Tag: Rhodes College

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Rhodes Scholar: The College That Made Amy Coney Barrett

CREDIT: Wikipedia: CSPAN

When White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany mistakenly called Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett a “Rhodes Scholar” a couple weeks ago, I nodded in recognition.

I came to Rhodes in the fall of 1989, a time of great change in America. After two Ronald Reagan landslides and the election of George H. W. Bush, the conservative revolution was in full swing. Generation X, as we would come to be called, grew up in the shadow of the Cold War. I was in a political science class when we got word that the Berlin Wall had fallen, making our textbooks instantly obsolete.

Wikipedia: CSPAN

Amy Coney Barrett before the Senate Judiciary Committee

In the 1970s, when Rhodes was called Southwestern, the student body had a hippie reputation. In the 1990s, things were different. The college’s president, James Daughdrill, was involved in a push to eliminate the term “liberal arts college” because it contained the word “liberal.” This was a place where the Kappa Alpha fraternity dressed up as Confederate soldiers to throw an annual “Old South” party. Meanwhile, the biggest band on campus — Neighborhood Texture Jam — sang “Wanna see the rebel flags?/Wanna go see ’em?/They’re next to the swastikas/In a museum!”

The divisions on campus presaged the divisions of today, starting with class. Rhodes is an expensive, selective college. Many Memphians think of Rhodes students as a bunch of stuck-up rich kids, but that’s not entirely true. If you qualify academically, the school is generous with need-based financial aid. As a working-class kid from a rural Tennessee public school, I had never been around such wealth and privilege. The student body was mostly white, but it was much more diverse than where I grew up. Reading Toni Morrison in a literature class with the first Black teacher I ever had was an eye-opening experience.

The most important course I ever took was called Global Change. Only three years after NASA climate scientist James Hansen’s testimony before Al Gore’s Senate committee, we were creating models of the Earth’s climate in Rhodes’ computer lab. Watching my carefully balanced simulation go haywire after adding a little extra CO2 to the atmosphere taught me the precariousness of life on Earth.

The 1980s saw the emergence of the AIDS epidemic, which Reagan’s conservative administration had ignored because it mostly affected gay people. By the early 1990s, it was obvious that using condoms could stop the spread of AIDS, yet Daughdrill’s conservative Rhodes administration forbade student groups from distributing them. Some of my friends, including Ashley Coffield, the current CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, took to the weekend party circuit toting buckets of free condoms camouflaged by a layer of candy on top.

Like Amy Coney Barrett, I was an English major. I am sure we had classes together, but I don’t remember her. Those who do remember her describe her as quiet and studious. Rhodes was a competitive environment. People could be jealous and petty; I used to say the most popular intramural sport was character assassination. If she had been a monster, we would know it by now.

Academically, Rhodes is difficult. To this day, my anxiety dreams are still set in those Gothic collegiate classrooms. I barely managed to graduate with a 3.0 GPA; Barrett was summa cum laude. The Honor Code, which forbids lying, cheating, and stealing, is taken very seriously. Barrett was vice president of the Honor Council.

Producing a second Supreme Court Justice (after Abe Fortas in 1965) would increase Rhodes’ prestige. But I was one of more than 1,500 alumni to sign a letter opposing Barrett’s nomination. My reasons are rooted in the education I received on North Parkway.

In her Senate hearing, Barrett, whose father was an oil company lawyer, refused to admit climate change is real, saying, “I’m not a scientist.” That alone is disqualifying for someone whose decisions have the potential to affect the fate of civilization.

As a freelance writer, I depend on the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration, having failed to legislatively strip 20 million people of healthcare, is currently suing to have the ACA declared unconstitutional. It will be one of the first cases Barrett hears on the Supreme Court. Trump wouldn’t have nominated her if he thought she would rule against him.

Her record indicates that her attitudes toward a woman’s right to choose and same-sex marriage have the potential to gut Americans’ individual liberties. And finally, accepting this nomination against the dying wish of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from an impeached president who is openly threatening the rule of law, is unworthy of someone who signed the Rhodes Honor Code.

Barrett has put her personal ambition over the needs of the nation, and I fear her appointment to the highest court of the land will be a permanent stain on the honor of the college that I hold dear.

