The Honors Program
An Innovative Way to Learn and Succeed
Why join the Randolph College Honors Program?
Randolph College’s honors program is a dynamic home for students interested in being part of a vibrant learning community that makes the most of the undergraduate experience and challenges students with expanded opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom.
Through a meaningful collection of curricular and co-curricular experiences, students are provided with the foundation and springboard they need to embrace a successful and abundant life after graduation.
Benefits include:
- Special interdisciplinary curriculum
- First-year honors student designated housing
- Enhanced mentorship and support for a personalized academic program
- Invitations to special events with the president of the College
- Membership in an inclusive, diverse community of student scholars
- Ability to participate in unique, fun, social events with other honors scholars
- Access to guest artists, scholars, and writers
- Unique research opportunities
- Distinctive tassel and stole at Commencement
- And more!
Interested in joining the Honors Program?
Generally, students who qualify for the honors program have a high GPA and significant service or leadership experience.
If you are interested in being considered for the honors program, reach out to your admissions counselor.
We are excited to hear from you!
2023 Induction Ceremony
The first cohort of Randolph College Honors students were inducted by President Sue Ott Rowlands and Provost Timothy B. Smith during a ceremony at Randolph House.
Each student was presented with two keys. The first key represents the learning opportunities they will unlock at Randolph.
Students were asked to exchange the 2nd key with someone else in the room, symbolizing that the key to a meaningful life, an abundant life, is helping others open doors for themselves.
2023-2024 Honors Program Students
Nevaeh Banks, Abby Brooks, Maeghan Colby-Correa, Addison Compton, Savannah Gale, Emilee Green, Kaileigh Gunter, Peyton Jackson, Maegan Lloyd, Olivia Lorenzo, Gavin Maple, Keghan Marion, Severin McNulty, Madeline Mills, Austyn Moran, Madison Ray, Chesney Shook, Delaney Sipes, Skip Skipper, Cooper Stutts, Jessie Taylor, Tahani Villines, Zoe Watson, and Autumn West.
Academic Experience
The goals of the Randolph Honors Program are to spark curiosity, spark knowledge, and to spark change.
Special Interdisciplinary Curriculum
From your first year through your senior year, you will have opportunities to take courses as part of our honors curriculum.
During your first session of classes, you will take an honors section of Randolph’s first-year seminar, Life More Abundant, with other members of your cohort of honors scholars.
After the first-year seminar, you will take additional courses from across the curriculum that will deepen your learning experience and make meaningful interdisciplinary connections.
Enhanced Faculty Mentorship
You will work closely with faculty advisors and the honors program director to plan a Randolph experience that meets your needs and will help you achieve your goals.
This includes both curricular and co-curricular experiences.
Distinctive Academic Program
The Honors Program encourages students to play an active role in their own learning and growth.
Working closely with faculty mentors, you will shape a Randolph experience that allows you to develop your skills, challenge yourself, explore your interests and achieve your goals.
The interdisciplinary curriculum encourages students to make connections between various fields of study and to approach real-world problems from different perspectives.
You will take classes across the college with other students and in some courses you will design your own unique Honors experience.
Spark Curiosity. Spark Knowledge. Spark Change.
In the Honors Colloquium, you will explore new topics and tackle contemporary problems through research and discussion. You will also learn how to reflect on your own learning.
The Honors Practicum encourages you to collaborate with community partners who are working to make positive change.
Co-curricular activities such as internships, community collaboration, travel opportunities, research projects, and involvement in campus organizations offer you further opportunities for challenge and growth.
Enhanced Faculty Mentorship
You will work closely with faculty advisors and the honors program director to plan a Randolph experience that meets your needs and will help you achieve your goals.
This includes both curricular and co-curricular experiences.
Enhanced Faculty Mentorship
Special Interdisciplinary Curriculum
From your first year through your senior year, you will have opportunities to take courses as part of our honors curriculum.
During your first session of classes, you will take an honors section of Randolph’s first-year seminar, Life More Abundant, with other members of your cohort of honors scholars.
After the first-year seminar, you will take additional courses from across the curriculum that will deepen your learning experience and make meaningful interdisciplinary connections.
Enhanced Faculty Mentorship
You will work closely with faculty advisors and the honors program director to plan a Randolph experience that meets your needs and will help you achieve your goals.
This includes both curricular and co-curricular experiences.
Unique Opportunities
In the Honors Colloquium, you will explore new topics and tackle contemporary problems through research and discussion. You will also learn how to reflect on your own learning.
The Honors Practicum encourages you to collaborate with community partners who are working to make positive change.
Co-curricular activities such as internships, community collaboration, travel opportunities, research projects, and involvement in campus organizations offer you further opportunities for challenge and growth.
Distinctive Academic Program
The Honors Program encourages students to play an active role in their own learning and growth.
Working closely with faculty members, you will shape a Randolph experience that allows you to develop your skills, challenge yourself, explore your interests and achieve your goals.
