By Adam LoBelia
Four years ago, the University launched a program designed to offer a more diverse and challenging curriculum to the best incoming freshmen. Next week, the first Honors College class will graduate from the University and enter the “real world.”
Drawing upon the brightest students from each class at the University, the Honors College sets up a curriculum that starts freshmen with a general culture and expression honors seminar and then allows them to take honors credit in courses in their major.
The program is designed to enhance the education of students who demonstrated the ability to handle extra work during high school, J. Stephen Russell, dean of Honors College said.
“We want to be the part of the University that serves, attracts and retains Hofstra students with the highest academic potential and aspirations,” he said. “We also want it to be an intellectual and cultural resource for the University and community.”
Honors College affords many opportunities to both honors and non-honors students alike, which is something Russell said he is very proud of.
Some events sponsored or co-sponsored by the Honors College include the Arnold A. Saltzman State of the Union Lecture, which featured political spokesman Ralph Nader, during the fall semester. The Honors College also plans and promotes various cultural events throughout the year, Russell said.
While many of the 66 graduating seniors are still unsure of their plans, there is the general impression that Honors College has expanded their options and offered advantageous guidance.
Christina Cipriano, political science and philosophy major and educational studies minor, will attend graduate school at Harvard University, where she will pursue a degree in international education policy.
Cipriano’s interest in educational studies was encouraged by the staff of the Honors College, which created a minor specifically for her and provided her with coursework that would enhance her education in that area.
“They gave me the academic support I needed,” Cipriano said. “They helped me to pursue individual study and a diverse course load, which I know is what appealed to the grad school admittance people.”
Her interest in philosophy was also stoked by the Honors College. She credited Terry Godlove, professor of philosophy, for helping her grow to understand philosophy.
“He made it like a mystery where all of a sudden in the last two weeks of class everything began to make sense, like a puzzle,” Cipriano said. “The foundation he laid in that class has been integral in the completion of my senior thesis.”
Mayo Hosoda, also a philosophy major, had a similar point of view toward her honors experience.
“HUHC was the reason why I chose my major,” she said. “I think I realized that the most important thing in life is to be able to reflect back at it someday and say you really worked to make your life the fullest it can be.”
Hosoda is looking to enroll in culinary and acting school; the pathways, she said, were opened because of the Honors College.
“There is such diversity among Honors College in all dimensions, especially when it comes to interests and hobbies,” she said. “I didn’t feel pressured to become a business major or a medical major.”
Hosoda said Honors College made her feel comfortable choosing “a different major such as philosophy.”
Mike Lodato, a biology major, said his honors education was crucial to his post-graduate career. He will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue his Ph.D. in biology.
“I am interested in experimental science,” Lodato said. “The Honors options I did focused on reading the current research being done in the topics we were studying in class.”
The benefits of Honors College are not only seen in students, but also extends to professors working in the program.
Carolyn Dudek, professor of comparative politics, has been with the program since its inception four years ago.
Dudek said she was asked to join by Professor Warren Frisina due to a shortage of professors.
Dudek credits her own experience as an undergraduate in a college honors program for her interest in signing on with the University’s program.
“I’m a pretty strong advocate for such programs,” she said.
Teaching social science for her honors courses has been a challenge, Dudek said.
“It is like teaching outside one’s realm of comfort, academically,” she said. Nevertheless, she found the opportunity very rewarding.
“It’s an educational experience. It provides a good opportunity to see other professors teach.”
One particular aspect Dudek found appealing was Honors College’s ability to introduce students to different types of majors.
“A few students I could say I’ve influenced,” she said, noting that the curriculum was a good opportunity to work with bright freshmen at the beginning of their academic careers.
Although Honors College was applauded by the graduating class, a few students had complaints about the program.
Hosoda said the choice of honors seminars were too restrictive and did not have a sound structure to them.
Saundra Dobbs, a political science and psychology major, said she preferred the old system of two deans administering the program instead of one dean and an associate dean.
Dobbs will travel to Ghana this summer for a volunteer program.
Honors College has expanded significantly since its birth, now consisting of over 600 students or approximately nine percent of the undergraduate population.
The future of Honors College involves the continuation of sponsoring events that expand the University’s stature and educational diversity.
The college will be experiencing another set of “firsts” this summer. The first overseas honors program in Shanghai, and the first honors institute covering “reality and the media,” will be offered over summer sessions. The honors program will also attempt to expand its diversity in the future.
J. Stephen Russell, dean of Honors College, believes current as well as graduating honors students will have a strong intellectual and cultural preparation upon graduation. (Photo courtesy hofstra.edu)