Chris McCoy is the Flyer’s film and TV editor.

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Domestic Violence, Rhodes Scholar, and Freddy Krueger

Domestic Violence

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted Monday that domestic violence rises during the holidays, but those holidays “might surprise you,” and posted this sobering infographic.

Posted to Twitter by the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation

Rhodes?

Rhodes College got brief time in the national spotlight last week. President Donald Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said prospective Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a “Rhodes scholar.”

She was not. The Twitterati straightened it out. Bloomberg reporter Josh Wingrove’s tweet on it was retweeted more than 48,000 times.

“‘She also is a Rhodes scholar,’ Trump’s @PressSec says of Amy Coney Barrett, who did not receive a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford, but instead received her B.A. from Rhodes College in Tennessee.”

McEnany acknowledged the flub saying, “My bad.”

Lot going on here

Posted to YouTube by Kingpin Skinny Pimp

Memphis rapper Kingpin Skinny Pimp posted a brief YouTube video from a Hollywood sidewalk this week.

In it, Freddy Krueger — in a perfect Southern accent and with a flourish of his famous knives — proclaims “North Memphis, baby!”

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Politics Politics Feature

Impressions of Amy Coney Barrett by Former Rhodes Classmates

So we stand at Armageddon, doing battle for the Lord, do we? That’s the essence of what you hear these days from diehard Democrats and other self-declared liberals, and, as often as not, this desperate war cry is sounded, not about the forthcoming presidential election, but about President Trump‘s nomination of one Amy Coney Barrett to be the next Supreme Court Justice.

Both the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Roe v. Wade are on the chopping block, you hear, and Barrett as a freshly confirmed Justice, will start wielding the axe as soon as the high court begins hearing the ACA case in mid-December. No one doubts that the Republicans have the numbers to confirm Trump’s nomination of Barrett, and no one doubts her determination, along with five GOP-appointed colleagues, to slash away at ACA, Roe, and any number of other Democratically inspired legal landmarks having to do, say, with labor relations, voting rights, and firearms issues.

The sky, say many, is falling, while those of more conservative persuasions cry, “Let it fall!” But who is this Amy Coney Barrett, this imagined scourge of things as they are and harbinger of a vastly different constitutional future?

As it turns out, there are those among us who shared turf and air with her when she was a student at Rhodes College in the early 1990s, and at least one somewhat younger Memphian, current City Councilman Worth Morgan, for whom Barrett once served as a babysitter. Former Councilman Shea Flinn was at Rhodes when Barrett was, and remembers her as “an attractive KD” (member of the Kappa Delta sorority), but that’s about it.

My son Justin Baker, another Rhodesian, remembers her similarly, but has no personal memories, nor does Kemp Conrad, yet another council member who was aware of her presence on campus: “Rhodes was small. You could notice people without knowing them.”

But Chris Gilreath, a transplant from Knoxville, lawyer, and Rhodes Class of ’94 grad, like Barrett, not only remembers the young, ultra-serious student from New Orleans, he seems to have faith in her sense of fairness. In a statement on his Facebook page, he put it this way:

“I went to Rhodes with Amy Coney Barrett. We’re both in the Class of 1994. I dated one of her sorority sisters. Amy was friendly and personable, just as she is now. Rhodes challenged us to think critically about big issues and wrestle with them, arriving at enlightened answers after vigorous debate.

“I’m liberal-minded and a Democrat. I oppose several of the perspectives and conclusions Amy draws on significant legal issues. But she’s a really good person.”

Gilreath was aware that his classmate was a serious Catholic (a fact that all her biographies make clear) and one clearly prone to rely on the elements of her faith. As a student, she was “strictly the academic type” but friendly enough. Rhodes, then as now, had active Democratic and Republican cadres on campus, but Gilreath does not remember that she took part in any activity.

“We can disagree without tearing others down,” says Gilreath. “I’ve never personally known a Supreme Court pick until now. For her sake, I hope the debate is about her philosophy and politics, not about who she is” — the “who she is” aspect reflected in the generally favorable viewpoints others have had of her.

“I regret that Amy has to live through the coming circus. She deserves better — and so do we,” says Gilreath.

