Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Rhodes enrolls about 2,000 students, and its Collegiate Gothic campus sits on a 123-acre wooded site in Memphis' historic Midtown neighborhood.
History The early origins of Rhodes can be traced to the mid-1830s and the establishment of the all-male Montgomery Academy on the outskirts of Clarksville, Tennessee. The city's flourishing tobacco market and profitable river port made Clarksville one of the fastest-growing cities in the then-western United States and quickly led to calls to turn the modest "log college" into a proper university. In 1848, the Tennessee General Assembly authorized the conveyance of the academy's property for the establishment of the Masonic University of Tennessee.
In 1855, control of the university passed to the Presbyterian Church, and it was renamed Stewart College in honor of its president and benefactor, William M. Stewart. The college's early growth halted during the American Civil War, during which its buildings served as a headquarters for the Union Army throughout the federal occupation of Clarksville. The war was especially costly for the young institution, as the campus suffered extensive damage and looting.
The sad condition of campus and the slow recovery of the Southern economy made getting the college back on its feet a slow and difficult process. However, renewed support from the Presbyterian Church gave the college new life. In 1875 the college was renamed Southwestern Presbyterian University after it added an undergraduate School of Theology under the leadership of Joseph Ruggles Wilson, father of President Woodrow Wilson; the School of Theology closed in 1917.
By the early 20th century, the college had still not fully recovered from the Civil War and faced dwindling financial support and inconsistent enrollment. Hoping to reverse the institution's fortunes, the board of directors hired Charles E. Diehl, the pastor of Clarksville's First Presbyterian Church, to take over as president.
To revive the college, Diehl implemented a number of reforms: the admission of women in 1917; an honor code for students in 1918; and the recruitment of Oxford-trained scholars to lead the implementation of an Oxford-Cambridge style of education. Diehl's application of an Oxbridge-style tutorial system, in which students study subjects in individual sessions with their professors, allowed the college to join Harvard as the only two colleges in the United States then employing such a system. During Diehl's tenure as president, he would add more than a dozen Oxford-educated scholars to the faculty, and their style of teaching would form the foundation of the modern Rhodes curriculum.
Diehl's most significant change to the college came in 1925, when he orchestrated the movement of the campus from Clarksville to its location in Memphis, Tennessee (the Clarksville campus forms part of the grounds of Austin Peay State University). The move provided an increase in financial contributions and student enrollment, and, despite the Great Depression and World War II, the college began to grow. In 1945, the college adopted its penultimate name, Southwestern at Memphis, in order to distinguish itself from other colleges and universities containing the name Southwestern.
Diehl retired in 1948, and the board of trustees unanimously chose physics professor Peyton N. Rhodes as his successor. During Rhodes' sixteen-year presidency the college admitted its first Black students; added ten new buildings, including Burrow Library, Mallory Gymnasium, and the emblematic Halliburton Tower; increased enrollment from 600 to 900; founded a campus chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society; and grew the endowment to over $14 million. In 1984, the board of trustees decided the name "Southwestern" needed to be retired, and the college's name was changed to Rhodes College to honor the man who had served the institution for more than fifty years.
Rhodes has grown into a nationally ranked liberal arts and sciences college. Under the leadership of James H. Daughdrill, Jr. (president from 1973 to 1999) and William E. Troutt (president from 1999 to 2017), the college's physical expansion continued, and Rhodes offers more than 50 majors, interdisciplinary majors, minors, and academic programs . Additionally, the school has built partnerships with numerous Memphis institutions to provide students with a network of research, service, and internships opportunities.
In July 2017, Marjorie Hass began her tenure as the 20th president of Rhodes College, and the college's first female president. She departed Rhodes in June 2021 after being named the president of the Council of Independent Colleges and was succeeded by Jennifer Collins.
Academics The academic environment at Rhodes centers around small classes, faculty mentorship, and an emphasis on student research and writing. The average class size is 14, and the college has a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
Through 18 academic departments and 13 interdisciplinary programs, Rhodes offers more than 50 majors, interdisciplinary majors, minors, and academic programs. If students are unable to find a major that meets their specific interests, the college may allow them to design their own major that is better tailored to their goals. Although the college is primarily focused on undergraduate education, Rhodes also offers graduate degrees in Accounting and Urban Education.
