News
4 The Mirror
Monday, April 23, 2012
Annual banquet celebrates honors students SAVANNAH MCCULLY news@uncmirror.com UNC students, with their families and friends in attendance, joined the Center for Honors, Scholars and Leadership staff to celebrate their achievements at the annual HSL Spring Banquet Sunday in the University Center Ballrooms. In a single year, the Center for Honors, Scholars and Leadership hosts such events as the Embracing Community Symposium, Earth Week and Academic Excellence Week. The HSL program consists of two separate groups of undergraduate students:
the Honors program and the President’s Leadership Program. The program was founded in order to enrich undergraduate education for students at the University of Northern Colorado, in hopes they will take the opportunity to go above and beyond in their learning. Students of the Honors program and the President’s Leadership Program have spent the last school year participating in community events both on and off the UNC campus. Some students have accumulated their honors theses, a capstone project that all Honors students must complete, over the past year
The night featured awards, a display of service projects completed by members of the President’s Leadership Program and a silent auction to raise money for the program. “Taking risks, dreaming and expecting more from oneself and their education and questioning the status quo — that is what HSL is about,” said Mike Kimball, director of the Center of Honors Scholars and Leadership. The keynote speaker was David Thomas, a professor from the Monfort College of Business, who has been involved with the HSL program for a few years. He described the idea to “defy
ordinary” in his address. “In statistics, they take out the outlier,” Thomas said. “I always wondered why. Ignore the gravitational pull towards the norm. Be the outlier.” Recognition of graduating seniors in both the President’s Leadership Program and Honors program began; students had the opportunity to share their favorite moments from the program, their future plans and the
moments they felt their pinnacle of leadership. The HSL office presented eight awards to 12 students. Honors included the President’s Leadership Program Service Recognition awarded to Andrea Drenen, Bethany Blackburn, Faith Jessup and Levi Ververs; the Amy Smart Memorial Scholarship to Samantha Hyland; the Thomas Sutherland Scholarship to Zach Wyn; the Honors Program Scholarships to Kate
CHICHI AMA | THE MIRROR
A project from an Honors, Scholars and Leadership student is presented at the annual HSL Spring banquet Sunday afternoon in the University Center Ballrooms.
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Johnson and Jessica Ellis; the Marie Livingston Scholarship to Lauren Koppel; the Becky R. Edgerton Memorial Award to Kamille McKinney; the Student Leader of the Year to Becca Allerman; and Civic Engagement Award to Rachel Rose Jackson. The banquet not only gave students an opportunity to reflect on their achievements and experiences, but it was also a moment of celebration for the work of the HSL office. The event brought many supporters of honors education to the banquet, including Gene Koplitz, the founder of the Honors program at UNC. Koplitz came to UNC in 1958 and studied mental processes of the superior intellect. Because of his experience in gifted education, the task of establishing an Honors program was given to Koplitz. In only a year-and-a half, Koplitz established Honors programs in 19 departments on campus and established the Honors capstone research thesis. “I think research is crucial for undergraduates too,” Koplitz said. Although the banquet provided a chance to celebrate the achievements of the past year, the work hardly stops for students. Many students will participate in planning events for next year over the summer. Junior and senior students will continue their research over the next few months as well to truly exemplify how HSL students “defy ordinary” each day.