Meanwhile, how much of the sky is really falling? Yes, the high court is scheduled to rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in mid-December, and, yes, it is highly possible Barrett will be ensconced as a Justice by then and will tip the balance against the ACA. What then? Should the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, they would then have the impetus to vote in one of the several Medicare-for-All measures they discussed during their primary debates earlier this year.

Roe v. Wade is a chancier circumstance. Famously, there has so far been no middle ground between proponents and opponents of legalized abortion. Perhaps it is not impossible that a conservative SCOTUS under the institutional-minded John Roberts, and including Barrett, could find one. Stranger things have happened.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Exploring Art: Clough-Hanson Gallery Hosts Webinar Series

CREDIT: Courtesy of Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College

Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College is hosting a new series of webinar lectures, “Closer Than We Appear: Art and Sharing Space in a Time of Social Distance.” This series will look to art and artists to help us think in new ways about sharing space in communities large and small, distant and close.

First in the series is a look at the ways that Native artists have engaged with these issues for generations. Historian and co-founder of Native Rites, Amanda Lee Savage, will talk remotely about art and anticolonialism in the context of the exhibition “Native Voices, 1950s to Now: Art for a New Understanding,” on view through September 26th at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Courtesy of Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College

Amanda Lee Savage will discuss anticolonialism and art — remotely.

The origin story for the United States requires remembering and unremembering during a contentious time in our history, says Savage. “This selective remembering and forgetting of indigenous people is critical to how the United States imagined itself in the 19th century.”

Savage challenges that origin story. To hear her lecture, a link to this webinar will be emailed to registrants prior to the event and posted on the Clough-Hanson Gallery Facebook page.

In October, the conversation will continue with Cannupa Hanska Luger, whose Mirror Shield Project is on view in the “Native Voices” exhibition and has been used in resistance movements across the country, including Water Protectors in Standing Rock.

More details will be announced soon. Be sure to check the gallery’s Facebook page for the most up-to-date information, or email parsonsj@rhodes.edu.

Thursday, September 3, 6 p.m., rhodes.edu/gallery, Visit the Clough-Hanson Facebook page for more information and registration, Free.

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News The Fly-By

Week That Was: Virus Spikes, Police Reform, and Mental Health

CREDIT: Facebook/Rhodes College

Officials Explain Virus Spikes

Recent high rates of the coronavirus in Shelby County were “alarming“ to many, health officials said here last week, but the jumps were likely caused by high testing days and lags in reporting from laboratories.

More than 380 new cases of the virus were reported Friday, June 19th, easily setting the record for the highest number of new cases reported in Shelby County in one day. The figure was over 200 on Saturday (June 20th) but was down to 44 on Sunday (June 21st). The surge in cases made some, like County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, wonder if the county too quickly loosened restrictions on businesses and gatherings.

Dr. Alisa Haushalter, director of the Shelby County Health Department, gave many reasons for the spikes during last Tuesday’s briefing of the Memphis and Shelby County COVID-19 Joint Task Force, but noted they “were alarming to many people.”

The state, for one, is now reporting probable cases of the virus. These cases include someone who has tested negative for the virus but who is connected to a known outbreak or virus cluster. The county is now beginning to report these probable cases in the overall number of new cases. There are now 16 probable cases of the virus here.

Extensive testing was done on June 14th and 15th, pushing the number of positive cases up, Haushalter said. That Saturday’s high figure of new cases contained lab test results from 19 different days, she said, pushing the figure even higher.

Still, Haushalter said community transmission is happening and at a higher rate. The positivity rate needs to be under 10 percent, she said. The number pushed up over 11 percent over that weekend and has come back down since then.

Haushalter said the spikes in cases are not directly linked to the Memorial Day weekend holiday nor the protests against police brutality. She said people are simply out enjoying the warmer weather and are not wearing face masks. However, she did note an uptick of people wearing masks again.

Pink Palace Museum

Crafts Fair Canceled

The Friends of the Pink Palace Museum, host of what would have been the 48th annual Pink Palace Crafts Fair, announced Friday, June 26th, that they would cancel this year’s Crafts Fair over concerns about the coronavirus.

“I am so disappointed that we had to cancel the fair due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the concern with holding large events,” said Pam Dickey, chairman of the Pink Palace Crafts Fair, in a statement. “The Friends of the Pink Palace are the largest donor to the Pink Palace Museum system. Their support helps provide free admission and programs to Title 1 students through the Open Doors/Open Minds program.”

