Rhodes College

Memphis, TN · founded 1848 · 2,000 students · liberal arts college · NCAA Division III, Southern Athletic Association

Known for: Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college renowned for its rigorous academics, commitment to service and honor, and its beautiful Collegiate Gothic campus located in the heart of Memphis.

Rankings

U.S. News liberal arts: #51
Forbes: #112

Top programmes

Biology
Business
Political Science
International Studies
Neuroscience
Religious Studies

Notable alumni

Fred Smith — Founder and CEO of FedEx
John Grisham — Best-selling author of legal thrillers
Amy Carter — Daughter of President Jimmy Carter and activist
Bill Frist — Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Kix Brooks — Country music artist, half of Brooks & Dunn
Robert Penn Warren — Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and novelist

Traditions

Rites of Spring music festival
Honor Council
Rhodes Student Government
Founders Day

If Rhodes College were…

As a food: Buttermilk biscuits with honey at a Junior League brunch — Southern, refined, comfort-food elegant, and served in a setting where everyone's dressed just a touch nicer than necessary. Rhodes is preppy Southern grace with substance underneath the genteel presentation.
As an athlete: Peyton Manning — Southern pedigree, smart as hell, preppy without being flashy, and beloved by everyone who matters in the region. Rhodes students are the Peyton Mannings of small liberal arts colleges—polished, high-achieving, and desti
As a person alive today: Reese Witherspoon — Southern charm meets serious ambition, blonde and bubbly exterior concealing a sharp businesswoman who reads voraciously. Rhodes cultivates that same deceptive combination of gracious manners and intellectual firepower.
As a historical figure: Robert E. Lee (post-war educator version) — Complicated Southern legacy, emphasis on honor and service, ultimately pivoted to education and building institutions. Rhodes wrestles with its Confederate-adjacent past while doubling down on service and ethical leaders
As a movie or TV show: Dead Poets Society — Gorgeous traditional campus, tight-knit community, professors who actually care, and an underlying tension between institutional tradition and individual intellectual awakening. Plus everyone looks good in sweaters.
As a US president: Jimmy Carter — Southern, deeply religious, service-oriented, and more intellectually serious than people initially assume. Rhodes produces the kind of earnest, ethical leaders who build houses for Habitat between their nonprofit board
As a city: Charleston, South Carolina — Historic, beautiful, Southern to its bones, wrestling with its past while cultivating a progressive future. Small enough to feel intimate, sophisticated enough to matter, and everyone's in khakis at brunch.
As an element: Silver — Precious but not ostentatious, highly conductive (of ideas and service), tarnishes if not polished but shines brilliantly when maintained. Rhodes has that same understated value—not the flashiest metal, but refined and e
As a car: 2018 Lexus ES 350 — Rhodes delivers Southern grace with academic rigor—Gothic architecture, service ethos, and Presbyterian roots in Memphis. The ES is refined, comfortable, dependable, and appeals to families who value tradition, quality,

Campus life

Campus life is highly residential and engaged, with a strong honor code fostering trust. Students are involved in numerous service opportunities, clubs, and intramural sports. The college's location in Memphis provides access to city culture, internships, and music.