By JOANNA KASPE
The BYU Honors program, ranked 10th in the nation for enrolling freshman national merit scholars, attracts students to BYU and distinguishes the Honors program and its student body, said Susan Easton Black, associate dean in the department of general and Honors education.
“One of the reasons for the Honors program is that students come our way because of it. A lot of students wouldn’t come to BYU if we didn’t have the program,” said Black.
“It (the Honors program) puts the students on the cutting edge, where they can compete with students from Ivy League schools,” Black said.
Scholars such as Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Bruce Porter, of the Quorum of the Seventy; and Roger Porter, a Rhodes Scholar, are all graduates from the Honors program, Black said.
“We combine exceptional faculty with exceptional students for an outstanding program,” she said.
One advantage of the Honors program is that the classes are smaller, so the students get more individual attention, said Rick Skidmore, a senior Honors student from Spokane, Wash., majoring in economics.
“Overall, I think the classes are better. They challenge you and are not so large that you have to worry about others not knowing something, so class discussions are usually intelligent ones,” Skidmore said.
Besides their expertise, many of the professors have accomplishments that offer additional insight.
One professor had recently excavated a mummy when Skidmore took his class.
“The teachers really challenge you to dig deeper and learn, to do things that are external to your studies,” said Rob Trounce, a senior Honors student from Huntington Beach, Calif., majoring in business management information systems.
“For one class, three professors took about 40 students on a trip to Mexico. The trip was entirely separate from the class course work. It really surprised me they were there to affect our lives out of school,” Trounce said.
The professors and deans also offer a lot of guidance, Trounce said. “I entered the program late, and in general, I didn’t get a lot of guidance in my general education courses, but when I applied for acceptance into the program, the adviser was very optimistic and encouraging.”
Students really appreciate how helpful and friendly the deans are, Skidmore said.
“They really want people in the program to graduate with honors. One dean is actually helping me with my honors thesis,” he said.
“I have been at BYU for 20 years and have taught honors classes, but as an administrator, I can see the whole of the program,” Black said.
“The Honors program is not just a tradition, it is something that brings vitality and combines scholarship and discipleship whether in activities or in the classroom,” she said.
“The program is one which focuses on making students scholars rather than students and teaches us to learn for the sake of learning,” Trounce said.
