THE WAU HONORS COLLEGE: AN OVERVIEW

In our capacity as the administrators for the WAU Honors College, we are often asked, “What, exactly, is the Honors College?” When faced with this question, it is sometimes hard to answer succinctly, as there is SO MUCH encompassed within the Honors College. Our “elevator pitches” tend to think about the specific audience and highlight some aspects of the Honors College that might make the most sense or appeal to the prospective student, parent, faculty member, WAU Board of Trustees member or senior administrator.

Hopefully this feature on the WAU Honors College in Gateway magazine will help to share a number of the facets that make this unique academic community within Adventist higher education more tangible.

Along with the specifics about the current curricular options, governance, and leadership structure, and overview of constituent centers of emphasis within the Honors College, we have included several more personal pieces that highlight both the student and faculty experience and what makes the WAU Honors College uniquely situated to be innovative and connected in ways that only a liberal arts program at an Adventist university in the Nation’s Capital can be.

Every day it feels as though new opportunities cross our desks, and so many of these work out in ways that we can only describe as providential. The Honors student community is both culturally and intellectually diverse, and each one of our students inspires us, even as we work to instruct them.

As the Honors College continues to expand along the lines of Dr. Albert Reece’s initial vision for our campus as a home for high achievers in Adventist higher education, we feel that God continues to guide us so that the Honors College is an innovative space for liberal arts education that is adaptable, customizable and sustainable.

We want to thank the WAU administration, including President Weymouth Spence, Provost Cheryl Kisunzu and CFO Patrick Farley for their continued support, and also our colleagues across the university with which we share Honors College students, including chairs of our two most populous areas, Dr. Samuel Perez, Chair of the Biology Department, and Dr. Daniel

Lau, Chair of the Music Department, as well as chairs in all other academic departments as we collaborate to train high-achieving students at Washington Adventist University.

Professor Bradford Haas, Director, WAU Honors College

Dr. Jonathan Scriven, Associate Director, WAU Honors College