A number of Traditions programming occurs at the Honors College, which will be continued throughout our students’ experience, including:
Honors College Welcome Week
The Honors College Welcome Week is a multi-day, early arrival experience consisting of academic and social events that serve to introduce our newest HC students to the curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular elements of college life. These events include early move-in, a GenHC workshop, the Common Read speaker, a Welcome Cookout, Induction, and so much more.
Coffeehouses
Coffeehouses provide an opportunity for students to showcase their talents and practice their skills on stage, as well as catch up with HC peers in a social setting. Coffeehouses occur twice a semester and are themed, with the final Coffeehouse dedicated to the graduating class!
HC Serves
As part of the Honors College mission to develop service-minded "innovation citizens," students fulfill either 30 hours of approved service in the first three years or 20 hours of approved service in the second and third year (depending upon date and pathway of enrollment). Check out the HC Serves webpage to learn more about the HC Community Service Learning Requirement, find volunteer opportunities for Honors College students to engage meaningfully with their communities, and a form to log service hours and Changemaking Points.
Navesink Endowed Lecture Series
Each semester we invite a nationally or internationally-known speaker to campus to share with us their engagement with the world through a multifaceted lens of providing an inspiring vision of leading-edge innovation, powerful social purpose, and the use of technology and/or capital to promote positive socio-economic outcomes. These lectures have proven to be among the most-powerful and influential on campus each year as they connect our students' curiosity, knowledge, and purpose to larger issues and arenas where innovation and passion are requirements for success.
Geek Week / Nerd Night
Geek Week is an educational series of talks, activities, and events, spearheaded by Student Centers and Activities during which students engage with renowned faculty and speakers, compete at trivia, attend a concert, undertake a service activity, and even pursue some independent work. The Honors College collaborates by hosting our own Nerd Night that brings in pop-culture, food, an intellectual theme, and engages our students on a different level.
Honors College Academic Showcase
The Honors College Academic Showcase highlights the work of seniors completing Capstones, as well as student projects developed in +Honors Contract courses. Students may present their work in a multiplicity of formats as best suits their projects and achievements.
Honors College Class Plaque Dedication Ceremony
The Honors College Class Plaque Dedication Ceremony is the annual reveal of the plaque installed in the HC Fireside Lounge for the graduating class, which includes a special time-slot during one of our Coffeehouses, a few words from the Dean, senior selfies or pictures with friends in front of the plaque, and a launch into graduation season.
Honors College Convocation
The culminating event for all who graduate as Honors College Scholars or Honors College Scholars with Distinction. This event, now with nearly 800 students participating each spring, takes place on Antilles Field on the Douglass Campus on the first day of Reading Day. Join us as about-to-be graduates don their robes, contribute to the ceremony, are bestowed their HC sash (for Scholars) or a sash and a medal (for HC Scholars with Distinction.