Rhodes Alumni & Parent Community

I’m going to be honest: it is getting more and more difficult for me to recommend Rhodes when Rhodes places so much emphasis on community service and so little emphasis on promoting admissions to top graduate programs (by scheduling LSAT, GMAT, MCAT, and GRE classes, providing information to interested students, and forming connections with graduate professors and admissions offices). Don’t get me wrong — I understand the value of service. But I also understand that Rhodes is an academic institution, not Habitat for Humanity. If someone can explain to me how Rhodes does, in fact, value learning more than service, it would be very helpful to me in assisting prospective students.

As a current student I think I can try to shed light on this question. Service to me personally is one of our greatest opportunities as humans; to serve others gives us a sense of greater purpose, and a chance to realize we are not the center of our own universes. You are correct, Rhodes does place a large emphasis on giving back to our community, but it does not put more weight on service then academics. I am currently entering my senior year, I am preparing to take the GRE and applying to Grad programs, in fact I went to an interview last week at the Top University for Secondary Education. The two people I interviewed with were astounded by the opportunities I was given at Rhodes. What impressed them even more was the amount of service LEARNING I had done. With every service project I participated in I learned valuable academic lessons, and it was evident to my interviewers. I cannot take credit for their favorable responses however; I had my professors and fellow Rhodes students to thank. They pushed me to succeed acedmically, with a constant reminder that what I do with my life should have a purpose. Rhodes provides all the opportunities you have mentioned for students seeking a placement after college, and I can say that after using career services this summer, no one could ask for better more personalized help. So I think your impression is mistaken, Rhodes does not neglect the importance of careers and academics; it combines service and learning, and stresses that with the privilege we as students have of attending Rhodes we should be committed to having a sense purpose and a sense obligation to others through whatever and wherever our lives take us after Rhodes.

I strongly disagree with you, Meredith. No other top university places as much emphasis on service than Rhodes does. What other universities do place emphasis on, however, is helping their students place in top jobs and gain admission to top graduate programs.

Though I’m certainly pleased to hear that you are applying to graduate programs, the very fact that you are applying tells me very little about what Rhodes is proactively doing to help its students.

The things that I would like to know, for example, include the following:
1. Has Rhodes sponsored GRE, LSAT, MCAT, DAT, or GMAT review courses for interested students?
2. Has Rhodes held campus-wide meetings for students interested in pursuing graduate careers in education, law, medicine, or PhD work so that it can advise them on timelines, give resume tips, and provide application assistance?
3. Has Rhodes put together brochures or programs to help give students advice on the strengths and weaknesses of different graduate/professional schools?
4. Has Rhodes’ Career Services Office been in contact with major Wall Street firms and top businesses about internships OUTSIDE of the Memphis area?
5. Have professors encouraged students to pursue careers in academia or at nationally recognized think tanks? And if so, have they taken steps to help them fulfill these goals?

In all honesty, Meredith, I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer to every one of those questions — or at least most of these questions — is “no.” I would not be surprised, however, to learn that Rhodes has placed an incredible emphasis on the Hollywood-Springdale Partnership, its work with CODA, the Evergreen Soup Kitchen, or Habitat for Humanity.

The reason for this glaring discrepancy is probably because the CODA program yields small amounts of grant money from various regional trusts (e.g., the Priddy Trust), and President Troutt wants to secure as much of this money as he can. The problem, though, is that this strategy is very short-sighted. It concerns itself only with the immediate fundraising of, frankly, objectively modest sums. And it shuns students by preventing Rhodes from devoting adequate attention to fulfilling students’ long-term academic goals.

Don’t get me wrong, Meredith, I’m not bashing service. What I am saying is that Rhodes is an educational institution with the mission to provide the best undergraduate EDUCATION available. Though it is true that a truly well-rounded education might include *some* service, Rhodes will never increase its reputation in the academic community unless it begins to put its resources in other areas as well. Until we have students routinely graduate from top law schools, for instance, we will never be highly regarded in the national legal community. Until we have students routinely graduate from top medical schools, we will never be highly regarded in the national medical community. And until we place students in top graduate programs in the humanities, social sciences, and life sciences, we will never gain a foothold in mainstream academia.

Meredith, I’m sure that you are a very nice girl, but I think you might be relying on service a bit to much to get you to the next phase of your life. Perhaps I’m wrong, but this seems to be all too common among Rhodes students — and from what I can gather, it’s largely the administration’s fault.

