Ken Cushing sent for Class Notes last time around that was almost complete— except that it failed to include Ken—the person who shared the picture. Trying again. Morgan Bunch and John Zachry are the other two—they’re getting a rerun.

Speaking of not quite, here’s a great picture of Johnny Walters, his wife Yen, and their family in Thailand. Yen was identified as our classmate in the last issue - oops!

No news this time, but also heard from Linda Harrell Bair, Mickey Brigance, John Crowell, Bill Hulett, Doug Williams and Steve Zitek—cheering us on! Looking forward to hearing from each and all of you!

1970

Reporter: Ron Eades reades@juno.com

From Larry Scantland: “Greetings, friends! I am now retired from Clark & Osborne-Ky. Blessings in Christ Jesus.”

1971 55th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 12 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Jim Mulroy mulroyj@me.com

Ron and Carmen Webb Anderson: “Our daughter, Melissa Anderson Sweazy ’97 has a book coming out in bookstores, September 29, this year. She has a two-book deal with Sourcebooks Landmark. This first book is called The Sisters of Crimson House and deals with issues of the paranormal. It’s a great read, set in Memphis, and we’re so proud of her becoming a published author! You can also go to Amazon now, and pre-order it, to receive it once it’s in circulation.”

Leigh Brasington has written a fourth book. This one is a commentary on 16 discourses given by the Buddha. He says it probably reads more like an academic dissertation than a popular book on any Buddhist subject. But he feels it is an important, but seriously neglected, collection of discourses. He again published it himself so he can give it away for free. Also, his first book Right Concentration is now available in four additional languages besides English. You Also, is now also available in four additional languages besides English.

Jack Davis (Ann): “I guess my biggest news at this time is that I have decided to officially retire. I’ve been an MD since 1980. In family medicine since 1983. I have been doing locum tenens assignments since 2016 in the Pacific Northwest and in Hawaii. My last assignment was in Hana, Maui, which was probably the greatest of all medical adventures. Afterwards, Ann and I traveled to Japan for three weeks, which was a good way to recover from that experience. The photo is from a tea ceremony we went to in Tokyo. I’m back in Fairhope, AL, enjoying life. Planning on a medical relief mission to Warsaw, Poland, to help the Ukrainian refugees.” Reporter’s note: Jack shared that they have been skiing in Japan. The lift tickets are $50! Japan is a wonderful place to ski with a lot of snow, snow monkeys, and hot springs to rest your muscles after a hard day.

Minor Vernon (Natalie Honan Vernon ’73): “Hey Jim, odd time to write, but I was inspired by your recent entry in Rhodes Magazine. Natalie and I are trying to move from Macon into the Villages in Florida, but so far, we have been declined multiple times. I, along with co-chair Natalie, am in charge of a nonprofit here in Macon. That would be our home as I retire from a life as a pediatrician after 41 years.”

Jim Mulroy (Nancy): “My back surgery was a success and I am doing PT. I had hoped to get on cross-country skis for our family trip to Canada but am reconsidering that notion until next year. See you at Homecoming/Reunion Weekend November 12-14.

1972

Reporter: Robin McCain robin@slmr.com

1973

Reporter: F. Clark Williams, Jr. f.clark.williams@gmail.com

Award, which recognizes excellence across four disciplines: Art, Performance, Photography, and Writing. “This award celebrates the extraordinary, interdisciplinary achievements of Patricia Spears Jones, including her forward-thinking poetry, ecological stewardship, and community-oriented work on all levels.”

Harry Ogden (Amy) and Tim Crais (Anne Cannon Crais ’72) sent a report and pictures of a gathering of mainly ’71 alums and spouses at Petals of a Peony in Overton Square in association with Rhodes’ 100th anniversary. The committee reports that the food was excellent and the company was even better. Some took a tour with Back Beat Tours. The tour company employs local actors and performers. They give an entertaining tour, especially so for our age group (also highly recommended).

Tim, Harry, and stalwarts from our class who live in and around Knoxville were the organizers of the gathering. The group attended the Overton Park Shell Concert put on by Rhodes students and faculty and other events.

From Ann Greer: “Hello Jim, thank you for taking on the role of reporter for our class!

Speaking of reporters, after Rhodes I received an MA in journalism and communications from UNCChapel Hill. I have lived in the Washington, DC, region for many years, where I directed marketing communications for cultural institutions including the Folger Shakespeare Library and The Phillips Collection. Now I am a theater consultant for The Phillips. I produce staged readings of plays about art, artists, and museum practice. As a freelance journalist, my articles have been published in the Washington Post and American Theater magazine, among others. Also, I covered the arts for WAMU public radio and was the region’s first online theater critic, for AOL. Best wishes to my classmates!”

William Brune, distinguished professor of meteorology and atmospheric science at Penn State, was awarded the 2026 Warren Washington Research and Leadership Medal. The medal is presented by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to individuals who are recognized for the combination of highly significant research and distinguished scientific leadership in the atmospheric and related sciences. Brune was recognized for his “transformational advances in the chemistry of the upper and lower atmosphere, critical leadership at multiple levels, and mentoring of diverse groups.” He was presented with the medal at the 106th AMS Annual Meeting held Jan. 25-29 in Houston.

Judy Brooks Tygard and husband Charlie took the “Passage to Eastern Europe” in November 2025, on which tour Judy reports “learning more about Orthodox” denominations. The Tygards started at Budapest and ended in Bucharest, roughly following the Danube, on a Viking cruise. Judy observes that “Eastern Europe is something we Americans rarely study. We do decent on Western Civ, but our knowledge of the former Communist bloc countries is poor. Of the many river cruises we have done, this was the one on which I learned the most.”

Patricia Spears Jones’s limited-edition chapbook, “The Devil’s Wife Considers”, is available on the Song Cave website. Patricia reports that her poems “have been translated into Czech, French, Spanish, and now, Chinese. What an honor.” In March, Patricia was named a recipient of the Rauschenberg Centennial

In November of 2025, Candace Keirns spent a week in Yucatán, Mexico, to visit Mérida and other places in the state with a number of her colleagues from a pre-graduate internship. Although she “was swindled out of her hotel payment, got food poisoning, and arrived home a day before her luggage,” she reports nevertheless having had “a fabulous time.” The group visited a hemp plantation at Mucuyché, where they were able to swim in the local cenote [a natural, crystal clear, freshwater sinkhole]. Their chartered bus took them to a wildlife preserve at Celestún, the site of Chicxulub (“the meteor that finished off the dinosaurs”), a salt mine, the ceremonial center of Uxmal, and a chocolate museum. At home in Memphis, Candace continues to serve as a medical interpreter for low English-proficiency Spanish speakers and to carouse with the people of Calvary Episcopal Church.

In October of 2025, Mark Lester, BFF Clark Malcolm, and their “patient spouses” descended upon Spain, visiting Barcelona, Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Madrid. Malcolm reports that “the food, art, architecture, wine, and welcome were all spectacular.”

Anthony Richardson’s pair of recently donated photos raised a total of $26,000 for local charities: the Albuquerque, NM, food bank, and a shelter providing refuge for women escaping domestic violence. He reports that his “health is fine, and family is well,” although he also observes that current events can offer cause for melancholy. Residents of Nashville, TN, F. Clark Williams, Nancy Howell, and Bob Tigert all made mention on social media of extended power outages (seven days, plus), and various misadventures attendant thereto, during the January, 2026 Ice Storm Fern (aka, “Icemageddon”). It is hoped that they will have thawed and recovered by the time that the Rhodes publication reaches their mailboxes.