The Crafts Fair, an autumn celebration of crafters, makers, and artisans, was originally scheduled to be held Friday, September 25th, through Sunday, September 27th, at Audubon Park.

Officials Outline Steps Toward Police Reform

City officials laid out steps to reform the Memphis Police Department Thursday, June 25th, assuring the community that it is committed to change.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said his administration has been meeting with clergy and other community leaders over the past four weeks to discuss ways to improve the Memphis Police Department (MPD).

Alex Smith, chief human resource officer for the city, said the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement have led city officials to “continue to push further to ensure that Black lives matter.”

“As we have met with clergy and concerned Memphians, we understand that there’s a strong desire for change to policing in Memphis,” Smith said. “And as an administration, we agree that change must happen.”

As a result of the meetings, Smith said the city has identified “swift and immediate action that we can take to improve outcomes for MPD and the citizens that we serve.”

Those actions include:

• MPD updated its policies to include the sentiment of “8 Can’t Wait”

• Made improvements to the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB), including enhancing communication with the public, providing training for CLERB members and staff, and reviewing the request for members to have subpoena powers

• Started posting board opportunities on the city website

• Began discussions with the Memphis Police Association to look for opportunities to strengthen language in the memoranda of understanding between the city and association to ensure that officers will be held accountable when using excessive force

• Looking to partner with community activists to improve implicit bias, cultural awareness, and cultural diversity training for MPD officers

Clergy Disappointed by Officials’ Reform Steps

A group of Black clergy members said they were “surprised and upset” by city officials’ press conference in which they laid out steps to reform the Memphis Police Department (MPD).

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland told the public Thursday that over the past four weeks his administration has been meeting with clergy members and other concerned citizens to discuss ways to improve the MPD.

However, a number of clergy members who participated in the meetings said in a statement Friday that a consensus had not been reached. They also called meetings with officials “frustrating” and “disappointing.”

“As African-American clergy who participated in the meetings, we found the discussions to be frustrating and disappointing overall, characterized largely by those who represent the power structures of Memphis claiming that the processes in place are sufficient,” the statement reads.

“The five reforms presented to us June 24th, the date of the last meeting, stopped far short of the substantive changes we had requested in calling for a reimagined police department. Though the administration couched these reforms as an agreement, we did not, in fact, agree to them. Rather, they demonstrated to us the administration’s lack of courage and appetite for making Memphis truly more equitable for all.”

The statement is signed by Gina Stewart, Revs. Stacy Spencer, Keith Norman, Melvin Watkins, Earle Fisher, J. Lawrence Turner, and Chris Davis, as well as Bishops Ed Stephens Jr. and Linwood Dillard.

The clergy members also noted that none of those who were involved in the meetings were invited to Thursday’s press conference and were not aware that it was taking place.

Facebook/Rhodes College

Rhodes and Baptist Partner for COVID Prevention

Running a college is a tough business at the best of times. But in the midst of a global pandemic, ensuring the health and safety of all students is of paramount importance both on and off school grounds. With that in mind, Rhodes College is pursuing a partnership with Baptist Memorial Health Care to create a thorough prevention plan for the 2020-21 school year.

Baptist will assist Rhodes with developing and implementing a safety protocol, which will have five key areas of focus: prevention, symptom monitoring, testing, care and tracing, and a resource center.

“As we began planning for the fall semester, our planning committees quickly identified the need for additional healthcare resources,” says Rhodes College president Marjorie Hass. “This relationship with Baptist will provide our campus with resources normally found at a large research university with an academic medical center. Most importantly, our students, faculty, and staff will be supported and cared for by physicians and providers from one of the nation’s top integrated healthcare networks.”

Report Shows More Tennesseans are Depressed, Anxious

Tennesseans are showing more signs of anxiety and depression as the coronavirus pandemic continues, according to a recent report by a sociologist at East Tennessee State University.

The results are based on the most recent Tennessee Poll, an annual poll conducted by ETSU’s Applied Social Research Lab (ASRL), which is led by Kelly Foster.

The poll found that for the week of April 22nd through May 1st, 35 percent of respondents had symptoms of anxiety and 27 percent had symptoms of depressive disorder.

