San Diego State University
Weber Honors College
Fiscal Year 2023-2024
Dear Donor,
On behalf of the Weber Honors College, I extend our deepest gratitude for your generous support.
Thanks to your contributions, we can provide our students with exceptional learning experiences such as advanced research projects, competitive internships, and innovative community engagement initiatives. These experiences equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to become leaders in their felds and communities.
The impact of your support is evident in the achievements of our students, who consistently excel in their academic pursuits and make meaningful contributions to society. This year’s graduates will join Teach for America, attend UCLA Law School, begin a Ph.D. program in environmental engineering at Yale University, and train to become a Naval Pilot at the US Navy Ofcer Candidates School.
Your investment in our students is an investment in the future, and we are honored to have you as a partner in our mission to provide transformative educational experiences.
Stacey Sinclair, Ph.D. Director, Weber Honors College
Changing Lives through Program Support
SDSU BRIDGES Susan K. Weber Scholarship
Provides scholarships to honors students and supports lifelong learning by bridging the community to the university. This scholarship enables the SDSU BRIDGES scholars to participate in undergraduate research, community service, creative arts, and study abroad.
For example, this year, a SDSU BRIDGES scholar studied English literature at the University of Birmingham in England with support from this scholarship. SDSU BRIDGES community members and student scholars enjoy gathering each semester to share knowledge, showcase programs, and support a legacy of academic excellence and service.
Susan and Stephen Weber Honors College Scholarship
The success of the Weber Honors College depends critically upon its ability to attract the university’s best students and faculty into the College’s activities.
With support from the Susan and Stephen Weber Honors College Endowment, the Weber Honors College continues to do both, and thrive. Outstanding students are recruited and retained with support from the Susan and Stephen Weber Honors College scholarship, and faculty are provided funding for innovative in- and out-of-class course enhancements that provide a transformational learning environment.
This year, students supported by the Susan and Stephen Weber Honors College Scholarship conducted research in the Department of Psychology social-health and afective neuroscience laboratory, played viola and violin for the San Diego City Ballet, and studied the history of mathematics in Italy.
Faculty were supported with funding to support their pedagogy, including speaking and moderating a panel on the intersection of wellness and social justice at SXSW 2024. This infusion of new faculty scholarship increases the breadth of the interdisciplinary nature of the college, and adds novel, fresh, and innovative content to the curriculum, ensuring that students engage in challenging ideas and receive a well-rounded education.
Living the Aztec Experience
JohVonne Roberts, Class of 2024 Class Level: Undergraduate Student College: Weber Honors College Major: Journalism and Media Studies
JohVonne Roberts graduated in May 2024 from the Weber Honors College with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Journalism and Media Studies.
Her graduation was especially meaningful given her mother's 2020 stage III cancer diagnosis. JohVonne received the Wallace, Shatsky, Blackburn Courage through Cancer Scholarship which she said made all the diference in completing her degree and graduating from the Weber Honors College.
She was a leader in multiple areas of campus, from being the Captain of the SDSU Diamonds, to the President of the National Association of Black Journalists, to the Secretary of the Afrikan Student Union. In addition, she was a Sports Anchor and contributor for the University’s newspaper, the Daily Aztec. In 2023, JohVonne studied abroad at the University of Roehampton in London, England.
Refecting on her time in the Honors College, she said, "I learned more about the importance of human connection and the purpose of life. Understanding cultural awareness, the impact of women in the media, and the power that I can hold in society are all matters that I could have only gained knowledge about through the program."
I learned more about the importance of human connection and the purpose of life.
Polina Popova, Class of 2024 Class Level: Undergraduate Student College: Weber Honors College Major: Environmental Engineering
Polina ('Poly') Popova graduated from the Weber Honors College in May 2024 summa cum laude with a Bachelor's in Environmental Engineering.