Andrew and Kate Canon Pouncey ’74 report keeping busy following their respective retirements. Andrew, a registered landscape architect, worked for the City of Germantown, TN, in Economic and Community Development and as Assistant City Administrator. Upon his retirement, the City created the position of City Historian in which he has served for the last eleven years. Kate retired from the Memphis Museum System in 2020 having served for years at the MalloryNeely home in Victorian Village, and later at the Museum of Science and History. The Pounceys have had time to catch up on travel with trips to Europe and the Middle East, and are both involved in the work of their church. They have a son, two grandchildren, and two cats.

1974

Reporter: Wendlandt Hasselle

jahlove2222@yahoo.com

Frank Broyles reports that “All and all, all is well. Let’s give it a B+.” Marriage (15 years of wow), friendships, travel, continuing career … except he can’t seem to retire (preaching most Sundays, 75 wedding officiant gigs a year, a smattering of capacity coaching sessions, occasional community service chaplaincy, and congregational resource consultation “here and there”. His claim that it is less than 40 hours a week is, well … is the word disingenuous (learned that big word at Rhodes/Southwestern)? Sounds like he needs to make room for a life/work-balance class. He swears it is all wife-approved (no couch potato husband here). His prayer that “God, use me until I am all used up” is apparently being taken seriously.

Joey Riso sent his photo and has given up SCORE in pursuit of acting, his first love and his major. He will be filmed in March 2026!

Wendlandt Hasselle joined Friendship Force last December and, at the last minute (right after being homebound for 10 days from our big snow), decided to take her first club trip with two others from Memphis and six from Alabama (all were female) to Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. “It began the day the cartel head, etc. were killed, but we encountered no problems. I had been there before but got to see several new places. We stayed with various families. Their president met us at the Veracruz

airport. Interestingly, neither she nor any of the hosts spoke English, and none of our group spoke Spanish—but for me. So, I had to become interpreter—except when the president’s daughter would occasionally take over. (No thanks to Dr. Southard, who taught Spanish with a heavy Southern drawl!) It was an unusual experience, and we all had a great trip seeing beautiful towns and places, picking and sorting coffee beans on a plantation, and being fed wonderful meals at members’ homes as well as at restaurants.

1975

Reporter: Libby Drewry Dorris libbyddorris@gmail.com

Libby Drewry Dorris: “Our 50th reunion weekend in October was a delightful event! 50 years is an accomplishment; consider how young and green we were in the 1970s.

“The stories of paths taken, the varied career choices were surprising, with one common thread: most involved a path of service to others. Watching the group gathered at the formal dinner in Hardie Auditorium, there was enthusiastic mingling among classmates who may have been acquaintances but did not share the same orbit 50 years ago. Today, thanks to decades of work, marriage, children, grandchildren, etc., we have much in common!”

1976 50th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 12 – 15, 2026

Reporters: Julie Allen Berger jab0539@gmail.com

Georgia Atkins atkins.georgia@gmail.com

Dear Classmates, Your editors hope that fewer class notes this edition mean you’re saving all your news for our in-person, fabulous 50th reunion coming up in Memphis November 12-15! If you have not yet received a detailed email from the college with a forecast of our class plans, please email the Alumni Office (alumni@rhodes.edu) or one of us right away with your updated email address. We don’t want you to miss this opportunity to reconnect, enjoy art created by our classmates, dance to signature Memphis music, and share several festive meals hosted especially for our class by Rhodes. Also check out our Facebook page, Rhodes College Class of 1976. Below are some members of our Reunion Planning Committee on campus with friends, getting plans in place.

On a beautiful, sunny day on the Rhodes campus, members of the Class of ’76 50th Reunion Planning Committee toured campus to select the perfect venue for the reunion in November. They were joined by friends from the Classes of 1975 and 1977.

Oliver Cobb continues as an employee of HopeWorks, Inc., a Memphis not-for-profit offering adult basic education, English As Second Language training, workforce development and re-entry shepherding. He is active in Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and enjoys attending cultural events around Memphis, including Shakespeare plays, operas, and symphonies.

1977

Reporters: Jill Fuzy Helmer jillhelmer25@gmail.com

Bonnie Moore McNeely bonniemcneely2@gmail.com

In Asheville, Callan White-Hinman and Kelley Hinman joined Steve Collins and his sister Laura in talking about their plans for the Big 5-0 reunion next year!

Rick Brown is beginning his fourth year in retirement after a career as a corporate trial lawyer in Atlanta, GA. “On the useful side, I am judging Moot Court competition at my alma mater, Emory University Law School, mentoring college and high school students who want to go to law school and acting as an expert witness in a couple of cases. On the fun side, I have enjoyed skiing, offshore fishing, scuba diving, playing golf and tennis, traveling, and attending concerts, theatre, and sports events. I’ve also enjoyed my involvement in the planning and fundraising for a new Rhodes soccer facility. It’s going to be first class!”

Ann Fair Burns should be cross-eyed after 43 years as the University of Virginia’s Metadata Librarian. She assures us she is not but has instead used retirement to find her voice in the church choir and to greet congregants before services. She is still “finding her way” with retirement but is entertained listening to the musings of their 8-year-old grandson. Ann and husband Rick Burns visited NYC last November to visit their younger daughter and managed to do some museum hopping. This fall they will be headed to Iceland—their first trip abroad in over 20 years!

Like many other baby boomers, Patricia Flynn and husband Jerry Heston ’78 recently relocated

to be near their children and grandchildren in Durham, NC. Although they are currently working part time, they are contemplating retirement later this year. Who knows? By the time you read this, they may have already pulled the plug on the daily grind and joined the ranks of the footloose and fancy free.

From my experience, the only good thing about these “big” birthdays is celebrating big, then go back to thinking you’re still young—until you look in the mirror. Jill Fuzy Helmer says a trip to the Umbria, Tuscany, and Chianti regions of Italy was a wonderful way to ring in the new decade. One week of the trip was spent with five other couples in a very remote villa. Having a food and wine aficionado in the group, and fresh batches of gelato every evening, assured us all that restricted diets were in our near future.

Anyone who knows Bobbo Jetmundsen knows he is the grandmaster of hosting events— whether cultural, for fundraising, for awareness or … just because. This spring Bobbo is opening his home to alums after a tour of Atlanta’s High Museum exhibit “The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans.”

Neil and Robin Mattis Mara scored a double hitter in Memphis this past February. Their most recent visit included an introduction to their new granddaughter as well as time with their daughter Kate Mara Dowd ’09 and her husband Damon Dowd ’09. During this Memphis trip, Neil and Randy Robertson ’76 visited with Bo Scarborough ’68. Back in the early ’70s (remember those days?) Bo was an assistant pastor in Brooklyn who encouraged Neil to attend Southwestern at Memphis. Neil and Bo have remained in touch all these years. Randy Robertson was in town planning this fall’s 50th reunion for the Class of ’76. He welcomes those in the Classes of ’75 and ’77 to join their festivities, (but we all know it will pale in comparison to any ’77 class reunions—past or future!)

Louisville, KY, has been a climate and cultural change for Walt and Annie Stein McCanless. Like so many across the country, winter was challenging for them. They quickly tired of snow and ice, welcomed the unusually early Ash Wednesday and Friday Lenten Fish Fries, and are

eager to greet a seasonal change and possibly a spiritual change as well. Walt closed his class note with “thaw our frozen hearts.”

Ernie Williams and wife Lisa are celebrating 16 years assisting primary school children in Kenya through Innov8Africa. The two have been passionate about this organization for decades. Lisa and their Kenyan staff lead “safaris” which include time in the Maasai Mara, in Lamu Kenya, an 800-year-old island town and UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as four days of service learning in several of their schools. Trips occur in February and October each year and are limited to 10 participants.