Until we invest the necessary resources into helping promote our students futures instead of setting up temporary services programs to secure minimal grant money from organizations like the Priddy Trust, Rhodes will never be a top school. And I am not willing to glaze over that fact in my conversations with prospective students.

A Rhodes education is unquestionably a good education. But “a degree” is broader than “an education.” Lots of schools over great educations, only a few offer great educations AND truly valuable degrees — something that you could hang your office wall in any city in the country and earn your coworkers’ immediate respect. What Rhodes’ administration doesn’t seem to understand is that by placing so much emphasis on service at the expense of other things, it undermines the value of the Rhodes “degree” by undermining students’ successes in areas that directly and dramatically affect Rhodes’ brand name.

As an alumnus, I have a lot of trouble complacently swallowing that fact.

*correction: I meant to mention the service groups in Hollywood-Springdale instead of CODA. I’m not sure why I mentioned CODA at all.

In response to all the comments that have been left, I have some information for “02″ that you may find interesting.

As a rising senior and a business major, I can speak strongly for the business department. Within the business department, I have been connected to 3 internships that will all further my career interest in Finance. After my sophomore year, the Rhodes business department worked with an alumni who was in the upper ranks of Merrill Lynch to provide internships in several offices all over the country. I fulfilled my internship in Charlotte, NC. The alumni also took time to email with me and also have phone conversations about my future. This summer, I have received an internship with Morgan Keegan that provides me the opportunity to speak with traders all over the south east and Texas, as well as build strong, professional relationships within the firm. Though Morgan Keegan is primarly a southern firm, it is a name that is recognized all over the country.

I have also worked closely with Professor Pittman in the business department (who was the dept head for several years), and she consistently takes time out of her day (and summer, as I am meeting with her tomorrow) to discuss opportunities, as well as any doubts or concerns I may have. She works closely with me to follow through on internship opportunities or any other steps she feels I need to take to continuously build my resume, and she is not the only professor in the business department that does so. Also, as president of the Financial Management Association, it is my responsibility to bring in alumni in the finance field to present and network with our members. Though most are from Memphis, several alumni have been from NYC.

Also, the business department schedules a trip to NYC every January to network with alumni who have found successful careers. Many students also take the time to interview with these firms for internships or jobs. To prepare for the trip, 2-3 alumni spend a weeked in Memphis helping students correct/improve their resumes, as well as providing “mock” interviews. From my experience with this, all the alumni have been thrilled when I have kept in contact and always take the time to help me with my resume. I also know that they have kept me in mind, as some ask for an updated version of my resume to pass along. These alumni within the business department consistently take time out of their busy agendas to help get the “Rhodes name” out into the larger sector. Not only do they provide a source and example of what a Rhodes student has to offer, but all of the ones that I have worked with do as much as they possibly can to get a Rhodes student’s foot in the door. On my trip with the department to NYC, I was able to network with several prominent Rhodes alumni, and still keep in contact with half a dozen of them.

From my experience, the business department at Rhodes has really encouraged students and made students aware of life after college through professors reaching out, the NYC trip, and classes offered. The department now offers classes and outside of the classroom experiences that are directed toward specific careers, i.e. investment banking, as well as resources that will help improve a resume, i.e. Bloomberg certification. Professors have taken it upon themselves to use their connections and knowledge to prepare students who are seeking guidance.

In another sense of the alumni, all of them say that a Rhodes student stands out because we are “well-rounded.” Whether or not this stems directly and solely from the liberal arts degree cannot be determined, but I do believe that I have become well-rounded through the academics and the service that Rhodes prides itself on. In all honesty, it would be a total shame and lack of responsibility to humanity if Rhodes forgot about community service, especially in a city that provides some of the most unique and rewarding experiences.

Though I do agree to an extent that the college needs to place more emphasis on post-graduation life and careers, I believe more that it is the responsibility of the individual departments whose professors have personal relationships with students to provide the information and guidance necessary to students who seek it.

I am, however, a firm believer in self-motivation. All students at Rhodes are treated as young adults who are responsible for their decisions and actions. In the same light, students are also responsible for pursuing the guidance and help that they are in search of. It is not the responsibility of the college to spoon feed the help to a crowd who is not willing to look for it themselves. This is not to say the information should not be readily available when asked for, but it is not necessary for the college to waste time to students who are not seeking their own answers.

As for review courses for any post-graduate work, I am not certain of that; however, I do know that Career Services offers practices tests for free several times during each semester.

This response may not answer all that you asked, but I hope in sheds some light into one department at Rhodes that has thoroughly and aggressively assisted students.

All the Best,
Megan