“I didn’t choose education; education chose me.” That’s how Dr. Techika C. Rhodes (MDIV ’21) explains her calling toward public service as a higher-education administrator. Rhodes has always had a desire to help people. Even as an elementary school student, she was serving on
the safety patrol and volunteering her time to tutor younger children. Her first job as a teenager was as an aide to children and adults with disabilities at the Brownwood Life Care Center in her hometown of Ft. Smith, Arkansas; this entry-level position led to her becoming an instructor and
therapy aide in the program.
At Wesley, Rhodes was able to channel her desire to help into formal ministry roles. She found herself drawn to helping her fellow students navigate the educational system, and she had the opportunity to intern with Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church, where she worked at the pastor’s Citygate nonprofit, tutoring neighborhood 5th graders. After serving at Wisconsin Avenue Baptist, she interned at the faith- based nonprofit Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual. The year after she graduated with her MDiv, Rhodes was invited to serve as a teaching assistant for several courses. She loved it.
Rhodes completed her Doctor of Ministry degree from Howard University’s Divinity School in
2024, where her thesis focused on helping people, of course, specifically evangelists struggling with burnout. She has been invited to share and present that research far and wide, including at the Church of God in Christ’s 116th Holy Convocation Academic Forum.
These days, Dr. Rhodes is working on her second doctoral degree, a Doctor of Education degree in Higher Education Administration and Leadership from Regent University. She plans to
continue doing what she’s always done: following that innate desire to help people.