Rhodes College

The administration at this school is terrible. The deans and students responsible for discipline are mediocre at best and the campus safety is known for profiling. If you are a minority, do not step foot out of line, because Rhodes only talks a big game. The hypocrisy of this institution becomes apparent when real issues surface. Academically, A+.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2016

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Scholastic Success: F

Pros: As a purely isolated academic experience, Rhodes was excellent. The faculty challenged me to think deeply and to question the assumptions I brought to college with me. The campus is physically beautiful. The Honor Code was a positive influence and when I was there it was respected. There was the occasional cheater, but it was certainly not accepted practice.

Cons: When I attended Rhodes the Greek system was the biggest surprise to me. I had never considered joining a sorority and the idea of it was a major turn-off to me, so I decided not to go through rush. I later learned that was "simply not done." The importance placed on sororities was pathological, with girls losing self-esteem and feeling suicidal, simply because a group of girls they barely even knew, didn't select them to join their club. The boys seemed to be less obsessed with fraternities, but it was an extremely negative influence on the girls.

The students were not very politically active and there was little diversity in terms of socioeconomic status and race. It seemed that every other student came from a wealthy Southern family that placed a high value on "society." Lots of the girls had been debutantes and had "coming out" balls - and not in the modern sense of the phrase. There were extremely few gay/lesbian students or African American students. The few black classmates I had came from wealthy families.

I hate to say it but the city of Memphis was, and is, in decline. The midtown area where the college is located is not a very safe place to go walking after dark, but downtown is much worse. I was mugged once when I lived there, (downtown, after dark.) That was a while ago, but conditions in the city have not improved since then. I did always feel very safe on campus, though.

I hope they have improved the student health center since I graduated. It was grossly inadequate when I attended, and staffed by students - nobody with any medical training. They had a doctor (a moonlighting resident I think) who came for a short while 2 or 3 days a week. I experienced a nightmarish few days in their "sick bay" - supposed to be getting clear liquids but actually getting nothing at all - until I became dehydrated and had to be admitted to the hospital. Nobody from the administration ever acknowledged the incident or notified my parents of my hospitalization, and the experience still makes me angry, 27 years later. I now have a child who is a junior in high school, and am not encouraging him to consider Rhodes.

4th Year Female -- Class 1987

Education Quality: A+, Social Life: C

No quibble about academics here. If you do really well at RC, you'll have no problem getting into a good grad school if that's what you want. On the other hand, the social life should make anyone think not just twice, but several times, before attending RC. It's not enough to say that the social scene is limited and one-dimensional. The Greek system dominates the social scene to an extent that can only be described as pathological. A large part of the students are in Greek organizations, so there's really no getting away from it -- even if you're an independent, you'll likely become known as an "associate" of one of the Greek societies if you happen to have a few friends there, and subject to the same reputations, stereotypes, etc. I saw great friendships come to a crashing halt on "bid night" because one person got into the "right" group and the other didn't, and members of XYZ just do *not* (oh no!) associate with members of ABC ... and this was not a rare event. If that sounds like a very "freshman" way of viewing the world, it is, and quite a few grow out of that by the time they graduate ... but quite a few don't. Just be aware that if you enroll at Rhodes, you will be labelled with two or three Greek letters (even if you don't join up), and you will find yourself subject to all the stereotyping, stratification, segregation, etc. that goes along with it. (In case you're wondering, I think there is a legitimate place for a Greek system on campuses in general, but not when it overwhelms everything else.)

4th Year Male -- Class 2004

Useful Schoolwork: A, Individual Value: F