Lest we forget how stylish we were, Jim Watson ’77 sends this photo in as a reminder. Left to right: “unidentified”, Beverly Berning ’79, Stuart Hyatt ’78, and Mitch Wilds ’77. 1978

Reporter: Sandy Schaeffer sandeford.schaeffer@gmail.com

Chuck Cobb shared the news that former Rhodes English Professor Dr. William L. Daniels, 97, died in 2025. He was devoted to Irish Literature and to the Irish Gaelic language. A colleague remembered Bill as “a quiet person; a sound scholar and a master teacher.”

Eva Guggenheim continues her work as a thespian playing Feste in a production of “Twelfth Night” back in August (2025) for Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park.

All smiles for David Johnson as the recent recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Southeastern Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Through years of clinical practice and

teaching, David has remained active in his specialty, serving on the board of directors and as president of several professional organizations including the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), the Southeastern Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the Tennessee Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Recently retired from practice, David enjoys life in Oak Ridge, TN, with his wife, Caroline.

1979

Reporter: Mary Palmer m0palmer@icloud.com

1980

Reporter: Taylor Todd taylortodd57@gmail.com

1981 45th Reunion Homecoming/Reunion Weekend November 12 – 15, 2026

Reporter: Sherri Godi Cox rhodesalum81@gmail.com

Grandchildren and retirement seem to be the themes of our notes for this edition! Such exciting times! Don’t forget about our 45th college reunion this fall—Thursday, November 12 - Sunday, November 15. Volunteers are needed for planning and organizing our reunion. If you would like to assist, please contact Tracy Vezina Patterson ’84 at PattersonT@rhodes.edu.

So happy to receive a report from Paul Snetman, from whom we haven’t heard recently! “Since moving to Washington, DC, in 1985, I return to Memphis for family visits a few times a year, one of which is likely to overlap the reunion weekend in November. If so, it would be nice to get to campus for an alumni gathering. Meantime, here’s my recap. I met my wife, Veronica, when master’s programs at Georgetown brought us to the area. We have made Northern Virginia our home for 38 years and still like it very much. We did not start a family, so no kids or grandkiddos to report, but lots of nieces and nephews to enjoy vicariously.  I wrapped up corporate life a while ago and happily so. There are so many things to do when you get to choose how you spend your time. Grateful to be able to travel, go for hikes in nearby Great Falls National Park, take advantage of DC’s vibrant culture, and candidly, appreciate not having to negotiate the daily grind anymore. Hope to hear from and see some of you in the months ahead.”

Beth Patton Allen still lives in Roanoke, VA, where her husband retired a year ago from being a Presbyterian Pastor. She retired in January ‘26 and had knee replacement surgery two days later. After healing they look forward to hiking, biking, traveling and keeping the grandchildren!!!

Susan Bransford chimed in with some exciting news, “My husband retired after 37 years as an airline pilot, so we are enjoying time at home in Memphis with all the “hobbies” owning an old house entails. We still travel often with friends and family. Roger and I spend a lot of time in Colorado with our son and his boyfriend in Denver and our daughter and her partner in the high mountains of Leadville where we have a house. We look forward to a granddaughter arriving in late June. I am fortunate to see Karen Hermele Levy, Bryn Wood Bagwell, Margaret Davis Freeman, Sydney Richardson Dewitt, Katie Kennedy Noel, Alicia Feldman Ten Eyck and Melanie Cassidy Miller at least every two years when we gather and enjoy 49 years of friendship.”

More exciting grandchildren news! “Holt Andrews has a grandson! Oliver Holt Muthig is approaching his first birthday and better yet lives just five minutes away with Holt’s daughter Carrie and son-in-law Travis. Holt and Marcia feel like they’ve won the grandparent lottery and have their cell phones on to receive any call for assistance. In the meantime, they also continue their work as pastors and musicians at First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg.”

Leslie Hubbert shares, “I am loving retirement. My oldest daughter, Cora, is now teaching 3rd grade in my old classroom. I volunteer once a week there, and I take care of my 5-year-old grandson in the afternoons. My husband and I are still playing music for local events and festivals. Last spring, we had the pleasure of playing at the wedding of our youngest daughter, Amalia.

No retirement for Chris Christie yet, but lots of grandchildren action! “I’m practicing law with Dentons, in the Birmingham office, and plan to keep doing so as long as health allows. My wife Donna and I are traveling a lot, including visiting our three children and four grandchildren in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Detroit.” Chris also mentioned being part of the Rhodes mentoring program. Does anyone else participate in this program? I would encourage all of us to think about being a student at SAM and how much having a mentor did or would have made a difference in our lives. Check out the Rhodes Mentoring Program and see how you can get involved! If interested, contact Mimi Reed Salazar ‘96, P’26, Director of Alumni Relations at salazarm@rhodes.edu or Jessica Flanigan, Assistant Director of Internships & Experiential Education at flaniganj@rhodes.edu. I’m sure they’d be glad to hear from you!

Tom Dorian made a decision to start a new business endeavor that allows him the flexibility to visit with his five grandchildren! “While it’s ‘retirement time’ for lots of the Class of 1981, I made the decision last year to start a new business. After being part of four different organizations over the past 45 years, I decided it’s time to move forward as a solo Registered Investment Advisor. Dorian Investment Advisory gives me the opportunity to continue working with my clients and their families to achieve their financial goals, while also having all the flexibility I need to keep up with my own family!”

Bill Clark was reticent to share as he felt that in no way could his note ever compare to that of a previous note from Steve Crabtree detailing his donning of a chicken outfit! “Nevertheless, I will say that I’m grateful to still be above ground continuing to teach and see patients, to have a wonderful, kind daughter, a wife who cares deeply about her 5th grade students, and a mother who has every intention to turn 99 before this issue of Rhodes Magazine is published, doing so with a sharper memory than that of her son and daughter Sallie ’76. I am also grateful for my time at Rhodes where incredible professors instilled a love of learning and where I developed friendships that continue to support me, make me laugh, and give me sh**.”

MaryKay Loss Carlson shares, “After more than 40 years with the Department of State, I am retiring (effective late April). My husband Aubrey and I bought a new home in Arlington, VA. We have loved our Foreign Service career, including the last 10 years of back-to-back tours in India, Argentina, and the Philippines, but look forward to being back home (and maybe never moving again!) Still working out what our days will look like, but they will definitely include reconnecting with friends and family as well as playing bridge and traveling—including to Homecoming this year!

Although officially retired, Bryn Wood Bagwell has found a fun activity to keep her engaged. In her retirement, she is working part time for the University of AR Medical School as a Standardized Patient, training the next generation of med students to deal with patients ranging from brain injury to breast cancer. Discovering an aptitude for acting, she hopes to take Acting 101 at the University of Arkansas next Fall. She strapped on her backpack last summer and has already completed three courses in Philosophy and History. Her favorite so far was AI Knowledge and Democracy. No longer concerned about grade point average or the latest cool clothes, she loves being among the college kids best of all. Sometimes even sharing her notes with her classmates.

That sounds like so much fun, Bryn! I know a lot of us have had some fun adventures as we

continue working or are experiencing the delights of retirement. Please be sure to share your news at any time at the above email address! And don’t forget our 45th Reunion coming up this November! Hope to see lots of you there!

1982

Reporter: Margaret Fain ’82 mfain@sc.rr.com

Margaret Fain and Alan Curle met up this past year, first in October in NYC at the wedding of Margaret’s daughter, Annika Liger, along with the uncle and aunt of the bride, Jack Fain ’84 and Jennifer Curle Fain ’85. Also attending the wedding was Marley Wisby ’22, friend of the brides, so we took the opportunity for a Rhodes alumni photo. We met again in March in Costa Rica along with Jack and Jennifer Fain to enjoy a week of sun and beach with family.

1983

Reporter: Ted deVillafranca edevillafranca@gmail.com

Leslie Drake Schutt: “The newsiest update is that Peter and I moved a couple of years ago to Winchester Farms, 45 minutes east of Memphis. It is a chemical free farm where we raise livestock, produce, and also operate a tiny little store and restaurant close by. We love living in the country but are still close enough to see our Memphis friends often.