More specifically, 50 percent of respondents reported trouble sleeping in the week prior to the poll, while 53 percent reported feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge that week. Forty-three percent felt lonely.

When thinking about the coronavirus, 18 percent of respondents reported having physical reactions, such as sweating, trouble breathing, or a pounding heart.

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Rhodes College and Baptist Announce COVID-19 Prevention Partnership

CREDIT: Photo courtesy Rhodes College

Photo courtesy Rhodes College

Running a college is a tough business at the best of times. But in the midst of a global pandemic, ensuring the health and safety of all students is of paramount importance both on and off school grounds. With that in mind, Rhodes College is pursuing a partnership with Baptist Memorial Health Care to create a thorough prevention plan for the 2020-21 school year.

Baptist will assist Rhodes with developing and implementing a safety protocol, which will have five key areas of focus: prevention, symptom monitoring, testing, care and tracing, and a resource center.

“As we began planning for the fall semester, our planning committees quickly identified the need for additional healthcare resources,” says Rhodes College president Marjorie Hass. “This relationship with Baptist will provide our campus with resources normally found at a large research university with an academic medical center. Most importantly, our students, faculty, and staff will be supported and cared for by physicians and providers from one of the nation’s top integrated healthcare networks.”

Leading the charge on Baptist’s end will be Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, co-director of Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis’ infection prevention program and a Rhodes alumnus. “This is a wonderful opportunity to help one of the country’s finest institutions welcome students, faculty, and staff back to campus safely,” he says. “We feel a tremendous responsibility to help our community weather the COVID-19 pandemic. This partnership is a natural extension of the tremendous investment we have made into educating, treating and protecting people from COVID-19, and we are excited to help Rhodes get back to educating its students.”

Through the partnership, Baptist will provide regular symptom monitoring that includes contact tracing and contingencies for a community occurrence of COVID-19. A virtual care clinic for positive cases will also be created in conjunction with the Rhodes Student Health Clinic. All returning students, faculty, and staff will be tested prior to the Fall and Spring semesters.

The hospital system will also advise Rhodes on procuring the necessary personal protective equipment and best sanitation practices for public areas, in addition to other services. If proper safety conditions are met, Rhodes plans to resume in-person classes in August.

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Local Colleges Look to Alternative Graduation Plans Amid Pandemic

CREDIT: University of Memphis/Facebook

University of Memphis/Facebook

The coronavirus pandemic has upended all parts of life and halted plans here, around the country, and across the globe — from weddings to funerals to long-awaited graduation ceremonies.

Thus, colleges in the Memphis area have begun looking at alternative ways to celebrate their seniors.

Christian Brothers University (CBU) has already moved to cancel it’s spring ceremony, originally planned for May 9th. Leslie Graff, vice president of communications and marketing for CBU said the university is exploring various options, including a virtual ceremony, a rescheduled fall ceremony, or a combined ceremony in Spring 2021.

“We will likely pursue a blend of virtually celebrating our graduating students this spring and holding an in-person ceremony whenever we are able to since we know the experience of walking across the graduation stage is so important for not only our students but their families,” Graff said.

The school is currently polling seniors to assess the best way to celebrate their accomplishments, looking for unique ideas.

“We know everyone wants some certainty right now and we all definitely need something positive to look forward to, so we’re hoping to make some decisions soon,” Graff said. 

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The University of Memphis (U of M) is working to finalize their commencement plan by the end of the week, but will likely hold a virtual ceremony.

In an email earlier this week, U of M president, M. David Rudd, told seniors that he shares their disappointment about the “disruption of spring commencement.”

“Although we will not be able to celebrate our seniors and others scheduled to graduate in May in the traditional manner because of the significant risk to public health, we will celebrate and honor spring graduates with a virtual ceremony,” Rudd said. “We are actively monitoring COVID-19, and if circumstances change for the better, we are planning for a traditional ceremony in late summer or early fall.”

Rhodes College will make a final decision on it’s commencement ceremony by April 15th, the college’s president Majorie Hass, said in an email to seniors this week. Other options the college is considering are a virtual ceremony or an in-person ceremony on a later date.

