What is the Honors Program?

Photo by Ellie Spaulding

Senior Kevin Beachy (left) chats with his younger brother (center), a prospective honors student, and fellow senior Jeremy Gibson at Friday's Common Grounds concerts.

The Honors Program at EMU provides a place for students from all grades who wish to expand their experience academically. Incoming freshman are introduced to the program through a seminar class, activities, and mentors.

Every year a group of high school seniors that meet the 3.5 high school GPA and 1350 SAT requirements visit the campus of EMU to visit and apply for the Honors Program. These students stay with current honor students and are given a feel for the campus. They also are interviewed by faculty members who work with the Honors Program. Along with the interview, applicants are chosen based on their application, which includes two essay questions, two references and a sample of their work from high school.

The number of students accepted into the program varies by year, with this year's freshman class at thirteen students. The number is usually in this range and along with the other pieces of the program come substantial scholarships. There are two full tuition scholarships awarded and the rest of the members receive half scholarships.

There are different aspects of being in the Honors Program, one of them being the Ruling Ideas seminar. This class, taken in the first semester of the freshman year, is the first piece of the program and introduces the students to many new things. The class is set up in the seminar format with visiting professors. Professors from various fields of study come and introduce their field and its "ruling ideas." Some of the professors that were part of this class this year were Tara Kishbaugh, David Mathies, and Rick Yoder. Emphasis in the class was placed on discussion and conversation concerning the different ideas and topics. Freshman honors student Ben Ruth felt that that Ruling Ideas was "a great way to be introduced to all of the different departments, their faculty, and the ideas that rule their specialties."

There is also an Honors Colloquium taught by various professors that students are required to take in their sophomore or junior year and a Senior Honors Seminar in their senior year that is the capstone for the program.

Along with the academic side of the program there are also honors activities that provide a time for students from all grades to get to know each other. Every month a small group of students plans an activity for the larger group of honor students to participate in. A trip to Washington D.C. and a photo scavenger hunt have been some of the activities this year.