Turley Arts Fellow Maxie Sansom ’24 is bringing one of Buddhism’s best-known stories to life in an exhibition of one of the world’s only complete set of paintings depicting the Vessantara Jataka tale. The collection is part of the Jessie L. Clough Art Memorial for Teaching at Rhodes.

The group presented their research at the conference held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 8-11. “Students on my research team work with me as collaborators, and this level of involvement and understanding of the research yields opportunities that most undergraduate students at other colleges and universities don’t have,” said psychology and neuroscience professor Dr. Becky Klatzkin, who advised the students. “Dot, Hadiyah, Erica, and Bella presented our work at an international conferences alongside some of the most prestigious researchers around the world, and I think it’s something they’ll never forget.”

Rhodes College fellows have served for a decade on the staff of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which provides support for the ongoing operations of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The Seed Vault houses more than 1.1 million seed samples from the world’s crop collections as a safeguard against catastrophic or accidental loss.

Benjamin Oelkers is among a select group of graduating college seniors nationwide to receive the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides a $40,000 grant for one year of independent study and travel outside the United States. Oelkers’ project is titled “Desertion of Pediatric Cancer Care,” with proposed destinations of South Africa, India, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. He seeks to immerse himself in healthcare systems and community organizations to understand why a pediatric cancer patient would choose to stop lifesaving treatment.

Rhodes alumna Lucia Colbert ’81 was inducted into the Memphis Amateur Sports Hall of Fame on March 20. In off-road or XTERRA races, she has won three world championships as a triathlete and eight U.S. national championships. At Rhodes, she majored in art and was the college’s first women’s tennis player to qualify for the National Women’s Collegiate Tennis Tournament.

Business major Josh Floyd '23 cites ROTC as a major driver of his academic success and his commitment to Rhodes and the Memphis community.