Greenville College Annual Report 2002-03

Honors Program Brings Challenge, Culture, Community

Where do Greenville College students go when they want to kick their academics up a notch? They join the Greenville College Honors Program. Founded in the fall of '95, the program serves students who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance and looks to stimulate their intellectual creativity and development.

The program offers a blend of enriched classes, special honors seminars, and experiential learning opportunities. According to Dr. Gene Kamp, who has directed the program since its inception , the program is a value-add that enriches and expands the regular curriculum.

However, ask the students their perception and three words keep cropping up: community, challenge, and culture.

“It's wonderful; you get to hang out with some thoughtful people,” said junior Anna Moorman, a philosophy major from South Bend, Ind.

Professor Veronica Ross, who teaches the honors section of Speech Communication 101, finds working with this group a challenge, but enjoys the benefits that come with the level of talent. “ It's so much fun to read papers that are well thought out, provocative and well-prepared,” said Ross. “It's a little bit of everything that you get to experience.”

Alumna Celeste Frankenfeld, currently a graduate student in pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Kansas, finds the advantages ongoing. “I hear time and time again that good scientists (as I'm training to be) should be well-rounded people,” she said. “What's more, in my own experience, I've discovered that to solve the problems that pop up daily in my research, I've got to exhaust all options and look at the problems in unique ways. The more I know of other fields and other viewpoints, the easier it is to approach the scientific problems from fresh angles.”

Geoff Whitlock, a junior majoring in history and political science and this year's HP president, sums up the program's most important benefit. “The idea of liberal arts is to produce people who will make significant contributions,” said Whitlock, “but will do so in a Christ-like manner.”

Last updated: January 12, 2004