1984

Reporter: Linda Odom linda.odom@klgates.com

From Aldervan Daly: “In March I presented my latest cabaret show at Don’t Tell Mama in New York City over two nights.  At the first performance, we had a great turnout of Rhodes Alumni from the classes of 1984 - 2025. Additionally, Doug Trapp ‘85 designed posters and cards for the show.  It is available on my cabaret website, aldervan.com. In April, Lisa Derring Temoshok and I spoke again at the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference in San Diego. Our topic was “The Fundraiser as a Help Professional.”  We looked at the role fundraisers play in the non-profit

world compared to other workers, as well as the trauma-informed training they receive.

I also completed my three-year cycle on the Alumni Association Executive Board. It was a great three years; I learned a lot and hope I contributed to the conversation about keeping Rhodes at the forefront of liberal arts colleges. I will miss my trips to Memphis.

1985

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’85 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

1986 40th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Jerry Kennon kennoninsurance@gmail.com

1987

Reporter: Mimi Swords Fondren mimifondren@outlook.com

1988

Reporter: Brooke Glover Emery brookegemery@gmail.com

Gov. Tate Reeves has appointed Lucius M. “Luke” Lampton, MD, of Magnolia, to a six-year term on the Mississippi State Board of Health. He has served on the Board since 2006 and is currently its Chairman. The fifth generation Mississippi physician has practiced Family Medicine for over three decades in the rural community of Magnolia, where he has an extensive private practice in multiple settings: clinic, hospitals, nursing homes, geri-psych care and hospice. His practice

extends over Pike, Lincoln, Walthall, Amite and Marion counties.

Dr. Lampton graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with Honors in History from Rhodes; he also graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, where he completed a residency in Family Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Family Practice and has been named a Fellow by the American Academy of Family Physicians. As medical director of Hospice Compassus of McComb, he received the R. Sean Morrison, M.D. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hospice Physician Leadership.

1989

Reporter: Julianne Johnson Paunescu jpaunescu@yahoo.com

Members of the Class of 1989 continue to receive recognition for their successes and outstanding performances. Megan Dalrymple Abbott received a Yale Educator Award given by the university’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, which “credits the excellent quality of the Yale student body to educators who shape their students long before they attend Yale.” Matriculating students at Yale are asked to nominate outstanding teachers who have deeply impacted their lives and winners are chosen by a committee composed of Yale admissions officers. Valery Messer McMann, a Certified Financial Planner for Raymond James in Danville, KY, was named a Best-in-State Women Wealth

Advisor by Forbes. 2025 was also full of family news for Valery and her husband Cris McMann ’91. They celebrated the birth of their second granddaughter, Maia Rose McMann, and their daughter, and youngest child, Ellie started her college career at Rollins in the fall.

1990

Reporter: Trish Puryear Crist nashvilletrish@gmail.com

David Williams was recently elected Chairman of Partners Behavioral Health Management, a state- chartered nonprofit organization serving a 15- county region in western North Carolina. Partners primarily serves Medicaid- eligible populations and works with local providers to coordinate mental health, substance use, and developmental disability services, along with physical health care and prescription drug coverage. Its focus is on helping people access care in a more connected and manageable way. David previously served two consecutive terms as Treasurer of Partners.

In February David also joined the Union County law firm Plyler, Long & Corigliano, LLP as Of Counsel, where he works in the firm’s estate planning practice. Together, these roles reflect David’s commitment to people- centered work, both through his legal practice and his service to the broader public.

Max Dupree: “I’ve been keeping busy here in Atlanta as a Revenue Auditor and also selling residential real estate, which is my real passion. My husband Tom and I are surrounded by a large group of friends here from Rhodes College which has made our lives so full and happy. Not too long ago our niece, Elizabeth Hale Simpson ’18, graduated from Rhodes and we are so proud of her. And now we have the happy honor to announce the newest Rhodes member of the family, her son, Henry Barineau Simpson, born February 5, 2026! Who knows? Perhaps a 3rd and 4th generation will be Rhodents also!

From Megan Jones: “I moved to Nashville this past September and am so happy to be reunited with family and friends. The reason I moved to Nashville (from Santa Fe, NM, one of the most beautiful cities in the US) is because I got my dream job as

Digital Editor for Nashville Public Radio. I love my colleagues and my work. I love being in the same city as my mom and sister for the first time in 30-something years. And I love being around longtime Rhodes buddies Web Webster, Philip ’91 and Kersten Kallenberger Fons, Trish Crist, Kara Babin Gee ’89, Leigh Ashford, and more.

Stephen Montgomery writes: “I semi-retired from Vanderbilt University last year after 23 years as a full-time faculty member. I continue to teach as a volunteer faculty member and work in private practice as a forensic psychiatrist. Much of my time is now spent building vast Dwarven Forge dungeons, painting miniatures, and playing D&D with my two children (who now run games

themselves), my sister’s (Julie Montgomery Wood ’93) two children, and my childhood friends and Rhodes classmates Lee Boyd ’89 and Jimmy Smith ’89, who along with many new friends compose our gaming group of 46 years The Black Lotus Gaming Club.”

Kristen Murray: “My family and I have lived in Hong Kong for over a dozen years now. For most of that time, I have been teaching literature, plus directing theatre productions, at the University of Hong Kong. It has been a vibrant adventure here and we have enjoyed seeing other parts of Asia in

recent years too. My husband Nick and I have two teenage sons: one just headed off to university in Sydney and one is in high school in Hong Kong. Despite the distance and years eclipsed, I value my Rhodes friends immensely.

Trish Puryear Crist: “I’m grateful to celebrate my 7th anniversary at the Frist Art Museum this summer and excited to be conspiring with Max and others to cross-pollinate our Nashville and Atlanta class of ’90 groups more regularly and not wait for another milestone reunion year to be together.

Dogwood Festival, Tomato Arts Fest…the possibilities are endless. Stay in the loop on that and everything through “Rhodes Class of 1990” on Facebook and Instagram—note that the Facebook account is private and way more active than the IG.”

Anne Payne Schutte: “My husband of 18 years, Howard Schutte, and I live in Sandy Springs, a suburb of Atlanta. After a 17-year career with Georgia-Pacific I ‘retired’ early to help care for my mom. She passed away in August at almost 91 years of age. Currently I am figuring out the next chapter of my life. I like gardening (which also includes battling the deer), cooking, and am active in our church. Howard and I enjoy traveling and I added a new continent to my list this year with a visit to Africa (only Antarctica remains). We are fortunate to have a great group of friends and family with whom we spend our time.”

1991 35th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’91 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

1992

Reporter: Sara Hawks Marecki saramarecki@yahoo.com

1993

Reporter: Wendy Mullins wendy.mullins@yahoo.com

1994

Reporter: Judy Brown judyporterbrown@gmail.com

1995

Reporter: Sarah Hall Stump sarahhallstump@icloud.com

Mary Margaret Hines Doyle had these beautiful Rhodes-themed scarves painted by a friend and submitted this photo and caption of who

is wearing them. Pictured, left to right: Mary Margaret Hines Doyle, Elizabeth Knight Doolittle, Laurin Howell, Camille Harris Daniel, Margaret Pettyjohn, Libby Houk Sedgwick, and Julie Walker Grigsby

1996 30th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Jennifer Larson larson_jennifer@yahoo.com

1997

Reporter: Brendan Minihan bminihanjr@gmail.com

1998

Reporter: Susan Meredith Meyers susanmeyers26.2@gmail.com

Amy Parratt Donald ’97, Seth Donald ’97, Marcie Planchon Gardner ’98, Creswell Gardner ’98, and Emery Van Hook Sonnier ’98 hosted the New Orleans Chapter on March 26 at The Chloe, a restored 19th-century mansion in Uptown on St. Charles. Rhodes Lynx from 1966 to 2025 enjoyed great company and lively conversation on a beautiful spring evening.

