Words from Dean Natalie Person
A Time for Reflection and Celebration
A new academic year always brings a renewed sense of possibility. It is a moment to welcome new students and colleagues, reconnect with one another, and think intentionally about the priorities that will shape the year ahead. At the Turley Memphis Center, it is also a time to reaffirm one of Rhodes College’s most important commitments: engaging meaningfully, reciprocally, and consistently with the Memphis community we call home.
Last year, as part of our Centennial celebration, Rhodes launched Rhodes into Memphis, an ambitious effort to contribute 50,000 hours of service to the Memphis community. What began as a one-year challenge has become something much larger. Since June 1, 2025, members of the Rhodes community have now committed more than 109,000 hours to Memphis through service, internships, community-engaged courses, research, fellowships, nonprofit work, programming, and countless other forms of engagement.
That extraordinary number tells an important story about who we are—and who we aspire to be. Rhodes into Memphis was never simply about accumulating hours. It was about strengthening our culture of engagement and encouraging students, faculty, and staff to understand Memphis not as a backdrop to a Rhodes education, but as an essential part of it. This year, Rhodes into Memphis continues, and I hope every member of our community will consider how they can deepen their connection to our city.
Of course, wanting to engage with Memphis and being able to engage with Memphis are not always the same thing . . .
Transportation
One of the greatest barriers our students face in working, learning, and serving throughout the city is transportation. Memphis's limited public transportation infrastructure makes reaching many community organizations difficult, and relying regularly on private options such as Uber and Lyft can quickly become cost prohibitive. For students without access to a personal vehicle, a few miles can become the difference between participating in an internship, consistently serving with a community partner, conducting research in a neighborhood, or having to turn down an opportunity altogether.
The Turley Memphis Center believes transportation should not determine who gets to participate in community-engaged learning. This year, we are addressing that challenge in several ways.
Vans
First, the TMC now has a 15-passenger van dedicated to helping transport students to service and community-engagement sites. Rhodes departments, programs, faculty, and staff can reserve the TMC van for a nominal fee, expanding our collective capacity to get students beyond the gates and into Memphis.
Explore Bike Share
Second, we are continuing our partnership with Explore Bike Share, giving students another flexible transportation option. Explore’s e-bikes can help students travel to nearby internships, service placements, community organizations, and other destinations while also connecting them more directly to the neighborhoods surrounding campus.
Lynx Lift
Third, some of our students are helping us imagine an entirely new solution. Rhodes students Lexi Boateng ’27 and Jasmine Jeffries ’26, working alongside faculty partners and TMC staff, received a grant from The Allstate Foundation to develop Lynx Lifts, a student carpooling initiative designed specifically to support Rhodes students who need transportation for community-engaged work.
Lynx Lifts represents exactly the kind of student innovation we want to cultivate: identifying a real barrier, listening to the needs of peers, and developing a creative solution that expands access and opportunity. This service will be available to students later this fall.
Uber
Finally, the Turley Memphis Center and Bonner Scholars Program will continue providing Uber transportation support for students with the greatest financial need, helping ensure they can travel reliably to and from their service sites when other transportation options are not available.
These initiatives may look different—a van, an e-bike, a student rideshare, an Uber—but they are all rooted in the same principle: if we are serious about community engagement, we must also be serious about removing the barriers that keep students from engaging.
The TMC is particularly grateful to Dr. John D. Gladney ‘74 for his generous gift that helps us meet the transportation needs of our students.
As we begin this new academic year, we invite the Rhodes community not only to continue going into Memphis, but to think deeply about what it means to be in relationship with this remarkable city. Our goal is not simply to send more students off campus but to create the access, partnerships, structures, and opportunities that allow our students to learn with Memphis, contribute alongside Memphis, and understand their education at Rhodes is inseparable from the community around them.
Here’s to another year of learning, serving, partnering—and moving into Memphis together!
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