“Whether or not we can hold a commencement ceremony on May 16th, as planned, now depends not only on our judgement but on the judgement of our officials at the local, state, and federal levels,” Hass said. “If the situation has changed favorably by then and restrictions on public gatherings appear ready to end at the end of April, we will hold commencement as planned. If — as it seems more and more likely — orders to avoid public gatherings are likely to extend through May, then we will implement an alternative celebration plan.”

Rhodes has established a planning committee composed of students and faculty to craft an alternative plan. The committee will be sending surveys to seniors to generate ideas.

“We are seeking to understand the things that matter the most to you: connecting as a class, celebrating with family, honoring faculty and staff who have helped you reach this point, taking pictures in your cap and gown, crossing the seal, etc,” Hass said. “Understanding what commencement means to you will help us develop a meaningful alternative commemoration should we need to do so.”

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COVID-19: SCS, Rhodes, UTHSC, U of M Suspend Classes

As concerns about the coronavirus grow, Shelby County Schools announced Thursday that schools would be closing through the end of March beginning Friday, March 13th.

School officials are taking this proactive step although they said there still have not been any risks to schools identified by the Health Department.

“However due to national developments and rapidly changing conditions regarding the spread of COVID-19, Superintendent [Joris] Ray, our school board, and district leadership believe this is the most responsible course of action at this time,” reads the statement from SCS. “Closing schools is never a decision that we take lightly.”


Schools will be closed for a total of 11 days, including five days scheduled for spring break next week. Officials said during that time, the district will perform deep cleaning to all school buildings, fully assess potential risks associated with individuals who may be traveling over the break, and plan for “a variety of contingencies that will better prepare us to support schools if conditions become more complicated in the future.”

Late Wednesday Rhodes College announced that all in-person classes would be suspended and that the campus will implement a remote learning plan for the remainder of the semester. The college is also canceling all campus gatherings and events for the rest of the semester.

“This decision is determined to the best course of action for Rhodes to protect not only our community, but also the larger Memphis community,” a statement from the college reads. “However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach and we acknowledge that what is best for us is not necessarily best for all institutions.”

The college is also asking that students who are able to do so move out by Wednesday, March 18th. International students, students without reliable internet access, and those without a home or a safe home, may request to stay on campus.


The University of Tennessee System, including the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, has also suspended in-person classes until further notice. Classes will be offered remotely beginning March 23rd. All university-sponsored events will also be cancelled beginning then.

The University of Memphis said Thursday that spring break would be extended for an additional week and that classes will resume Monday, March 23rd. Beginning then, the majority of courses will be held virtually for the remainder of the semester. Additionally, university-sponsored events with more than 150 attendees will be canceled or postponed.

The campus will not close, however, as officials said campus housing and dining are essential for a large number of students. Cleaning and social distancing guidelines will be shared with those utilizing university housing and dining facilities.


Shelby County Health Department officials said Wednesday that there are no new cases of the coronavirus in the county and that everyone who came into contact with the patient here testing positive for the virus — approximately 80 individuals — has been quarantined.

As of Wednesday, nine patients in Tennessee have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Check the health department’s webpage dedicated to COVID-19 for more information. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center also has a page dedicated to updates COVID-19 information.

Shelby County officials have also launched their own portal with up-to-date, essential information about the virus.

This story was updated to include information about the University of Memphis.

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Students Rally Behind Rhodes Grad Who Says Sexual Assault Case Was Mishandled

CREDIT: Facebook/Rhodes

Facebook/Rhodes

A Rhodes College student group is rallying behind a recent graduate who went public last week, expressing her disappointment over the way the college handled an allegation of sexual assault she made last school year.

Culture of Consent is planning a rally for Tuesday, November 19th to protest the college’s response to the allegations, saying the school tried to buy the silence of the alleged victim, Emily [last name withheld], a 2019 graduate of Rhodes.

“Intentional manipulation of survivors within Rhodes Title IX Office and other offices across the country happens too often,” the group said in a press release, “Culture of Consent has heard story after story like this, and it’s time to say no more. Emily has asked us to make her story known so that others don’t have to go through this.”

In a letter addressed to Rhodes College president Marjorie Hass and posted online, Emily said she is writing the letter to “say how disappointed I am in my alma mater for how severely it mishandled my sexual assault case.”