1999

Reporter: Kathryn DeRossitt kathrynderossitt@yahoo.com

After 26 years with International Paper, Margaret Yerger Alexander has launched her own practice in organizational development and executive coaching! Margaret and her husband Lee split their time between Tennessee and Montana, and she is loving the shift from corporate life to owning her own business!

Hank Hilliard recently retired from a 20-year energy investment banking career (including Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and RBC) to focus on his role as Chairman of Southwest Shipyard. Hank shares that marine manufacturing is getting lots of attention these days, so that makes it lots of fun. Southwest Shipyard is involved in new construction, R&M and environmental services at its four shipyards in the Port of Houston / Galveston areas. “It is a great time to be involved in this industry and I’m having lots of fun!”

Wife Tracy Grenfell ’01 shares that husband Ric Grenfell has become a backstage dad extraordinaire for his boys’ show choir shows and amazing school musicals and plays. The family has just returned from London, which they visited during Spring Break, where they met up with Dawnanna Davis Kreeger ’01 after 20 years! They are now preparing for their oldest, Charles’s, high school graduation. He has chosen to study meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. It is a full Spring in the Grenfell household!

Greg Sims was recently promoted to Chief Development Officer of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, where he oversees fundraising, donor relations, volunteer engagement, and marketing strategies to advance the Food Bank’s mission of fighting hunger.

2000

Reporter: Nicki North Baxley nickinp@gmail.com

Jessica Anschutz shares: “I am now the Director of the Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.”

2001 25th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Katy Minten Gray mkminten@hotmail.com

2002

Reporter: Shannon Cian shannoncian@gmail.com

2003

Reporter: Scott Holmes holmes.scott@gmail.com

Shayla White Purifoy got married May 2025. She is currently running for judge and the election is August 6, 2026. Early voting is July 17 - August 1. She has served as a Magistrate for nearly a decade and is running for Judge of General Sessions Civil Court, Division 2 in Memphis, TN, in a countywide election. To volunteer, contribute, and learn more ways you may support her campaign please visit www.voteshayla.com.

Carson Weitnauer writes that he completed his D.Min. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His doctoral research explored how Christians grow to love God and others. The answer surprised him: friendship. To apply his findings, he’s writing Bible studies for friends to discuss together (friendsfollowingJesus.com).

After 20 years in D.C. Gelsey Bennett and her family moved to Kigali, Rwanda for her husband’s job. Life in Rwanda has brought great weather and awesome safaris. On the professional front, she has joined the NGO focused on reforestation in her home country of Peru. Navigating the time zones between East Africa and South America has been a puzzle, but the work’s impact makes it rewarding!

Amanda Womack Haley and her husband David moved back to Middle Tennessee in 2025. They love East Nashville, where they are minutes from the symphony (which they enjoy attending with Melinda Phillips) and the airport. Amanda travels throughout the US and Canada speaking about the archaeology of the ancient Near East, and she continues to write for popular audiences. Her most recent book, Stones Still Speak: How Biblical Archaeology Illuminates the Stories You Thought You Knew, was published by Baker-Revell in September. She was recently asked to join the board of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), and she collaborates with the Biblical Archaeology Society (publisher of BAR magazine) as both groups work to combat pseudo-archaeology in media and promote real archaeologists and their fieldwork.

Joey Sherrard published his second book, The Augustinian Pastor: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Ministry in March of this year. He and Kate Norman Sherrard live with their two sons just outside of Chattanooga, where he is a pastor at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church.

As for me, my wife Lauren Fay ’05 and I are in the process of moving to a new house in Tuscaloosa. I continue to practice law for the City of Tuscaloosa, and both our kids are seemingly growing up overnight.

2004

Reporter: C. Kyle Russ ckyleruss@yahoo.com

2005

Reporters: Brandon Couillard (last names: A-M) brandon.couillard@gmail.com

Molly Fitzpatrick (last names N-Z) mhfitz11@hotmail.com

We’re psyched to (finally) hear from this “long time listener, first time caller,” Christina Jupson, who wrote in to say she’s a Product Manager at Registrar Corp, a software company in Austin, TX. In her free time, she’s working on her golf game and trying to break 95 without cheating (Honor Code!).

James Ray, proprietor of the Little Seed Farm, a solar-powered organic farm & skincare company based in TN, disclosed to his loyal class reporter that the firm’s ROIC clipped a new high in 2025.

Lastly, Brandon Couillard joined Wells Fargo’s equity research deptartment where he leads coverage of the Life Science Tools & Diagnostics sector.

2006

20th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Rachel Methvin rachel_methvin@icloud.com

Missed Connection

You: Robinson 1st floor Freshman year, Bonner Scholar or Kinney fellow, Sophomore O chem lab, Chemistry major

Me: Introverted shenanigan-instigator. I haven’t seen so many of you IRL in 20 years. Let’s fix that! At the very least, if you haven’t gotten any riveting emails from me asking for class notes, please send me your updated email address. Your hotbabe69@ aol account is bouncing back.

2007

Reporter: Meg Sizemore Clark megrebeccaclark@gmail.com

Nick Stutzman reports that brothers Everett and Ellis have welcomed baby sister Cora Blair to the roster of future Lynx Cats!

Sarah Galpern Via will be moving to Nashville, TN, this summer with her family. Her husband Michael will be working at Montgomery Bell Academy while Sarah and the rest of the family have found a home at St. Paul Christian Academy.

Charles ’06 and Krystal Bradshaw White have plenty of updates with their daughter Gwen in her second semester at Centre College in Danville, KY, two more children approaching graduation from University HS in ’27 and ’29, and Krystal’s

upcoming M.S. in Information Sciences at University of Tennessee in May. Krystal has been awarded scholarships and awards for “unusual promise as a leader” in representing the values of her field at UT, as well as presenting at several conferences. She is currently working at U of M’s McWherter Library in Information Access Services.

Semmes Humphreys Vaughn and her husband Stewart welcomed their second daughter, Mary Stewart McCormick Vaughn, on July 29, 2025. She joins loving big sister, Eleanor.

Meg Sizemore

back on the East Coast and in proximity to family in Memphis and Mobile, a wide variety of food, and Meg Clark and her family.

2008

Reporter: Madoline Markham Koonce madolinemarkham@gmail.com

Amy DeLong and her husband, Chad, enjoyed a Rhodes reunion with classmate Michael Moore and his family in Coral Gables, FL, in November to celebrate their 40th birthdays. Amy and Chad (behind the camera) were visiting from Alexandria, VA, where they currently reside.

Clark has wrapped up her second admissions season with Georgia Tech, reading over 1200 undergraduate applications from across the United States, and including Memphis! She’s looking forward to spending her off-season free time working with Indivisible, hiking with her family, and going to shows with Sophia King!

In September 2025 Eden Badgett, along with 130 other financial professionals, including alumni Jordan Badgett Perelle ‘03 and Adil Khan ‘16, launched the independent financial advisory firm OpenArc Corporate Advisory in Atlanta, GA. “The last five months have been the hardest most of us have ever worked, but it’s also been the most fun we’ve ever had. This marks the largest team transition from a wire house to an RIA in the history of Wall Street. Roll Lynx, Roll!” Sophia King is happily settled in Atlanta, GA, with husband Rob Durham ’04 where they enjoy being

Ford Porter and Sadie Weiner launched WP Advisors, a boutique strategy, communications and crisis response firm based in Raleigh. Built on experience and perspective from the senior staff of two Governor’s offices, the US Senate, NC General Assembly, national political committees and business development for a national consulting firm, WP Advisors helps clients solve complex communications challenges and create impactful profiles across the public and private sectors. “Roll Lynx Roll and give us a call if we can help!” Ford writes.