Its three most popular undergraduate majors, based on 2021 graduates, were Business Administration & Management (63), Biology/Biological Sciences (46), and Neuroscience (36).
At the core of the Rhodes academic experience is the Foundations Curriculum, which gives students freedom to follow their academic interests and aspirations while developing the critical-thinking and communication skills that are fundamental to a liberal arts education. It also requires students to connect their classroom experience to the real world through an internship, research, and/or study abroad opportunities. More than 400 different courses are offered to fulfill the Foundations course requirements.
Graduate school placement & postgraduate scholarships About one-third of Rhodes students go on to graduate or professional school. The acceptance rates of Rhodes alumni to law and business schools are around 95%, and the acceptance rate to medical schools is nearly twice the national average. Additionally, Rhodes' partnership with the George Washington University School of Medicine allows Rhodes students that meet certain criteria by their sophomore year to receive a guarantee of later acceptance to the George Washington University School of Medicine.
In 2015, the college's website claimed that Rhodes had produced eight Rhodes Scholars, was named perennially as a "Top Producing Institution" for Fulbright Scholars, and boasted numerous Truman Scholars, Goldwater Scholars, Henry Luce Scholars, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellows, and recipients of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.
Community service
More than 80 percent of Rhodes students are involved in some form of community service, and the college has the oldest collegiate chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the longest student-run soup kitchen in the country. Rhodes' Kinney Program provides students with a direct connection to service and social-action opportunities in Memphis by cultivating relationships with about 100 local partners. Additionally, the Bonner Scholars Program offers scholarships to up to 15 students per class who have a strong commitment to change-based service. Rhodes also offers Summer Service Fellowships that award academic credit to students working full-time with Memphis community organizations and non-profits.
The mission statement of the college reinforces community engagement, aspiring to "graduate students with ... a compassion for others and the ability to translate academic study and personal concern into effective leadership and action in their communities and the world".
Internships and research
Students are encouraged to take advantage of Rhodes' metropolitan backdrop to participate in off-campus internships and "service learning". They are also given the opportunity to participate in a variety of research programs, such as the Summer Plus program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Rhodes/UT Neuroscience Fellowship, the Center for Outreach and Development of the Arts, the Mike Curb Institute for Music, the Shelby Foote Fellowship, and the Mayor's Urban Fellows Program.
Rhodes also helps students obtain internships across the country and overseas. As a part of one of the oldest and largest international relations undergraduate programs in the United States, Rhodes' Mertie W. Buckman International Internship Program provides funding for outstanding students majoring in International Studies to work abroad during the summer months. In addition to the work experience, Buckman interns are provided with a stipend to use for cultural enrichment while abroad. Past students have worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce in France and Croatia, the German Marshall Fund in Belgium and Poland, taught English through nonprofit organizations in Cambodia, and helped a U.S. firm set up operations in China. Additionally, the Political Science Department offers semester programs in Washington, D.C.
Study abroad
Rhodes offers a number of its own study abroad programs, including European Studies, a fall semester program in which students travel to various locations in Europe while studying at the University of Oxford. Additionally, students can explore a variety of summer programs in locations such as Belgium, London, and Ecuador.
In order to lower the financial obstacles to studying abroad, Rhodes allows students to use their federal and institutional aid on any one of more than 300 Rhodes-affiliated semester-long study abroad programs. The college's Buckman Center for International Education maintains a list of affiliated programs that Rhodes students can attend for one semester with no additional tuition or fees. Per their official policy "students pay tuition, room, and board as normal to Rhodes, including any federal and institutional aid they normally receive, which covers their tuition, room, and board while on the program." Additionally, the college maintains a list of exceptional programs that are available via a petition process.
Mike Curb Institute for Music The Mike Curb Institute for Music was founded in 2006 to foster awareness and understanding of the distinct musical traditions of Memphis and the South and to study the effect music has had on the region's culture, history, and economy. Through the areas of preservation, research, leadership, and civic responsibility, the Institute provides support and opportunities for students and faculty, in partnership with the community, to experience and celebrate what Curb called the "Tennessee Music Miracle."
In addition to taking specially offered courses, students have the opportunity to work with the Curb Institute through its fellowships program. As Mike Curb Fellows, students can gain experience in public relations, marketing, video production, audio production, community engagement, and extensive research/writing projects.
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