At the Water Innovation and Reuse Lab, she explored anammox bacteria for decentralized wastewater treatment. As a start-up partner at Septic Mixer, Poly aided in commercializing a novel septic system device to ease fnancial burdens for septic tank owners. She mentored fellow undergraduates through the Weber Honors College and Society of Women Engineers, and tutored frst-generation college-bound students through RealityChangers.
Refecting on her time in the Honors College, Poly said it "expanded my worldview in ways an engineering degree alone would not have allowed. It introduced me to varied perspectives and disciplines, enriching my education and broadening my understanding of complex global issues. Getting accepted into Chemical and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. Program at Yale University was my proudest accomplishment because it symbolizes the culmination of years of persevering through challenges and conquering my fears."
It introduced me to varied perspectives and disciplines, enriching my education and broadening my understanding of complex global issues.
Ragini Parkhi, Class of 2024 Class Level: Undergraduate Student College: Weber Honors College Major: Finance
Ragini Parkhi graduated from the Weber Honors College in May 2024 summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.
At SDSU, she served as President and Regional Collegian of the Year for Delta Sigma Pi, Founder of the Hindu Student Association, and was an SDSU BRIDGES Scholar. Ragini studied management and international business at London Metropolitan University.
After graduation, Ragini will be working as a Financial Analyst as part of the Accounting and Finance Development Program at Walmart's corporate headquarters.
Ragini was awarded the Henry Janssen Prize for Outstanding Graduate and gave the student address. “In our degrees and education at SDSU, most of us have gained knowledge and experience in one specifc feld. In the Weber Honors College, we have been honing a diferent type of skill - the skill of how to learn, perceive, and understand the world around us. We have learned to operate outside our comfort zones, to be pushed to learn things that may not come naturally to us and to interact with those we may never come across in our dayto-day. We learned to become better problem solvers and collaborators, and to communicate and understand diferent points of view.”
In the Weber Honors College, we have been honing a diferent type of skill - the skill of how to learn, perceive, and understand the world around us.
Celebrating Shared Success
Statistics of Interest
Featured in four episodes of a national podcast, College Matters
The Director and Associate Director of the Weber Honors College co-presented “Interdisciplinary Thinking: Revolutionizing Honors Education for the Next Generation” at the National Honors Collegiate Honors Council conference in Chicago, highlighting the distinctive interdisciplinary honors curriculum of the Weber Honors College.
This year, we had a record number of out-of-state students enrolled, 32%.
May 2024 celebrated 185 Weber Honors College graduates, which represents nearly a 300% increase from May 2014, which commended 47 honors graduates.
The average GPA of Weber Honors College graduates was 3.7 and 87% of them graduated in four years or less.
Since 2015 when the Weber Honors College was launched:
Annual applications have increased from 1,000 to more than 2,700 with a 4.23 average GPA
Annual enrollment has increased from 600 to 1,300 students
Annual scholarship funding to honors students has increased from $85,000 to $243,000
The number of honors course sections has increased from 34 to 67
Through intentional changes in recruitment, admissions, and curriculum, the diversity of the Weber Honors College student body has increased substantially from:
20% of students of color in 2005, from 40% in 2015 to 48% at present
20% of Weber Honors College students are frst-generation college students
32% of Weber Honors College students are out-of-state students
Recent Highlights
A new program this year: The Weber Honors College Community Engagement Fellows Program, a competitive program that pairs faculty members from across disciplines with Weber Honors College students to fnancially support and advance community engagement eforts. In the inaugural call for applications, 6 faculty and 10 students were selected to complete their projects in fall 2024.
This engagement model amplifes the impact of community engagement, enriches the educational experience, empowers honors students to make a meaningful impact in their communities, and enhances the broader community by forging lasting connections between academia and societal needs.
