The TMC Minute

Welcome to The TMC Minute

As we move deeper into this spring season, I am filled with gratitude and pride for what the Rhodes community has accomplished together. This has been a remarkable year for community engagement at Rhodes College, and there is much to celebrate. Our students, faculty, staff, and community partners continue to demonstrate what it means to live out our mission in meaningful, reciprocal, and place-based ways across Memphis. This year, those efforts have reached a historic milestone. Through the Rhodes into Memphis: 100 Years of Service campaign, our community not only met but exceeded our ambitious goal of 50,000 hours of service. On April 1, we surpassed 62,500 hours in partnership with organizations and individuals across our city. That achievement reflects the extraordinary commitment of the Rhodes community and the strength of the relationships we have built with more than 280 community partners. 

We are also proud to celebrate Rhodes College earning the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, a national designation awarded to institutions that demonstrate deep institutional commitment to community-engaged teaching, learning, and partnership. Rhodes was among the 237 institutions nationwide recognized in the 2026 cycle. This honor affirms what so many of us already know, community engagement is central to our mission, our academic culture, and our enduring relationship with Memphis.

These milestones invite celebration, and I hope you will join us for one of the highlights of the semester: the Rhodes Loves Memphis Party on Tuesday, April 15, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the lawn of McNeill Concert Hall. This gathering will be an opportunity to celebrate our community partners, shared accomplishments, and recognize the many ways Rhodes continues to show its love for Memphis through service, research, and civic engagement. Please register here to attend the event by April 7. 

We also have another exciting reason to celebrate. Rhodes recently received a $500,000, three-year grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand our Liberal Arts in Prison Program. This investment will support the launch of a new Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies at the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center in Henning, TN, while also expanding programming and deepening Rhodes’ leadership in prison education. Dr. Stephen Haynes, professor of religious studies, is the founder and director of the program, and 40 Rhodes faculty have taught in the program during the program’s nine years of operation. In addition, more than 80 Rhodes students have worked at the prison as teaching assistants and peer tutors. This program is a powerful affirmation of the transformative potential of a liberal arts education and of Rhodes’ commitment to educational access, dignity, and opportunity.

At the Turley Memphis Center for Community Engagement, we know that none of this work happens alone. April is month is Global Volunteer Month and we're excited to share the hundreds of ways you volunteer in the community. Every hour served, every partnership strengthened, every student mentored, and every new opportunity created is made possible by people who believe in the power of collaboration and the promise of Memphis. Thank you for all the ways you contribute to this work. I look forward to celebrating with you on April 15.

Each month, we highlight members of the Rhodes community who are making an impact across Memphis through service, scholarship, and connection.