Spring20_Mag_Combined_WEB_single_pages

SPRING 2020 // 23 Honors College at the University of Ore- gon includes 16 percent first-generation students and 23 percent students of color. Lawrence Wheeler, humanities and applied linguistics faculty, directed PSU’s Honors program from 1992 to 2011 and was himself a member of the first Honors class. “To have taken part in developing projects that led students to realize that they could work with great competence in a demanding curriculum preparing them for graduate study, that they could engage in meaningful dialogue with internationally-known scholars, that they could thrive in the rigorous atmosphere of internationally-known laboratories, clinics, museums and a host of other institutions, has been an indescribable privilege,” he said. Showing students that they are capable of doing high-level work in a rigorous academic environment can have lasting impact. The 2018 Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey, which polled college graduates from across the United States, found that college students who strongly agreed that they were challenged academically were more than twice as likely to say that their education was worth the cost and more than three times as likely to say that they were prepared for life after college than alumni who did not feel they were challenged. A LASTING IMPACT Alumni outcomes suggest that the Honors College succeeds in its mission of trans- forming lives. According to exit surveys, 30 percent of Honors College graduates go directly into graduate or professional programs and another 45 percent plan to enroll within two years of graduation. But to the students who live the experi- ence, it’s about more than numbers. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, Melanie Billings-Yun—the student who scraped together savings from her minimum wage job to attend PSU and join the second year of the Honors program—will speak at an alumni panel this fall. Students from different generations of the program will come together to talk about what they’ve done since graduating and how the Honors experience affected their life paths. “I will forever be grateful to PSU and the Honors College for building that bridge for me,” Billings-Yun said. “And, I am sure, for so many others.” SUMMER ALLEN is a staff member in the PSU Office of University Communications. When students apply for the Honors College, they also have the opportunity to apply to become Sustainability Scholars. The program currently provides 10 students with $2,500 scholarships for up to three years and gives them the opportunity to tackle urban sustainability challenges through group service projects and their senior thesis research. “I’m really excited about this program’s potential to bring together students with shared interests to work on service projects,” said Olyssa Starry, associate professor of urban ecology and faculty mentor for the program. “These projects map well onto the Honors College’s urban-focused curriculum.” Sequoia Bellanca, (pictured) a junior in the Honors College, is in her third year as a Sustainability Scholar. She was inspired to apply for the scholarship by a high school experience. She visited a community in Haiti with limited access to clean water as part of a global health program. “That experience really solidified my interest in sustainability and sustainable solutions,” she said. But Bellanca, who is pre-med and is majoring in public health studies, didn’t know how she could fit her interest in sustainability into her already packed schedule. The Sustainability Scholars program gave her a structured way to do just that. In her first two years as a Sustainability Scholar, Bellanca was involved in community volunteering projects and learned research methods in Professor Olyssa Starry’s Urban Ecology course, a required course for all Sustainability Scholars. This year Bellanca will be surveying Portlanders to see how prepared they are for a big Cascadia earthquake. The results will be presented as part of PSU’s annual Sustainability Celebration. The Sustainability Scholars are also partnering with Cascadia Clusters, a local nonprofit addressing homelessness by providing employment and living opportunities via the construction of tiny house villages. The students will install solar panels on the tiny houses. As Bellanca looks to the future and works to pursue a career in medicine, she plans to keep her interest in sustainability front and center. NASHCO CREATING SUSTAINABILITY STARS CELEBRATE HONORS AND SHARE YOUR STORY As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the Honors College plans to host an Alumni Panel and Reunion during Portland State of Mind in October. (For details, see pdx.edu/ honors this summer.) Attendees are invited to bring mementos and participate in an oral history project. You can also send your video, audio or written story to uhcnews@pdx.edu .