By Emily Clark ‘15
Rhodes loves St. Jude. It’s the slogan of Team Rhodes, and a sentiment that can be seen within and beyond the gates of campus. From student volunteering and fundraising to internship opportunities, to faculty research and alumni employment, it’s hard to be part of the Rhodes community without finding some connection to St. Jude. In the past two years, though, with the formation of Team Rhodes, the connection between Rhodes College and the world’s leading children’s cancer research hospital has gotten even stronger.
According to Jane Wells ′03, Rhodes’ head field hockey coach/coordinator of facilities and the leader of the team this year, the idea for Team Rhodes was born three years ago at the Heroes Pasta Party given by St. Jude for runners in the St. Jude Marathon, the hospital’s largest fundraising event. Meg Spangler, Rhodes’ campus visit data coordinator, had fundraised as a St. Jude Hero that year, and invited Wells and former director of new student programs Regina Simmons to the pasta party event as guests. “There was a patient speaking, and awards for the top fundraiser and team fundraiser,” said Wells. “It really showed us the bigger picture of the event, and we wanted to bring that to campus.”
To that end, Wells and Simmons created Team Rhodes, a group of Rhodes students, faculty, staff, and alumni who would all train, fundraise, and support the St. Jude 2013 Marathon Weekend together as a community. Each member of the team signed up to be a Hero and vowed to fundraise at least $500 to benefit the hospital and research center. In the first year there were 108 members on the team, and they raised more than $85,000. “It was great raising so much money,” Wells explains, “but the support and camaraderie of the team were awesome, too. It was really cool to see so many people connected to Rhodes come together under one umbrella.”
Spangler, now a two-year veteran member of Team Rhodes, echoes this sentiment. “It was really great to be able to interact with a wide range of people on campus,” she says. “Spreading awareness by running the race is one thing, but there’s also something special about talking to other people who are doing it too, and getting to know each other through that training and fund raising process.” For some members of Team Rhodes, this sense of community has helped them stay motivated during training. Mary Rose Hazel ’16, part of the Team Rhodes leadership team, says she’s most excited “to run with my friends and the rest of Team Rhodes. I’ve had so much joy in telling others about this event, and spreading awareness about the incredible facility that St. Jude runs here in Memphis.”
This year, Team Rhodes set even loftier goals than last year. Before race day on December 6th, they want to be 150 team members strong and to raise a total of $125,000. To accomplish this, team captains were chosen to inspire and relate to individual members and to hold more events for networking and team building. Still a few weeks out from the race, the team has more than 130 team members and has raised over $50,000.
With such a large team, a wide-range of the Rhodes community is represented, making this one of the most eclectic groups on campus. Professor Michael LaRosa from the history department is an active runner, and has participated in myriad marathons and half marathons. However, this is the first time he’s raising money as a St. Jude Hero through Team Rhodes. “I’m not normally a joiner,” he says. “But when you have a good group of Rhodes people all striving for the same objective, that’s something you want to be involved in.” Chaplain Walt Tennyson experienced the same draw towards the team. “I realized St. Jude was one of the most powerful ways this school comes together, and I wanted to be part of it,” he explains. Tennyson is new to the running world, and was initially encouraged to participate in the Rhodes-sponsored Mike Cody 5k by a former Rhodes professor. From there, he hasn’t stopped. Team Rhodes allows him to combine his passion for running with his career: “As a staff member, it’s my job to put students in meaningful work in the community, and I realized I was missing that commitment myself. There’s a real power in putting yourself out there to transform the community in which you live. Team Rhodes is one way for me to do it.”
Tennyson adds that Team Rhodes is a great way to keep alumni connected to the Rhodes philanthropic community. Katie Walsh ’04 serves on the Team Rhodes leadership team and works on connecting with alums from around the nation to help them register, train, and stay involved. She says that she runs in honor of her maternal and paternal grandmothers, both of whom battled, and then succumbed to, cancer. “I joined Team Rhodes in memory of those two women, who shaped the person I am, in hopes that bringing awareness to the cause through fundraising would honor their battle,” she explains. As a veteran runner in the St. Jude Marathon, she’s already looking forward to the race. “It’s a great run through the city and the St. Jude campus. I always get a little teary eyed when you run through the St. Jude campus at mile 4 and see patients and their families standing out waving pom poms, holding signs, ringing bells, and wearing their protective masks. It’s easy to get bogged down in setting a personal record, or hitting fundraising goals. Seeing those kids reminds us all what we’re doing this for.” Emily Brueck ’13 serves as another alumni team captain, and plans to run in the half marathon to honor a childhood friend. “When Team Rhodes formed last year, it wasn′t even a question of whether I′d want to join or not. Being on the team has given me a wonderful opportunity to honor Alex, while bonding with others over a shared passion for all of the incredible work they do at St. Jude. Our shared love for Rhodes and running just helped sweeten the whole deal.”
Throughout the past eight months, Team Rhodes has had myriad events to encourage and support participants, including a Back-to-School Team Rhodes kick-off and a Race-Day prep at Local on the Square in Midtown. These events give team members an opportunity to discuss training, find running partners, network, and bond with different members of the Rhodes community. These events also spread awareness of the St. Jude mission and remind members of Team Rhodes why they’re fundraising—since opening in 1962, St. Jude has helped increase the childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80%, and the St. Jude Marathon Weekend, which began in 2002, has raised more than $33.9 million dollars for research and medical care. It’s the only marathon in the nation that raises funds for a single charity.
With this much enthusiasm and success in the first two years, Team Rhodes shows no signs of slowing down. Tennyson sees this as a success, and hopes the tradition continues to grow, adding, “I think it would be symbolic of Rhodes’ institutional commitment to Memphis to be the top institutional donor during the St. Jude Marathon Weekend.” Wells also says she hopes to see the team continue to build and grow. “Someday, it would be great if St. Jude Marathon Weekend was like another homecoming, with that much community support.”
Want to get involved and help out, without lacing on your running shoes? You can help the team reach its goal by donating to any member athttp://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?team_id=51453&pg=team&fr_id=20064, and on December 6th, get out and cheer—both the marathon and the half marathon run past Rhodes College campus at mile 8, before turning into Overton Park. Finally, consider joining Team Rhodes for the 2015 Marathon Weekend. Sign-ups begin in the spring.
Team members at a recent Team Rhodes event included (above, from left) Jane Wells ′03, Meg Spangler, Dan Schrader ′10, Veena Rangaswami ′04, Will Mischke ′13, Micah Leonard ′15, Walt Tennyson and (below, from left) Max Halasz ′15, Emily Brueck ′13, Patrick Kilkenny ′15, Miriam Dillard Stroud ′03, and Neely Bagwell.