include a supportive classroom dynamic, friends and social gatherings, off-campus fellowships and internships and, for many, sports. Athletics at the Division III level is not meant to charge life on campus, but to recharge it, to add another tone of color to the palette of academics and career planning. Marie Brandewiede Schofer ’04 came from St. Louis to run track and cross country for Rhodes, qualifying for the NCAA national championships as an individual and as part of a team in both sports. She earned All American honors on three occasions. Both Mullady and Schofer met their future spouses, as well as lifelong friends and confidants, while at Rhodes. Now working in the admissions office at Cornell College in Iowa, Schofer still runs and maintains contact with past teammates, which is “something really special,” she says. Schofer is also close with coach Robert Shankman, a lasting influence and mentor both on and off the track. “We relied on each other and supported each other,” she says of her teammates, “but when I needed to buy new tires for my car, I went to Coach Shankman and he recommended a place and a guy to go see, to make sure I didn’t get a bad deal. He really looked out for his athletes that way, on a personal level, too.” For Mary Reed ’14, her time on the links for the Lynx golf team has been an experience she wouldn’t trade for anything. The bridge major in economics/commerce and business knows what it is to be pushed to the limits with studying, exams and projects, and the time spent
Guard Sarah Womack ’13, Germantown, TN, political economy
rhodes.edu
To the Limit of My Capacities.indd 6
with teammates on the greens of local golf courses. All have provided hours of camaraderie and memories. “I can’t imagine being at Rhodes and not playing a sport, to be honest, having that extra layer of challenge and something else to do has made my experience all the more important and fun. It’s nice having a lot of other student-athletes on campus because everybody gets it.”
ON BEING A RHODES STUDENT-ATHLETE Of 1,872 full-time students for the 2012-13 academic year, 573—31 percent—are student-athletes, numbers that rival even the largest Division I schools. What’s more, 60 percent of Rhodes’ student-athletes receive academic financial aid. Sixty-three percent participate in extracurricular campus activities other than sports. The well-rounded college experience is something sought after by incoming students and their parents, faculty and coaches, and all the way to the top. “Seeing our athletes compete and succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and later in life is a great source of pride for us,” says Rhodes President Bill Troutt. Says Welch Suggs ’95, track and field and cross country runner: “What you learn as an athlete are lessons that you cannot get anywhere else. You can make the same argument about the classroom as well, but when you’re an athlete, you have to learn first and foremost how to manage your time, not just to get your homework done, but to put in the time you need in the weight room or training room, as the case may be.” Suggs chose Rhodes over other schools because he wanted the experience of a Division III school. He wanted to run, but “did not want it to be my life in college.” What he wanted was to be a sports reporter. He would later attend the University of Missouri graduate program in journalism and write about the business side of sports for the Kansas City Star, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He is now an associate professor at the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. The Memphis Commercial Appeal sports columnist Geoff Calkins, whether covering the summer Olympics in London or the Memphis Grizzlies closer to home, spends his days and nights caught up in the euphoria of winning sports teams. Just as George Lapides 30 years prior, he also knows the ins and outs of Division I athletics programs and has, at times, become “disgusted” by the scandals and out-of-all-proportion chase for money.
WINTER 2013 • RHODES
{ 11 } 2/14/13 10:38 AM