New courses taught in academic year 2023-24:
The Global Housing Crisis
Artifcial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society
Fighting Misinformation: Locating and Using Reliable Sources for College and Everyday Life
The Relational Self and Social Media
Identity Development Through Family History and Culture
The Magnifcent Brain: A Modern and Holistic Approach to Health
Beyond Wonder Woman: Exploring 100 years of Feminism in Comics
Cultural production: A behind-the scenes look at how arts and media are made
Representation, Appropriation, and the Rhetoric of Pop Culture
The Unexpected Argument
Growing up in America
African and Caribbean Discourse
What Does Music Have to Do With It? An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Music
Helping to Build a Brighter Future
Anusha Wijeyakumar, M.A., CPC, E-RYT, Dip Mentoring
Title: Lecturer, Weber Honors College College: Weber Honors College
Achievement: Received the Darlene Shiley Honors Faculty Fellowship Award in recognition of her outstanding teaching in the Weber Honors College.
Anusha Wijeyakumar, leveraging the work from her honors course, spoke and moderated a panel titled “Together We Heal: Reimagining Our Wellbeing” at SXSW 2024 on Tuesday, March 12. Following the panel, Anusha signed her book Meditation with Intention at the ofcial SXSW Bookstore.
D.J. Hopkins, Ph.D.
Title: Professor, School of Theatre, Television, and Film College: College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts
Achievement: Dr. D.J. Hopkins, a previous Darlene Shiley Honors Faculty Fellowship Awardee, just celebrated the release of his new book, Sleep No More and the Discourses of Shakespeare Performance, published by Cambridge.
This book enhances the course he teaches for the Weber Honors College, Theater, Virtual Reality, and You.
Review from the Publisher: ‘Hopkins’s book about Sleep No More is a compelling - at times riveting - account of this landmark adaptation, chock-full of insights that draw their strength from many scholarly conversations about Shakespeare and performance.’ Katherine Steele Brokaw, University of California, Merced
Walter Penrose, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor, Department of History College: College of Arts and Letters
Achievement: Dr. Penrose, a previous Darlene Shiley Honors Faculty Fellowship Awardee, received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant.
He will use the grant to continue research on his forthcoming book on Artemisia II, celebrated as one of the most virtuous of women from antiquity to the early modern period. Inspiration for the book subject comes from Penrose’s longtime interest in feminism, instilled in him by his dissertation adviser at the City University of New York Graduate Center, Sarah Pomeroy, whose groundbreaking work focused on correcting omissions of ancient women in the historical record.
Dr. Penrose intends to write the frst ever monograph-length work exploring the life and legacy of Artemisia II — to correct the historical record of this powerful woman who lived in the fourth century BCE. He shared the following:
“In looking at the Amazons in ‘Wonder Woman’ for a 2019 article that I wrote, I noted that the history of feminism was understood by U.S. historians to have begun in the 19th century,” Penrose said. “Looking further afeld, my investigations revealed a diferent picture: feminism in Europe had roots going back to the 15th century Renaissance when Christine de Pisan employed ancient examples of smart, capable, and powerful women such as Artemisia and Sappho to argue against the intense misogyny of her times.”
Dr. Penrose teaches the course Justice and Ethics in the Humanities for the Weber Honors College.
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Congrats Dr. Penrose on receiving a National Endowment for the Humanities grant!
Stephen L. Weber
March
17, 1942 - March 17, 2024
San Diego State University President, 1996-2011
The recent passing of President Emeritus Dr. Stephen L. Weber provides a powerful point of reflection on the significant programmatic growth and development that has occurred since the launch of the Weber Honors College in 2015. Both Dr. Weber and his late wife Susan were strong advocates of the idea of an Honors College.
Throughout his presidency, Dr. Weber directed funds toward an endowment that helped build the honors program into an honors college.
In 2015 – years after Dr. Weber’s retirement in 2011 – the SDSU College for Honors Students was renamed the Susan and Stephen Weber Honors College following a $1 million gift from Darlene Shiley, who helped endow the college. The Weber Honors College ensures that SDSU recruits and retains highachieving students, including out-of-state students.
Thank you for your generous support.