The six-page letter dated November 15th details many “glaring issues” the former student noticed in the school’s process of handling her case.

Emily was raped in February, according to her letter. “My assailant, John Doe, was a friend.” Emily reported the incident a month later to Rhodes’ Title IX office after learning that the same assailant had assaulted another female student at a Valentine’s Day event.

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Emily said working with the Title IX office was “tedious.” She also noted that many of her communications “were disregarded, not answered properly, or entirely dismissed.”

“I was left in the dark for the entirety of my process because there was no one in the administration who was checking in with me to ensure that I was being treated with respect,” Emily said.

The former student said she was not given a hearing date until 124 days after she first reported the assault. Then, a day before the hearing was scheduled to take place, Emily received a call from the Title IX office saying that a settlement had been reached in a related lawsuit filed by the student accused of assaulting Emily.

“As you know, your hearing ultimately did not go forward because the parallel lawsuit was resolved with the respondent not being enrolled at Rhodes now or in the future, which is comparable to the maximum sanction of expulsion that he could have received as a result of your hearing,” reads a portion of an email sent to Emily by Title IX coordinator Tiffany Cox.

The Title IX office offered to reimburse Emily for expenses related to the hearing that didn’t occur. After the student sent an itemized expense list to the school, totaling just under $3,000, she was told she would have to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to receive reimbursement.

“Rhodes offers reimburse you for your expenses,” Cox wrote in the same email cited above, “in exchange for your agreement to maintain confidentiality: We ask that you agree not to disclose any aspect of Rhodes’ investigation and administration of your Title IX claim, and particularly this letter and its proposed payment arrangement, either privately or in any public forum.”

“I had now been victimized by John Doe and Rhodes,” Emily wrote. “My well-being, like that of other student victims, was secondary to the reputation of the school.”

[pullquote-2]

Earlier this month, Rhodes received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to enhance its prevention of and response to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking on campus.

The college will use the funds to create the Coordinated Community Response Team to enhance the school’s response, prevention, and education related to the four crimes above, as well as implement mandatory training and education sessions for students and faculty. The trainings will largely focus on students who live on campus, belong to Greek organizations, or are student-athletes.



Emily said that “sounds wonderful, but I believe how these activities are executed is what will really change the Rhodes College campus for the better.”

Rhodes needs to make their sexual assault policies and procedures better known to students, Emily said. Students should also learn about the meaning of affirmative consent, the definitions of all forms of sexual assault, and the different types of incapacitation.

Emily said she hopes the federal grant will yield “positive changes” at Rhodes, but “unfortunately, my love for my school has been damaged beyond repair.”

“I would be open to having a conversation with the administration, working on program plans, or even coming back for a panel to help current students better understand sexual assault,” Emily concludes the letter. “I truly believe Rhodes College has the potential to improve its Title IX office, but great strides need to be made.”

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Shortly after Emily’s letter went public, Hass responded in an email to the campus community. Hass said it is always the college’s goal to treat students with the “utmost compassion and care throughout the Title IX process.”

Rhodes College

Marjorie Hass

“Our graduate wrote of her alienation and bitter disappointment after we asked for her confidentiality,” Hass continued. “While that was not our intent, it is also not an excuse. We are committed to protecting the privacy of students, survivors, and witnesses, but we fail our students when we value silence over their ability to share their experience.”

Hass said the college is committed to “upholding a fair Title IX process,” and that the $300,000 federal grant will help the school do a better job of preventing sexual assaults, as well as supporting students who are victims of sexual assault and other related crimes.

“I have heard your voices speaking out today about the necessity of improving our culture of consent at Rhodes, and I will continue to work together with all of you on this,” Hass continued. “We need to work toward a culture where these horrible incidents don’t occur.”

#youprobablyknowthem

Culture of Consent launched a campaign to honor Emily and other survivors with the hashtag #youprobablyknowthem.

“We’re doing this for those who don’t report their assaults out of fear that this may happen to them,” the group wrote. “The reality is that most survivors who have gone through the Title IX process have probably had experiences like Emily.

