Every part of Westminster University’s Honors College is designed intentionally to support you and your education. Every course, trip, research project, and event will enhance your university experience. You are encouraged to take an active part in Honors, as student participation is welcomed in all facets of the Honors College. Available opportunities include:

  • Employment as a student associate (5–7 paid positions that help run the Honors College in the areas of co-curricular programming, marketing and publicity, tech support, and diversity initiatives)
  • Serving as a peer mentor to help guide incoming honors students through their first year of the program (25–30 positions for upper-class Honors students with extensive experience in the program)
  • Attending regional and national Honors conferences
  • Studying abroad at the University of Glasgow
  • Attending honors-sponsored lectures, meetings, and events
  • Participating in the student-run Honors newsletter (Honorable Mention)
  • Participating in the Student Honors Council

two students standing by bike

Honors Newsletter: Honorable Mention

The Honors College newsletter, Honorable Mention, is published once a semester. It is designed, written, and published entirely by Honors student editors, writers, and photographers. The newsletter features Honors College news, Honors student and faculty profiles, updates on the work of the Student Honors Council, answers to important questions, and announcements about new courses, awards, and funding opportunities. The publication is sent to all Honors students and their families, Honors faculty, Honors alums, and staff and administrators connected to the Honors College. It is also occasionally sent to Westminster University's Board of Trustees and other friends of the university.

Students who are interested in working on the newsletter (or have story ideas) should contact the editors. These editors work very hard to produce a high-quality publication, which has won an award in the NCHC national newsletter competition on five separate occasions, including 1st place in 2010 (Kansas City) in the "student-produced" newsletter category.

VIEW THE Fall 2023 ISSUE

Student Honors Council

The Student Honors Council represents the interests of all Honors students, meeting regularly to discuss ways to improve the Honors experience for students. An elected Honors student president and vice president—who also have voting privileges on the faculty committee that oversees the Honors College—run the council in addition to 3 other officer positions. Responsibilities of the Student Honors Council include the following:

  • Act as a liaison to the Honors Council
  • Discuss student concerns in the Honors College
  • Propose new program initiatives
  • Organize academic and social events of interest to Honors students
  • Create continuity in student leadership within the Honors College
  • Help establish program identity and community among Honors students
  • Represent the Honors College at public events or gatherings that require an Honors student presence
  • Raise awareness of relevant opportunities to the student body
  • Operate according to the Student Honors Council Constitution and standard practice for a student organization and the Honors College

Perla Garcia, President

Perla Garcia

Perla (‘25) is a nursing major. She is also a peer mentor for the Honors College. Perla is also a First Scholar which means she is the first in her family to attend university. When Perla is not studying you can find her hanging out with friends, snowboarding, and driving up to Park City to spend time with her family. Perla hopes to create a welcoming environment for everyone and support the honors students and facility as best she can.

Karlie Allen, Vice President

Karlie Allen

Karlie (’25) is a public health major with a minor in psychology and plans to pursue a career in the epidemiological field while working towards completing the Honors College requirements. She works as a circulation assistant at Giovale Library and an office assistant for Residence Life. Karlie is a first-generation university student and pushes to create a place of community and comfort for students. As Student Honors Council vice president, Karlie aims to advocate for student voices and support the connection between faculty and students in the Honors College.

Morgan Madsen, Secretary

Morgan Madsen

Morgan ('25) is a pre-med music studies major with an emphasis on vocal performance. Morgan is a GO Leader and Honors Peer Mentor, and is heavily involved in the Performing Arts program on campus. Outside of Westminster University, Morgan works as a trained medical assistant, and a member of an undergraduate research team at Primary Children's Hospital. When she isn't doing homework, you can find Morgan wandering campus with her friends, eating ice cream, and watching movies. Morgan is so excited to be moving into the role of Secretary for the upcoming school year and hopes she benefits the Honors community through serving as a member of SHC. Morgan hopes to create events that foster connection within the Honors College and help students feel they have a home away from home.

Kelln Pratt, Treasurer

Kelln Pratt

Kelln ('26) is a music studies major with a vocal performance emphasis. Kelln is passionate about the role of community in education and is eager to get involved at Westminster. You can usually find her studying in Nunemaker or practicing in the basement of Gillmor Hall. Kelln loves to take photos and go on long walks in her free time, and she's always down for a nice cup of tea or a good conversation with friends! Through her position as treasurer of the Westminster Student Honors Council, Kelln intends to assist the cultivation of the Honors community and encourage an organized, eventful, and enriching experience for each student.

Liliana Sauro, Historian

Liliana Sauro

Liliana (’24) is a neuroscience major with a minor in public health. She's the Student Honors Council historian and a peer mentor. Outside of the Honors College, she is a captain on the Westminster University Cheer Team and a junior class ASW senator. She loves having movie nights with friends, reading, and visiting new coffee shops in her free time.

The Student Honors Council fund provides stipends to Honors College students to help offset the cost of investigating graduate schools. Email the dean of the Honors College (rjb@westminsteru.edu) for information on how to apply for these $500 grants.

Katherine Metcalf Nelson Writing and Creative Arts Awards

To encourage and recognize excellence in written work in Honors courses, the Honors College gives cash awards to the best essays written annually in 4 different categories: first-year seminar, sciences, social sciences, and the arts. The Honors Council also chooses from among those winning papers a “Best Honors College Essay of the Year,” the writer of which receives an additional cash award. Awards are announced at the annual spring Honors celebration and winners have their names engraved on a plaque that hangs in Nunemaker Place.

  • T. Masami Tadehara, “Human Needs Beyond the Basics”
  • Lienne Cupal, “The Scripting of the Irrational Woman” (winner of the Best Essay of the Year Award)
  • Mariah Trujillo, “Patching Ourselves Back Together”
  • Saydi Anderson and Juli Sandhu, “Brittle Intentions: The Fragility of Past, Present, and Future Art"
  • Saydi Anderson, “Wandering Through Grief”
  • Katie Valdez, “The Limitations of Modern Objectivity: How Modern Science Can Overcome Bacon’s Idols of the Mind as Demonstrated in the Film Arrival”
  • Lienne Cupal, “The Power of Being Unquestioned”
  • Sophie Caligiuri, “Write Home While You’re at War: Urban Graffiti as a Response to Conflict” (winner of the Best Essay of the Year Award)
  • Kathryn Jensen, “Work Becomes Play and Play Becomes Work (and Murder)"
  • Lienne Cupal, “The Fairest of Them All” (winner of the Best Essay of the Year Award)
  • Samantha Paredes, “The Neglect of Reason throughout History”
  • Sophie Caligiuri, “The Joke's on You: How The Dark Knight Portrays the Societal Benefits of Crime”

 

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