LaGRANGE — LaGrange College’s Leadership Council, a service-oriented and advisory group, recently elected five new members.

They are Kay Durand, Stacey Houze Weldon, Marlene Rhodes, Don Russell and Josh McGinty.

Durand is a native of Troup County with a background in nonprofit leadership. She is involved with several boards in Troup County and the surrounding area, including Troup-Harris Library Board, LaGrange Board of Planning and Zoning, Troup Family Connection, DASH, and the Boys and Girls Club. She is a graduate of Mercer University and the University of Georgia. An active member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, she and her husband, Fred, have five children.

Rhodes, senior vice president and market president for Renasant Bank, has more than 30 years of banking experience. Her roles have included commercial lending, retail operations management, personnel management, marketing, mortgage lending, sales coaching, treasury management, managing investment banking operations and extensive regional management experience. She is a graduate of Auburn University and is married to Ken Rhodes.

Weldon is vice president of Houze & Associates Inc., which provides agent and brokerage services, and administers employee benefits for approximately 300 employer groups. She is a 1996 graduate of the College of Charleston where she earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and a bachelor of arts degree in corporate communications. She and her husband have two children.

Russell retired from Interface, where he was one of the original partners with Ray Anderson. A founder of LaGrange Academy, he has remained active since his retirement. Russell attends community events, plays pickleball and enjoys traveling. An active member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, he has two grown children and three grandchildren.

McGinty graduated with his doctorate degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and specializes in sports medicine. Prior to helping form Southern Rehab & Sports Medicine, he worked for an outpatient physical therapy clinic and spent time in various clinical settings. He also serves as a clinical instructor for physical therapy students. He is the athletic trainer at LaGrange Academy and volunteers at other sporting events. He is married to Katie and they have two children, and a third arriving in June.

The council helps develop resources for the institution and annually chooses priorities to accomplish that goal. This year’s objectives are to develop a plan for increasing international student enrollment at the college, to partner with the college’s sustainability committee to develop phase 2 of the climate action plan and to research ways the college can partner with the Downtown Development Authority in efforts to foster a more vibrant downtown.