With the support of the Mike Curb Institute for Music at Rhodes, Emma Jane Hopper ’22 and Elijah Matlock ’21 have been making quite a splash with Beyond Beale. The student-run podcast focuses on illuminating the underrepresented narratives of the Memphis music scene. In their first season, Matlock and Hopper took a deep dive into the integrated Memphis Country Blues Festival held at Overton Park Shell in the late 1960s; they also produced a mini-episode about the festival that garnered an honorable mention in NPR’s 2021 Student Podcast Challenge: College Edition.

Becca Risman '21 has used her passion for community engagement in Memphis as an Urban Fellow; studied urban planning in Sevilla, Spain; and will soon serve as a Work First Fellow in New York City with America Works, a nonprofit that seeks to alleviate poverty in major cities.

Ryan D. Mire ‘93, MD, FACP has been named President-elect of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Mire earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Rhodes. He also serves on the Rhodes College Board of Trustees, is a past member of the Rhodes Alumni Executive Board, and previously received the Black Student Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award.