2009

Reporter: Kelsey Dean Griffith kelsey.dean.griffith@gmail.com

2010

Reporter: Amanda Law Maxson amanda.h.law@gmail.com

Aaron Fitzgerald ’10 is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mars Materials, a Houston based startup working to transform carbon into products that purify water and make carbon fiber. In 2026, they reached a major milestone in their mission to “reverse industrial waste carbon emissions.”

Mars Materials successfully validated its CO2derivable product, Hoigen-C, as a seamless drop-in for Acrylonitrile production, a $14B chemical market. This breakthrough allows manufacturers to transition to carbon-negative production without expensive equipment changes. A collaboration with NC State proved Hoigen-C meets “fighter-jet grade” standards for high-performance composites, a milestone featured in Hart Energy, CompositesWorld, and JEC Composites.

The company also announced its acceptance into the Shell GameChanger program to enable it to expand its technology into new geographies through a bio-derived pathway. These efforts aim to restore resilience and reclaim material sovereignty for heavy industry.

“Rhodes’ liberal arts approach and commitment to service drive the passion and empathy I embed in my work,” says Aaron. “From witnessing climate change’s impact firsthand during a Rhodes Rebuilds trip to our current efforts at Mars Materials, that grounding is essential to securing a sustainable industrial future.”

Claire Wills and John Musgrove ’10 were married on December 13, 2024, and currently live in Raleigh, NC, where they are eagerly anticipating the arrival of their first child—a daughter due in October 2026.

especially enjoys the teaching side of academic medicine and periodically returns to the general medicine service to work with residents and medical students on the inpatient teams at Duke Hospital, in addition to his time on the nephrology teaching wards.

Most recently, he assumed leadership of Duke’s kidney biopsy clinic program, where his work focuses on the pathologic diagnosis and management of complex intrinsic kidney disease, particularly IgA nephropathy. He is excited to be launching a specialty clinic devoted to that condition on Duke’s main campus in Summer 2026.

In 2025, John and Claire joined Professors Rebecca Finlayson and Marshall Boswell for the Hemingway in Paris seminar—an unforgettable literary and cultural experience exploring the city that shaped so much of modern American writing. The Hermès store on 17 Rue de Sèvres was reportedly sad to see Professor Rebecca Finlayson and Claire Musgrove leave the city.

At home, they share life with their two West Highland Terriers, Archibald (7) and Evie (2½), and are looking forward to welcoming their daughter later this year! Roll Lynx!

2011 15th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Grace Weil gracem.weil@gmail.com

At Duke University, John serves as a nephrology attending, and was promoted to Assistant Professor in the Duke University School of Medicine in March 2024. He

Jesse Straus Carter resides in Austin, TX, with her husband, Ben, and two children, Georgia and Hayes. Jesse obtained her master’s in Counseling from St. Edward’s University and specializes in the treatment of eating disorders.

Carrie Lee South’s debut novel In The Woods They Wait will be released on September 22, 2026 from

Little, Brown and Company. She lives in Arkansas with her husband and four parrots, and she has been dying to share this update since her days in the Rhodes Creative Writing workshops. The book follows a park ranger in Arkansas’ Devil’s Den State Park who becomes obsessed with the case of a missing child—a case that mirrors the disappearance of her own brother, whom she lost in the woods many years ago—and the possibility that both were taken by something vicious and unnatural that lives deep in the Ozarks.

Austin Freeman currently chairs the Department of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. He has two books on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia—its theology and its resonances with classical literature—which will be published soon by Baker Books.

Mandi Freeman has joined Sharpen Recovery, the largest addiction recovery housing network in Texas, as their Chief Philanthropy Officer. Please reach out if you would like to support their work.

Kelly Prak Ford and her husband Dave are celebrating 11 years of marriage in May: 6 months in Memphis, 6 years in France, 4 years in Kentucky, and now heading to their next adventure in South Carolina. After loving teaching high school French in Kentucky, she is excited to transition to a season of supporting their 6-yearold’s language learning as he dives into a French immersion program at his new SC elementary school. Kelly looks forward to living closer to her family - the nearest she’s been since moving away to Rhodes 19 (!!) years ago, being closer to the mountains, and continuing her quest to attain a pull-up.

Carly Agre and Scott O’Hara welcomed baby Violet in September! Big brother Waylon is one of her many adoring fans. They continue to live in Philadelphia, where Carly works as a behavioral health consultant for the city’s public health clinics, and Scott works as a program manager for a workforce development nonprofit.

In February 2025, Jonathan Mervine was diagnosed with stage 3 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and began receiving treatment at VCU’s Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, Virginia. After six rounds of chemotherapy over the following four months, Jonathan had a complete response to the treatment and is now considered cancer free. He will be screened regularly over the next five years to monitor recovery and quickly detect any chance of recurrence. He’s very grateful for all the support from friends and family and the excellent care provided by the doctors and nurses. As of March 2026, Jonathan has mostly recovered and life is starting to feel normal again. He continues to work as a Software Engineer in Richmond and enjoys getting outside to run and play disc golf.

2012

Reporter: Kelly Parry kparry1211@gmail.com

This Rhodes alumna competed on Jeopardy! on March 13, 2026, valiantly holding her own against a competitor who is currently breaking Jeopardy records. Who is Robin Richardson?

Andrew Millen is now Lead Product Designer at Boost My School in Minneapolis, MN.

2013

Reporter: David Dorris david@vepartnersllc.com

Janelle Adams is an assistant professor of Religion at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Burch, Porter & Johnson, PLLC is honored to announce that L. Mathew Jehl has become a Member of the firm. Mathew’s practice focuses primarily on medical malpractice litigation, nursing home neglect litigation, personal injury litigation, and white-collar criminal defense. Prior to joining Burch, Porter and Johnson as an Associate, he served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Bernice B. Donald of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has tried cases in federal and state courts across the State of Tennessee, including numerous civil and criminal jury trials. He has significant appellate experience and has argued cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He is a graduate of The University of Memphis (J.D.) and Rhodes College (B.A.).

Will Estes attended a world class snorkel convention on Little Saint James Island. The snorkel convention was a memorable experience for Will because the island

was formerly owned by Will’s close friend who passed away in 2019. Will described it as a “nice tribute to a dear friend.”

2014

Reporter: Matt Washnock washnockm@gmail.com

2015

Reporter: Caroline Ponseti caroline.ponseti@gmail.com

2016

10th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Kelsey Wolfe knwolf39@gmail.com

The law firm of Norris McLaughlin, P.A. is pleased to welcome H. Price Ciolino as an associate in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group in their New York, NY office.

“Price’s impressive background in highlevel commercial and employment litigation enhances our ability to deliver powerful results for our clients across a wide range of disputes,” said David C. Roberts, Chair of Norris McLaughlin, P.A. “We are excited to welcome him to our firm.” Ciolino represents domestic and international businesses, educational institutions, municipalities, and government entities in complex commercial and employment-related disputes in state and federal courts. He advises on breach-of-contract claims, fiduciary duty issues, insurance disputes, secured transactions, bankruptcy, and employmentrelated actions, bringing a strategic, cost-effective approach to each matter. Ciolino manages all phases of litigation from intake and investigation through trial preparation, post-judgment motions, and alternative dispute resolution.

2017

Reporter: Mason Brown marymason.brown910@gmail.com

Mike Williamson is Senior Campaign Finance Analyst with the Federal Election Commission in Washington, DC.

Clare Shelburne and Nicolas “Nico” Barnum ’19 were married on December 6, 2025 in New Orleans after having met at Rhodes 9 years prior.

