30TH ANNIVERSARY HONORS WEEK

Zoe Sweet

From March 14th to March 18th, Widener had the opportunity to celebrate its students with an annual tradition of Honors Week. Dr. Graybill, director of the Honors Program in General Education, said that “The Honors Week is a week dedicated to the demonstration of student excellence through student presentations,” which was exactly what it was. This year was an extra special honors week, with it being the 30th annual Honors Week. There were 39 students who presented Lathem with a total of 29 presentations over the 5 day week. Along with the student presenters, there were also Honor Society Inductions, Star Gazing in the University Observatory, Open Mics, and Guest Speakers, making the week even more celebratory for the students. Two students were interviewed to discuss what being in the Honors Program means to them and what their presentations were about. The first is Megan Sharp, class 2023, the newly inducted Student Government president. Megan is a double major in Political and Criminal Justice with a minor in Legal Studies and Analysis. She has been in the Honors Program since her freshman year. “I was drawn to the program originally due to the scholarship that they offered but was even more interested when I found out about the opportunities that come with the honors classes, the events that they have. Not only is it something to do, but it’s a community of people that gives you a lot of opportunities.” Megan is a ray of sunshine, and she was honored that she got to present on a topic that has mattered to her for 5-6 years of her life. Megan’s presentation was about Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.’s Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. The act was put into law in 2009 and was signed by President Obama. The Act was specifically about hate crimes, first, it gave more money to local law agencies to process and investigate hate crimes as well as expanded the definition of hate crimes. Megan worked on this project in her Criminal Law and Procedure class, and she instantly picked this topic as she has been researching and working on this topic since 2017.The next presenter interview was Mason Klaus, a Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering major, graduating this year. “The honors program means friendships, it means connections, it means putting myself into environments that I probably wouldn’t without the honors program, it gives me new experiences and pushes me to be my best self.” Mason was excited to present as she has been to presentations in the past and this was one of her last requirements for the Advanced Honors Certificate. Mason’s presentation was on The Cartesian Method in Philosophy. Mason was willing and able to present on this topic because of an independent study she has been doing all semester. This independent study was designed to allow her to explore modern philosophers culminating in the honors week presentation.
Both students were so thrilled to be able to present, witness others present, and just overall celebrate their accomplishments along with others. “Honors Week is one of my favorite times of the year. It is a platform for students to remind us what we are really doing here at the university, which is learning and transforming. It is really interesting to see a student that you had as a first-year and now they are presenting as a junior and it is a good opportunity to see a student’s growth over time here,” said Dr. Graybill. After months of planning, the week was an amazing celebration. Congrats to all the presenters and the new inductees of honor societies.