The campaign includes:

• Banner drops around Rhodes College’s campus on November 16th

• Breaking the Silence, a protest via march and demonstration on November 19th

• Fundraising campaign for survivor, Emily, via GoFundMe which launched November 16th

• Week-long flag display in a public quad showing the prevalence of sexual violence

• Flagging the Problem, a flag ceremony and opportunity to learn about the resources available to survivors and allies, on December 2nd

Abbey Bako, president of Culture of Consent said the group’s primary goal of the campaign is to increase accountability on the Rhodes campus.

“Policies and procedures only work as well as the people implementing them allow,” Bako said. “So how do we increase accountability within such a closed system? That’s what we want to figure out.”

Bako said the Breaking the Silence rally, scheduled for Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., will be an opportunity to channel “productive anger.” It will be a space for students to express their feelings about how the administration handles sexual violence on campus. It will also be a space to figure out how to move forward “as a student body to prevent this from ever happening again.”

The Rhodes Student Government (RSG) also weighed in on the issue, saying that the group “stands discontent with the conduct of Title IX” regarding its handling of Emily’s case.

“We as a school and a community should support survivors and encourage them to come forward not silence them,” the group said in a Facebook post. “We stand with Emily. RSG intends to work toward a better, more comprehensive Title IX education for students and for better resources for survivors on campus. “

According to Rhodes’ 2019 Security and Fire Safety Report, the total number of sexual offenses on campus saw a dramatic decrease between 2016 and 2018. There were a total of 19 reported sexual offenses on campus in 2016. In 2017, that number dropped to four, and then rose to nine last year.

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U of M President Says School Will Pay $15 Per Hour in Two Years

A week after the most recent conversation about living wages at the University of Memphis heated up, U of M president David Rudd sent a letter to faculty saying that his commitment to providing all employees with a living wage “remains firm.”

Last week Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris vetoed a Shelby County Commission decision to allocate $1 million for the U of M’s Michael Rose Natatorium because of the school’s failure to pay living wages to some employees.

Harris said then that he won’t support the funding until the university presents a plan to pay livable wages to all employees.

Rudd said that the mayor’s proposal raised “serious ethical concerns” and that the university will forgo the county’s funding offer for the project. Rudd also said last week that the university is in the process of implementing a plan to raise hourly wages to $15 an hour over the next two years.

“We have a definitive plan,” Rudd said. “We’ll be at $15/hour in two years. And in a sustainable manner.”

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In a Monday letter to the university’s faculty and staff, Rudd said over the past four years the university has implemented three “historic increases in our minimum wage from $9.20 to $10.10, $10.60 two years ago, and $11.11 this fiscal year.”

A living wage extends beyond hourly pay and also should account for employee benefits packages, Rudd said. When the new minimum wage of $11.11 goes into place this year, Rudd said, with benefits factored in, wages equal about $16.80 an hour.

University of Memphis President David M. Rudd

The university’s approach to increasing minimum wage is “thoughtful and methodical,” Rudd wrote, touting some of the school’s financial accomplishments, such as implementing four consecutive years of pay increases and keeping tuition the lowest of the state’s public institutions over the past five years.

“Over the past few years, I have repeatedly expressed my support for a living wage,” Rudd wrote. “We’re the only public university in the state with three significant increases in our hourly wage over the past four years. As I’ve also said before, we’re committed to doing it because it’s the right thing.”

Rudd said he believes the university will be able to pay a livable wage to all employees in two years, but in a “manner that is financially responsible and sustainable.”

He did not mention the amount of the proposed livable wage.

“We’ve made significant progress the past two years and I believe we can achieve our goal in two years,” Rudd said. “I will not, however, sacrifice financial discipline and the success of our university for political expediency.”

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What are other universities here paying?

As of July 1st, the lowest-paid employees at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will earn $15 an hour, according to the university. This is the highest in the area. 

Southwest Tennessee Community College established a living wage plan in 2017 and raised every employee’s pay to at least $10.76 an hour. Since then, the minimum wage has increased to $12.24 an hour. The college said 31 employees currently earn this amount.

Christian Brothers University officials did not disclose its minimum hourly wage, but said the university is committed to a “just and living wage for employees” and that income equality is one of university president John Shannon’s top priorities during his first 100 days in his new role as president.


At Rhodes College, the minimum hourly wage is $12 an hour, but president of the college, Marjorie Hass, said last week in a letter to faculty and staff that the college is in the second year of a multi-year plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.