MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Discrimination, justice and racial equity in Memphis and the Mid-South region are topics that a new hub at Rhodes College will focus on thanks to an $800,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The foundation works to "build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive."
The foundation also "believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity" and that "everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence and freedom that can be found there."
Rhodes president Jennifer Collins said the university is grateful for support from the Mellon Foundation.
“Rhodes is a national liberal arts college where inclusive excellence and building a culture of belonging are central to our mission," Collins said. "We strive to empower students, faculty, staff and community members to address contemporary social issues through intellectual inquiry, reflective dialogue and community action.”
Funding from the three-year grant will support Rhodes' future institute, and the new concept is said to include work and activities that:
Document and share stories of Memphians who are absent from the narratives about the city
Expand the pipeline of faculty and students trained to do racial justice research and advocacy
Elevate the success stories of incarcerated women participating in Rhodes’ Liberal Arts in Prison program
Coincide with racial justice missions of some local non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
The grant also is said to provide support for an annual Race and Social Transformation Symposium and summer fellowships for Rhodes and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) students to work with Rhodes and HBCU humanities faculty on justice-centered research.
In addition, visiting assistant professors with relevant expertise are said to contribute to the scholarship of the institute and work closely with student fellows.
The dean for curricular development at Rhodes, Dr. Natalie Person, is set to serve as director of the Institute for Race and Social Transformation at Rhodes.
“[It] will be a hub for groundbreaking interdisciplinary faculty and student research about racial injustice and social inequities in Memphis,” Person said. “Projects will range from documenting the oral histories of Black Memphians during the Civil Rights era to understanding where resources should be situated in our city to better serve our neighbors who are unhoused.”
The institute will be located on West Campus (University Street). This is where many of Rhodes’ community-facing programs reside, including the Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center, the Institute for Health Equity and Community Justice, the Department of Urban Studies and the Department of Educational Studies.