About Our Program

Program Mission

With a commitment to the rich traditions of the liberal arts, the High Point University Honors Scholar Program takes a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to higher education, empowering students to cultivate contemplative selves and to build meaningful public lives.

Program Vision

Believing a liberal education transcends the sum of its parts, the program will challenge students to connect diverse ways of comprehending their world, to approach problems and questions with rigor and adaptability. Its graduates will have prepared themselves for leadership on a global stage, their lives deepened by intellectual curiosity, broadened by cultural and academic diversity, and strengthened by compassion and self-awareness. They will distinguish themselves by their abilities to synthesize information, create new knowledge, render sound judgments, and communicate effectively.

Program Principles

The Honors Scholar Program has five principles that inform its scope, structure, and delivery.

• That a university should value diversity and inclusion while creating a climate conducive to the intellectual and emotional development of all;
• That a liberal arts education should empower students to be agents of their own learning, in school and throughout life;
• That a core curriculum should teach the habits of mind indicative of a liberal arts education: critical thinking, inquiry, synthesis, contextualization, and reflection;
• That core courses should invite multidisciplinary and multicultural perspectives so as to teach students to recognize preconceptions and biases, tolerate ambiguity, consider ethical concerns, and cultivate compassion;
• That the value of a liberal arts education should be continually, rigorously, and publicly analyzed by students and faculty.

Distinct Honors Curriculum:

Honors students complete their own core curriculum, one that provides discussion-based courses, hands-on projects, and cross-disciplinary research. At 39 credits, the core curriculum gives honors students more space to explore their academic interests and the opportunity to start their major courses sooner.

Living-Learning Community:

Honors students form an immediate community in Finch Hall, which is centrally located on campus. Finch Hall contains multi-use common rooms to promote collaboration, creative expression, and even meditation and mindfulness.

Priority Registration:

Honors students register for courses at the start of every registration period. This enables honors students to build schedules that best fit their co- and extra-curricular activities.

Research Assistantships:

Every year, many honors students work closely with faculty across the disciplines on projects that lead to presentations and publications.

Visiting Scholars & Artists:

The Honors Scholar Program regularly invites and sponsors renowned scholars and artists to speak at High Point University on a variety of topics. Honors students receive priority access to these events, as well as to other on- and off-campus cultural events.

Extended Library Borrowing Privileges:

Honors students can access non-circulated DVDs and receive extended check-out time for books.

Scholarship for Rising Seniors:

The Honors Scholar Program awards one annual scholarship to the rising senior with a high GPA, evidence of student leadership, and active membership in the Odyssey Club.

Southern Regional Honors Conference

HPU Honors Scholars visited Asheville, NC, March 30th – April 1st, where Riccardo De Cataldo, Brittany Gentilhomme, and Hannah Grau presented at the Southern Regional Honors Council Conference.  The annual conference provides opportunities for undergraduates in honors programs and colleges to present their scholarly research. Riccardo (pictured below at left) presented on his use of a 3D printer to build models of electron waves (orbitals), which can aid in student understanding of these models. Brittany (below at center) spoke about her exploration of the honors experience in public education and college, which arose from a project she completed in strategic communication, creative writing, and literature. Hannah (below at right) exhibited her use of plaster, laser cutting, and 3D printing to translate the human bust into an art form. All three students gave fantastic presentations!

Big South Quiz Bowl Tournament

Congratulations to our HPU Quiz Bowl Team in their third place finish at the Big South Quiz Bowl Tournament on February 24th-25th at Radford University!  Team members include Nathan Grinalds, Zach Zukowski, John Henry Jackson, Nolan Roth, and David Allen. The team was coached by Student Success Coach Bradley Taylor and Dr. Jacob Paul, Assistant Professor of English. For more details, see the press release.