The Magazine of Rhodes College • Winter 2010 Where the Next Four Years Begin WINTER 2010 Contents VOLUME 17 • NUMBER 1 2 What To Do in an Emergency Keeping our students at Rhodes 4 Where the Next Four Years Begin Rhodes Diplomats show the way 8 Total Recall Alums refl ect on their cherished Rhodes mentors 4 14 Building Government 2.0 Katie Jacobs Stanton ’91 brings her cyber expertise to the White House and State Department 18 And Then What? Dedicated faculty advisers pave the way to graduate schools and fellowships 21 Alumni News From the Alumni Offi ce, Class Notes, In Memoriam 14 On the Cover Peter Zanca’10, one of 61 Rhodes Diplomats. (See story on page 4.) Photography by Justin Fox Burks 18 is published three times a year by Rhodes College, 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112 as a service to all alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff and friends of the college. Winter 2010—Volume 17, Number 1 EDITOR Martha Hunter Shepard ’66 GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Larry Ahokas Robert Shatzer CONTRIBUTORS Virginia Arcari, Justin Fox Burks, Christina Cooke ’10, Robyn Gibboney, Chelsea Hennessy ’11, Christina Huntington ’96, Mangiante Photography, Bob Narod, Bob Schatz LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Please address postal correspondence to: Martha H. Shepard, Editor, Rhodes Magazine, Rhodes College, 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112-1690 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (901) 843-3544 Fax: (901) 843-3579 CLASS NOTES: Please send all Class Notes including marriages, births and obituaries to: Alumni Offi ce, Rhodes College, 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112-1690 Phone: (901) 843-3845 Fax: (901) 843-3947 E-mail: [email protected] RHODES ALUMNI OFFICE: 1 (800) 264-LYNX We’ve redesigned our news site. When you visit RHODES ADMISSIONS OFFICE: 1 (800) 844-LYNX rhodes.edu/news, you’ll fi nd: POSTMASTER: • The latest stories and features about people and events at Send address changes to: Rhodes—including larger photos and space for your comments RHODES, 2000 North Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112-1690 • Professors discussing their areas of interest in Rhodes Experts, plus CHANGE OF ADDRESS: more faculty profi les on the Dean’s blog Please mail the completed form below and label from this issue of RHODES to: • Updates by student and departmental bloggers Alumni Offi ce, Rhodes College, 2000 North Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112-1690 • Rhodes Magazine online and enhanced with web-only content Name • A new home for Faces of Rhodes, interviews with our outstanding Street students • City State Zip A multimedia hub for photos, video and audio • Home Phone Business Phone Ways to connect with Rhodes on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and more E-mail Employer We hope you’ll visit, view, comment and share! Title WHAT TO DO IN AN EMERGENCY By Robyn Gibboney mergency student aid. It can sometimes be of dollars in unanticipated major medical expenses. the key that unlocks the door to graduation. Thanks to emergency aid funds, we were able to EAlthough students who begin at Rhodes may ease this family’s tuition burden so that the student not finish for a variety of reasons, perhaps most could remain at Rhodes. common is the high cost of staying in school. Another emergency aid recipient speaks for many When unanticipated circumstances arise, in a letter she sent to the college. That support resources intended to help pay for college may no enabled her to stay at Rhodes College and complete longer be available: her senior year. “I am grateful to those who create A parent’s employment status may change. these funds for unexpected situations that arise in A family member may face a serious health students’ lives. Thank you for your kindness and concern. generosity.” The value of invested college funds may drop Rhodes seeks to attract and retain a talented, precipitously. diverse student body and engage these students in In these uncertain economic times, the demand a challenging, inclusive and culturally-broadening for emergency student aid is at an all-time high at college experience. We strive to make a Rhodes Rhodes. education accessible to all worthy students and to Meeting this demand is one of our highest help our students succeed. philanthropic priorities. When students have Fortunately, several funds exist to help meet demonstrated the ability to succeed academically these goals. You can provide emergency assistance and are active members of our learning community, by giving to the Margaret Hyde Council, the Joe we are committed to helping them complete their Neville Society or the Student Aid Fund. You also Rhodes education. may choose to endow your own emergency aid fund. Emergency assistance has made a difference in By providing for students’ unanticipated needs, the lives of many students. For example, a first-year you enable them to graduate rather than leave. You entered in the fall with all the hopes and dreams of challenge these students to persist and succeed in her fellow classmates, but then tragedy struck. Her the face of difficulties. grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her parents suddenly had to cover thousands { 2 } W I N T E R 2 0 1 0 • R H O D E S rhodes.edu rhodes.edu WINTER 2010 • RHODES { 3 } Where the Next Four By Chelsea Hennessy ’11 Years Begin Photography by Justin Fox Burks n a 60-minute campus tour, Rhodes Diplomats every student he wanted to come to Rhodes came!” present the college dream of academic excellence Because student tours play such a vital role in the Iswirled with the promise of the person you can decision-making process, many Admissions offi ces become here. Parents glimpse the well-adjusted young at other colleges elect to pitch money at tour guide adults, while their sons and daughters perceive an programs. But does monetary compensation for tour idyllic escape from parental regulation and high school guides ensure a higher quality tour? Not according to drama. Rhodes appears like an alternate universe dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Dave Wottle. of Gothic archways, black leather couches and a He contends that a paycheck doesn’t attract the right Starbucks within walking distance. Although, at this candidate for this high-profi le position. To him, the point in their lives, most are so eager to get away from volunteer nature of the job makes all the difference in home a tent would satisfy. the mentality of the tour guide. In this state of mind, students and parents could “Students who really love Rhodes and are doing easily conjure an image of Rhodes that doesn’t match well here want to talk about it; they are the best the reality. The campus tour, for most students, is the advertisement of all,” says Wottle. one shot Rhodes has to present the real undercurrents The philosophy works; the prospect of giving back of life here. As the College Board Web site says, “You to the institution that formed you is ample payment can’t judge a college by its brochure.” The campus tour for the Rhodes College Diplomats. is one of the few opportunities for prospective students Jarrett Tate ’11 says, “The money doesn’t even factor to talk with Rhodes students. in.” Assistant director of Admissions Beverly Brooks Applications for this volunteer position consistently says, “The Diplomats have more impact than anyone pour in; last year more than 120 applied and 25 were on staff. These are people who could be in classes with selected. you or in your fraternity or sorority, so that makes it Choosing the Diplomats involves a lengthy seem more real.” process of applications, interviews and deliberation. Caroline King ’06, another assistant director of Admissions staff members and the student Steering Admissions adds, “Colin Johnson, a senior, is on the Committee select them. cross country team and he latches onto any student “We want students with experiences they can talk who is planning on running. A couple of years ago about,” King says. { 4 } W I N T E R 2 0 1 0 • R H O D E S rhodes.edu The tour guides must be able to answer rude questions with grace and diffi cult ones with fl uidity; their honesty and poise will be tested. There are a lot of tough, unavoidable questions that are simply the nature of college life: Do kids drink on campus? What about crime in Memphis? The Diplomats concentrate on the safeguards Rhodes enacts to keep students safe and healthy. “I am always just bowled over The Steering Committee—seniors Ali Goostree, Peter Zanca and John Nichols by how articulate our students are,” Wottle says. want them to feel like they are already students here." So you think you can guide? Those ombudsmen Allyson Pellisier ’10 says, “The things I wind up who make it past the gauntlet of applications and talking about are the things that have been the most interviews attend mock tours and receive a training meaningful for me here.” packet with answers to frequently asked questions. Tour guides have to pull a Walt Disney and fi nd They aren’t thrown into the lion pit without a multigenerational appeal, something that engages preparation. Guides are encouraged to memorize basic the students but is also informational for the parents. facts and statistics, but stories are far more valuable. Guides generally start the tour by asking the group “When our visitors are spending an hour with what they are interested in. a student we want that to be more valuable than According to Dan Schrader ’10, making the tour something they could have gotten at home,” says King. run smoothly is “one of those things that’s just in the “It’s not about memorizing the year the buildings were moment.” built; families can get statistics from the Web site.