With its humble beginnings in 1981, the Honors College at West Chester University has built upon the sure foundations of academic excellence, campus engagement and community building through a fostering of peer relationships. As we look with anticipation towards our fall 2007 celebration of 25 years of Honors, we are so very proud of the over 400 men and women who took the invitation to go beyond the expected.

As Director of the Honors Program since fall 1997, I want to extend warm greetings to all who have passed through the “whispering arches” of Philips Hall -- alumni, friends and family -- and hope you will take a moment to reflect on your time with us and hear a bit about what we have been doing in Honors.

Boldly embodying the vision of service, fall 1999 saw the inauguration of a new delivery system of Honors education. Students from majors across campus come together for nine cross-disciplinary seminars, designed to be team taught by a diverse array of committed educators. Each course, drawn from the liberal arts, contributes a distinctive component to the overall theme of personal leadership development.   Topics such as ethics in a technological age, educational systems, environmental impact, community and change and the influence of the arts in social movements are explored. Students move through the courses as a learning community, serving as rich resources to peers as they represent their distinctive academic majors.

In addition to studying as a community, Honors students continue to live as a community in designated housing in Killinger Hall. Here a video and film editing lab is available for class and community projects. The Honors Student Association holds monthly business meetings and social events in addition to sponsoring a wide range of service projects that involve both Honors students and others in the campus community. Working with elderly, walking for AIDS, serving food in shelters, and mentoring with after school programs are just some of the areas where students are engaged. Students also answer the call for leadership around the campus. Be it student government, writing staff for the Quad, participation in Forensics, Theatre, Musical Groups, or Athletics, leadership in residence life, fraternities and sororities, and a host of departmental clubs and organizations, Honors students are found actively involved campus wide. Our vision is to expand opportunities for technological support of our activities and increase our linking of activities and projects with students across campus. One such imitative is partnering with the Graduate School and department clubs/organizations in the sponsorship of a Graduate School fair for any student considering application to graduate or professional school. Another is an outreach to Greek community and student service groups in the sponsorship of RUN-8 for South Africa, a race and day of activities to raise awareness of health and poverty issues in that country.

An amazing partnership was forged in summer 2001 between WCU Honors and the people of South Africa. Led by a team of educators, including President Madeleine Wing Adler, 27 students from around the State participated in a two week international program that conducted oral histories of current college students and men and women who were on the forefront of change from Apartheid to Democracy. Supported by colleagues at the Universities in the Cape Town and Pretoria regions, local leaders in the Cape Town community and Guguletu Township, students had first hand “behind the tourist line” opportunities to study nation building. Returning in 2004, students conducted a community needs assessment in Guguletu Township, interviewing grandmothers who had primary care of their grandchildren because they lost their own children to HIV-AIDS. These experiences are supported through annual fall seminars on Lessons Learned in Leadership from South Africa.  Another experience is planned for 2006 and our vision is to continue such opportunities on a regular cycle.

The Bonner Foundation of Princeton has recognized the commitment to excellence and service that are hallmarks of West Chester Honors and, beginning in 2003, has identified students as Bonner Leaders. Linked with AmeriCorps, students with a passion for service are invited to this special program if they will commit to a minimum of 300 hours of leadership training and civic service during a calendar year. Completion of the program earns students a $1,000 service scholarship. Each year we have added to the number of students to this program and our vision is to reach a regular cohort of 30 students annually.

A final moment of particular note was spring 2004 when President Adler inaugurated the first official Honors alumni event in the Phillips Hall Board Room. Never before had there been a coordinated effort to reconnect with our program’s pride -- those who have entered a life beyond Main and Anderson, Swope and South Campus, Killinger and Rosedale -- namely, our graduates who are the best ambassadors of Honors we know. Our vision, as we approach the silver anniversary, is to do more to provide opportunities for connections between alumni and alumni, alumni and current students, and alumni and the Honors Program as a whole. We hope to identify a host of two way service events.

We have come a long way since 1991, but the imagination in those founding members for what could be is alive, well and with us. I consider myself blessed to be involved with this program and students who demonstrate on a daily basis their passion for using their intellectual gifts for the betterment of others. Supporting leaders for tomorrow like these is a sound investment and places us all in good hands. Next step plans in curriculum, housing, student life, international and community partnerships, alumni outreach, service and leadership are only a dream away. We anxiously anticipate rekindling bonds with those who have passed through the “whispering arches” and are confident that the best is indeed yet to be.