Rhodes enjoys a range of Shakespeare-related resources thanks to a generous bequest from the late Dr. Iris Annette Pearce. The Pearce Shakespeare Endowment was established in 2007 to enrich courses in Shakespeare and support events for the campus. This month on campus, the Pearce Shakespeare Endowment is sponsoring a visit by two Harvard University scholars—Dr. Marjorie Garber and Dr. Martin Puchner.

Rhodes alums Kelsey Rena Glasper ‘21, Eraine Leland ’21, and Scotty Wicker '22 have been selected to receive the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) following a national competition. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. Fellowships provide the recipient with a three-year annual stipend of $37,000, as well as access to opportunities for professional development.

Chemistry major Kathryn Edwards ’24 recently won first place in the research poster competition at the spring meeting of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. She presented her research project “Acid Rain: The Global Issue Forgotten,” which she is completing in her senior seminar course taught by Dr. Ramesh Sapkota.

Dr. Shaolu Yu, associate professor of urban studies and chair of Asian studies at Rhodes, has been selected as one of the faculty associates to work on the project Documenting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Voices and Stories: Community-based Digital Story Telling in St. Louis. The three-year project was initiated by ASIANetwork and is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

Taylor Tucker of local NBC affiliate WMC/Action News 5 recently visited campus to interview Rhodes students Asya Bray, Erin Parker, and Arness Georgetown and President Jennifer Collins about the new National Pan-Hellenic Council Plaza that pays tribute to historically Black sororities and fraternities.

Brooke Taylor, a senior international studies and environmental studies double major from Austin, TX, has been awarded The Steve and Riea Lainoff Crop Trust Fellowship in Honor of Cary Fowler ’71. The fellowship is made possible through the generosity of Steve and Riea Lainoff, parents of Rhodes graduates Brian Lainoff ’11 and Mark Lainoff ’15.

Rhodes College is joining an elite cohort from Princeton University, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, and University of California, Los Angeles, as the only mock trial programs having both their A and B teams advance to the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) National Championship Tournament to be held April 19-21 in Chicago.

Blair Kinsey ’24, Hannah Meit ’25, and Lily Whitesell ’24 participated in the 84th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. The rigorous competition is administered by the Mathematical Association of America, and the Rhodes students competed with some of the brightest minds from colleges and universities across the country, including Harvard, MIT, and Princeton.

Rhodes College will unveil and dedicate its new National Pan-Hellenic Council Plaza on Saturday, March 23, at 11 a.m. Located south of the Bryan Campus Life Center, in the heart of the campus, the plaza pays tribute to the nine National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) fraternities and sororities, commonly known as the Divine Nine.

Julia Blackmon, a Rhodes College senior from Austin, TX, has been selected to receive the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides a one year $40,000 grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States. The award allows fellows a rare opportunity right after college to pursue original projects on a global scale.