Rhodes graduates in attendance were (from left to right): Claire Adams, Laura Dew, Miriam Maloney-Mattheisen, Madeline Davis, Christian Hain, Clare Shelburne, Nico Barnum, Vassar Terry, and Georgia Bohannon.

2018

Reporter: Elizabeth Hale Simpson ehale6039@gmail.com

After earning his MPH in policy and PhD in Sociology, Atticus Wolfe joined the Public Health Department at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, GA. His teaching and research focus on health equity, policy, and systems.

As a commercial litigator, Ciolino has experience handling employer-employee matters involving civil rights, Titles VII and IX, noncompete violations, wrongful termination, FMLA, the Equal Pay Act, sexual assault, vicarious liability, and negligent hiring. Prior to joining the firm, Ciolino practiced at firms in New York and New Orleans and served in the Office of the General Counsel for the U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C. He earned his J.D. from Tulane University Law School, graduating cum laude in the top 13 percent of his class, and gained courtroom experience as a student attorney and summer associate, including arguing before the Louisiana Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ciolino received his B.A. from Rhodes College.

On July 4, 2025, Tej Suber and his wife, Molly Suber, welcomed their first child, Charles Munroe Suber into the world. The little man is full of personality and these last 8 months have been incredibly rewarding and full of fun.

Katherine Tooley Rowley welcomed twin boys in January of 2026.

Sam Thomasson is now the proud owner of three pet rats.

Elizabeth Hale Simpson and her husband, Peter, welcomed their son, Henry Barineau Simpson on February 5, 2026 – their fourth wedding anniversary.

Rachel Windmueller and her husband, Vince, welcomed their son, Colin Vincent Carroll in February 2026.

2019

Reporter: Emily Faber emilyfaber01@gmail.com

Anna Lee Nabors: “After graduation, I spent the 2019-2020 academic year in Dakar, Senegal as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. Along with my primary job of teaching adults at the US Embassy in Dakar, I got to volunteer at a variety of schools in the city, explore more of Senegal, and spend a lot of time at the beautiful beaches. My year was cut a little short by the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but I eventually made my way to Washington, D.C. I’ve spent the past several years working at a nonprofit corporate accountability project and enjoying living in D.C. Last fall, I packed up and moved to Ann Arbor, MI to begin graduate school. I’m currently pursuing an MBA and MS at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise with a dual degree program at the University of Michigan.”

Elizabeth Dinneny recently received a PhD in English from the University of Maryland. She currently teaches at the University of Southern California’s Capital Campus in Washington, D.C.

Jordan Hulseberg was admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 2, 2026. Chief Justice Roberts granted the motion in open court and Jordan was sworn into the Court’s Bar before the nine justices.

Katherine Stansberry: “Since graduation, I’ve graduated med school, got married, I’m in LSU Psych psychiatry residency, and I just had a beautiful baby boy!”

back to Memphis this summer, where he will be joining Church Health as their Director of Faith Partnerships and Strategy.

India Nikotich: “Hi there! My high school sweetheart and I got married on Nov. 28, 2025. We eloped in New York at City Hall.”

Mimi Yacoubian: “I just got engaged in August and my wedding is in New Orleans. I am currently teaching high school Spanish at my alma mater Academy of the Sacred Heart. I am working towards an Educational Leadership Master’s at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. I completed my Catholic School Leadership certificate this past August. Currently applying for some school admin positions, so fingers crossed!”

Salma Benkerroum: “I’m now working in portfolio strategy in Energy Markets in Germany, so at the heart of the European Energy field. I have become a German citizen (on top of my Moroccan citizenship) and will celebrate my wedding next year in Mexico.”

Spencer Beckman graduated from Yale University with his Master of Divinity in May. He and his spouse (Caroline) are excitedly moving

Warren Socher: “Three days after my graduation from Rhodes in 2019, I moved back into my parents’ home in Beaumont, TX and had my tonsils removed. Two months later I moved to Miami Beach and worked as a stylist for a luxury fashion retailer. Upon the emergence of Covid-19, I moved back, once again, into my parents’ home in Texas, where I worked as a warehouse laborer, delivery van driver, landscaper, and gardener. Seeking other career prospects, however, I moved to New York City in August 2021 and enrolled at Brooklyn Law School. I received my Juris Doctor degree and obtained licensure to practice law in New York State in 2025. I am presently a litigation attorney at a law firm on Wall St. I miss Memphis every day.”

2020

Reporter: Ben Griffith bengriffith3@yahoo.com

2021 5th Reunion

Homecoming/Reunion Weekend

November 13 – 14, 2026

Reporter: Cassidy Le Pham cassidylpham@gmail.com

Olivia Collins and Adam Martinez married this past year in June at the Dixon! “Still in Memphis,

Adam is currently in his last year of medical school at UT-Memphis and I am going into my fourth school year at Hutchison as the annual fund director! We’re expecting our first baby girl in the spring!!”

2022

Reporter: Priya Tummalapalli Priya.Tummalapalli@alsac.stjude.org

News from Joe ’23 and Izzy Sipkema Conroy: “We got married in Knoxville, Tennessee on October 18, 2025. Joe is an officer in the Navy, and we are currently stationed out at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in Hawaii. I work on base as well at Hickam Elementary teaching 2nd grade.”

2023

Reporter: Kofi Whitehead kofi.whitehead12@gmail.com

2024

Reporter: Nicholas Dillon nicholasmdillon01@gmail.com

Harry Dircks: “I finished one year at Hearst Magazines, became a published writer, and ran the 2025 New York City Marathon.”

Foster Wood relocated to Nashville after graduating from Rhodes College in the spring of 2024. That fall, he enrolled in Belmont University’s Master of Accountancy program while also taking advantage of an additional year of collegiate athletics eligibility.

During a break between semesters, Foster traveled abroad with fellow Rhodes graduates Gabe Williams, Thomas Ngien, and Nate Frangoul. The group spent the month of June exploring Southeast Asia, visiting Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore—an experience he found especially meaningful and hopes to revisit in the future.

Throughout 2025, Foster balanced a demanding schedule that included athletics, multiple jobs, night classes, and preparation for the CPA exams. He completed his graduate program in December and successfully finished his CPA testing in February. He is now working at KPMG, a public accounting firm in Nashville.

Darya Orgil: “After graduation I spent a couple of months traveling across Asia and worked a seasonal job in the mountains of Sierra Nevada in California before diving into my Master of Science in Analytics at Georgia Tech in January 2025, which I’m able to complete fully remotely. That flexibility is everything, because I work in the IT department at Xanterra in Yellowstone NP. Most of my free time is spent outside — hiking, camping, and I recently picked up snowboarding. Yellowstone has

no shortage of trails and backcountry to explore, so there’s always something new to discover. In 2025, I hiked over 500 miles and led my first ever backpacking trip! I’ve also camped off-grid in Grand Teton NP and have come face-to-face with a mama black bear and two cubs. The park has a way of putting everything in perspective. I’m so grateful for the education I got at Rhodes because it gave me the critical thinking skills and confidence to take a non-traditional path after graduation — one that prioritizes experiences and curiosity over a conventional 9-to-5. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Morgan Moore moved to Baltimore after completing a yearlong Teaching Fellowship in Charlotte, NC, where she now teaches Middle School English at St. Paul’s School for Boys. She is excited to share that she will serve as codepartment chair of the Middle School English Language Arts department for the 2026–2027 school year. This spring, she is also coaching Long and Triple Jump for the St. Paul’s Varsity Track & Field team, which competes in the IAAM conference.

2025

If you are interested in serving as the Class of ’25 reporter, please contact alumni@rhodes.edu.

IN MEMORIAM

’48 Suzonne Stewart Taylor of Severna Park, MD, March 1, 2021.

’50 Ann Elizabeth Faquin McGuire of Memphis, TN, November 23, 2024. She was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.

