Honors College Traditions
The Honors College is rich with tradition. Some traditions are serious and some are fun, but all of them connect Honors students to each other and the Honors legacy.
Honors Orientation
Each incoming Honors class participates in a day-long orientation run by upper-class Honors students. The day before regular university orientation begins, you’ll meet your fellow Honors students, learn about the programs in the Honors College, engage in a common-read discussion, connect with Honors faculty, create a self-portrait, participate in group work, and learn from the advice of your Honors peers. Honors Orientation is designed to ease the transition to university and establish bonds with your classmates—and you'll have a lot of fun along the way.
Pizza with Profs and Profs Pick the Flick
Pizza with Profs is an opportunity to meet up with your Honors professors to talk informally about their areas of research and other interests over a slice or two. The Profs Pick the Flick film series is another popular event. Instead of talking about research or academic interests, you’ll analyze your professors’ favorite movies after an exclusive screening in Nunemaker Place.
Dead Paper Society
Blow off steam at the end of each fall semester by gathering around the fire on Nunemaker's
back porch to burn copies of papers you’d rather not see again. Amidst the roasting
papers and toasting marshmallows, students swap academic horror stories before heading
inside to watch Dead Poets Society (faculty are definitely not invited to this event).
Honors Faculty vs. Student Athletic Contest
At the end of each academic year, the Honors faculty squares off against Honors College students in an athletic showdown at high noon that has featured contests like kickball, softball, and dodgeball. The results of each competition are memorialized on trophies in the Honors College building.
Spring Banquet
At the end of each year, the entire Honors College comes together for a banquet celebrating the year’s achievements. Awards are given out (some serious, some not-so-serious), and each of the graduating seniors tells a story about their Honors experience—what we call “senior moments,” and the definite highlight of the evening.