’53 C. Douglas Buford of Worthington, OH, July 1, 2025. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. He is survived by his brother Emmett Buford ’57.

’53 Louis J. Weber of Dallas, TX, July 24, 2024. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

’55 Betty Carol Germany of Germantown, TN, January 25, 2026. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta Fraternity and Rhodes Singers.

’57 Donald L. Parker of Greenwich, CT, May 10, 2025. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Rhodes Singers, and Rhodes Student Government.

’58 Elizabeth “Betty Jean/BJ” Jean Payne Dorris of Spanish Fort, AL, June 25, 2025. She was a member of Chi Omega Fraternity.

’59 Sally Dame Roberds of Memphis, TN, September 12, 2025. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity.

To view full obituaries, please scan the QR code or visit https://news.rhodes.edu/memoriam

’59 Dowen E. “Buck” Snyder of Memphis, TN, January 1, 2026. He was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity.

’59 Sandra McLaren Wiese, December 7, 2025. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta Fraternity and Rhodes Singers.

’62 Ann Fumbanks Mayo of Jackson, TN, September 9, 2025. She was a member and vice president of Delta Delta Delta Fraternity, Rhodes Student Government, Miss Southwestern at Memphis, Kappa Alpha Fraternity Rose. and named a Lynx Yearbook Beauty each year.

’62 Wilber “Ray” Fleming of Germantown, TN, September 30, 2025. He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

’64 Norman B. Waite of Knoxville, TN, December 23, 2025.

’65 Tommy H. Jagendorf of Germantown, TN, December 23, 2025.

’66 Ann McWilliams Patteson of New Orleans, LA, December 15, 2025. She was a member of Chi Omega Fraternity. She is survived by her niece, Vivian Dellinger McWilliams ’73, P’08.

’67 Shepherd Spencer Neville III of Waco, TX, January 10, 2026.

’69 Samuel Taylor Cooper, Jr. of Montgomery, AL, January 1, 2026. He was captain of the Rhodes Football Team and named Most Valuable Player his senior year.

’70 H. George Wood, Jr. of Memphis, TN, December 25, 2025. He is survived by his wife, Catherine Laster Wood ’73

’70 Leilani Collins of Germantown, TN, February 19, 2026. She was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.

’71 John A. Brayton of Memphis, TN, February 25, 2026. He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and Rhodes Singers.

’72 Wanda Jane Warmack of Plymouth, MA, November 14, 2025. She graduated cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

’73 Cherry Varee Falls of Memphis, TN, November 4, 2025. She was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority, president of the Women’s Athletic Association, Athletics Commission Secretary, and was inducted into the Rhodes College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. She is survived by her partner, Camille Deaderick ’57, siblings Ruskin Falls ’71, Peg Falls-Corbitt ’75, and Andy Falls ’79, P’08, P’12, cousin Woods Falls ’77, nephew Andrew Falls ’08, and niece Martha Falls Vidal ’12.

’74 Wilda Henderson Dodson of Gallatin, TN, November 14, 2025. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity, a member of the Sou’wester staff, chair of the Publications Commission, and inducted into the Student Hall of Fame.

’74 Jeanne Shortridge Palmer of Memphis, TN, March 12, 2025. She was a member of Chi Omega Fraternity and graduated with distinction.

’74 Charles Joel Vaughn of Wayne, NJ, February 28, 2026. He is survived by his wife, Lynn Myrick ’75.

’75 Newton Pond McLean of Memphis, TN, September 28, 2025. He was a member of Rhodes Singers. He is survived by his brother Robert A. McLean ’65

’75 Andrew Soule Scott III of Greensboro, NC, December 20, 2025. He was a member of Honor Council, Publications Board, CoChair of Dilemma, and a Kinney volunteer. He received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award and was inducted into the Student Hall of Fame.

’75 Joseph A. Purvis of Jackson, MS, January 26, 2026. He was a member of the Men’s Golf Team.

’78 Elizabeth “Bess” Shirley Stanton of Candler, NC, November 9, 2025. She was a member of Chi Omega Fraternity, Mortar Board, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

’79 Edward K. Ferguson of New Orleans, LA, December 5, 2025. He was a member of Southwestern Players.

’81 John T. Peeples of Martinsville, VA, November 28, 2025. He is survived by his wife, Cheryl Reaves Peeples ’83. He was a Kinney volunteer, member of the Lynx yearbook and Sou’wester staffs, and served on the Publications Board.

’84 Michael L. Sharp of Murfreesboro, TN, January 25, 2025. He was a member of Rhodes Track and Cross Country Team.

’86 Todd B. Howell of Decatur, AL, November 13, 2025. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

’90 Kearsten C. Angel of Ocala, FL, January 30, 2026. She was a member of Rhodes Student Government, Rhodes Mock Trial Team, and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

’94 Tammi Jo Titsworth of Pottsville, AR, November 5, 2025. She was a member of ODK.

’29 Mary Frances Forbes of Memphis, TN, October 13, 2025. She was a Clarence Day Scholar.

FRIENDS/STAFF

Dr. William L. Daniels of Amherst, MA, September 28, 2025. He served as a Professor of English from 1970 - 1990.

Dr. Bette J. Ackerman of Memphis, TN, October 2025. She served at the college for 28 years, as a faculty member in the Dept of Psychology and as Dean of Students from 2001 to 2004.

Dr. Bobby R. Jones of Germantown, TN, October 23, 2025. He served as a Professor of Biology for 31 years, 1970 - 2001.

Dr. Donald W. Tucker of Cordova, TN, December 26, 2025. He served as Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures for more than 50 years. He is survived by his children John William Tucker II ’80 and Mary Lynn Tucker Davis ’84, son-in-law Jeff Davis ’85, and his grandchildren Katy Helms ’13 and Ellie Davis ’16

Stacy Allen Elliott of Germantown, TN, February 10, 2026. She served as an admissions representative.

The Matthew Rigdon ’02 International Study Abroad Scholarship

While a student at Rhodes, Matt Rigdon ’02 had the opportunity to participate in British Studies, a lifechanging experience. “Studying abroad sparked a curiosity in me that could only be fulfilled by engaging with and learning from other cultures.”

This experience led Matt to working abroad for three years in the south of France, which provided the opportunity for an immersive experience that also allowed for travel through Europe and Africa. “I have been lucky to travel abroad extensively with my family, and I see the immediate benefit to my children’s learning and growth from our travels.”

Established in 2015, The Matthew Rigdon ’02 International Study Abroad Scholarship provides an opportunity for Rhodes students to enrich their overall college education experience by learning from and engaging with other cultures. Studying abroad presents a unique opportunity for growth and development that perfectly complements the Rhodes education.

For more information on making a gift to support Rhodes students, faculty, and staff, please contact Senior Director of Development & Campaign Manager Amanda Grebe Tamburrino ’98 at tamburrino@rhodes.edu or (901) 843-3030.

For more information about giving to Rhodes visit rhodes.edu/alumni-development/ways-give.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE IMPORTANT DATES

FAMILY WEEKEND

SEPTEMBER 25-26

Here’s your chance to experience Rhodes the way your student does. Meet the faculty and staff who help shape their college experience, sit in on a class, cheer on the Lynx at an athletic competition, and enjoy some of Rhodes’ favorite traditions.

CAJUNFEST

SEPTEMBER 26

Join us for a delicious day of Rhodes spirit, Southern hospitality, and Cajun flavor—gumbo, jambalaya, po’boys, red beans and rice, and much more.

HOMECOMING/ REUNION WEEKEND

NOVEMBER 13-14

Calling all class years ending in a 1 or a 6 to join us on Reunion Row in the heart of campus to reconnect with classmates, enjoy great food, and cheer on Rhodes football as we take on Trinity University.