The interdisciplinary curriculum encourages students to make connections between various fields of study and to approach real-world problems from different perspectives.
You will take classes across the college with other students and in some courses you will design your own unique Honors experience.
Distinctive Academic Program
In the Honors Colloquium, you will explore new topics and tackle contemporary problems through research and discussion. You will also learn how to reflect on your own learning.
The Honors Practicum encourages you to collaborate with community partners who are working to make positive change.
Co-curricular activities such as internships, community collaboration, travel opportunities, research projects, and involvement in campus organizations offer you further opportunities for challenge and growth.
#F9F8F8
A Community of Scholars
Students in the Honors Program are part of an inclusive, diverse community of student scholars. Honors Scholars are invited to special events with the president of the College, participate in fun social events, and have access to visiting guest artists, scholars, and writers.
Honors Housing
You will have the option to live in Honors Designated Housing, a diverse, intentional community of exceptional students from all majors and backgrounds who seek an academically challenging and intellectually rich experience.
Living, studying, and socializing with like-minded peers, you will connect with a network of supportive colleagues and future friends as you become part of an intellectual community that extends beyond classroom walls.
Recognition
Top Ranked Professors
Randolph College’s faculty are consistently recognized as among the best in the nation. The Princeton Review ranked the College in the Top 20 for most accessible professors in the 2023 edition of its flagship college guide, The Best 388 Colleges.
Randolph has been ranked in the top 20 for most accessible professors for six consecutive years.
Honors Director
I am eager to welcome you into our Honors Program.
I look forward to working with you to design a distinctive Randolph experience that helps you define your goals and make plans for your future.
What I value most about Randolph College is our close student-faculty collaboration — in the classroom and in other programs that make us unique.
Whether it is mentoring a student as they explore a burning question in the Summer Research Program, or helping them design an individualized experience funded by a RISE grant, or taking them to a conference to share their research, or traveling to see new places, I thrive on the excitement sparked by intellectual curiosity and exchange.
We learn from each other, both inside and outside of the classroom, and I encourage my students to take what they have learned and go out into the world to help make it a better place for all.
Please contact me with any questions about the Honors Program:
jgauthier@ymno1.com
Jennifer Gauthier
Charles A. Dana Professor of Media and Culture, Honors Program Director
Jennifer Gauthier
Charles A. Dana Professor of Media and Culture, Director of the Honors Program
Read More... Jennifer GauthierOnly at Randolph
Randolph students can take advantage of unique programs which give them a more enriching education than can be found anywhere else.
Two courses per half-mester means you get to focus in and dig deep into your coursework while still having time for the rest of the college experience. Two classes. Seven weeks. Repeat.
The Randolph Innovative Student Experience (RISE) program provides every student a $2,000 grant to fund research, creative work, experiential learning or other scholarly pursuits.
Randolph students work with faculty mentors to explore a broad range of disciplines as they chart their academic path.
Randolph graduates learn to think critically, solve problems and work well with others. They are prepared to succeed in all aspects of life.
Department News
William Olichney ’24 uses RISE grant for immersive language program in Mandarin
Memories from his summer in Taiwan come quickly to William Olichney ’24.
Read MoreRandolph professor, students traveling to Nepal for ASIANetwork-funded research
The three-week trip to Nepal is funded by an ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty Fellowship.
Read MoreTibetan filmmaker Ngawang Choephel to screen film at Randolph
"Ganden: A Joyful Land," which documents the lives and memories of the last Tibetan Buddhist monks to study at the famous Ganden Monastery in Tibet, will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, in Nichols Theatre.
Read MoreHistory major gets firsthand look at historic preservation through Nantucket internship
William Olichney ’24 spent six weeks at Preservation Institute Nantucket, an internship funded for a Randolph student each year by A.J. and Lynn Land ’60, this summer.
Read MoreNo longer invisible: Randolph student shines a spotlight on Asian-American filmmakers
This summer, Mengna Zhao ’23 is teaming up with media and culture professor Jennifer Gauthier to examine the work of Asian and Asian-American filmmakers as part of Randolph’s Summer Research Program.
Read MoreWilliam Olichney ’24 uses RISE grant for immersive language program in Mandarin
Memories from his summer in Taiwan come quickly to William Olichney ’24.
Read MoreRandolph professor, students traveling to Nepal for ASIANetwork-funded research
The three-week trip to Nepal is funded by an ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty Fellowship.
Read MoreTibetan filmmaker Ngawang Choephel to screen film at Randolph
"Ganden: A Joyful Land," which documents the lives and memories of the last Tibetan Buddhist monks to study at the famous Ganden Monastery in Tibet, will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, in Nichols Theatre.
Read MoreHistory major gets firsthand look at historic preservation through Nantucket internship
William Olichney ’24 spent six weeks at Preservation Institute Nantucket, an internship funded for a Randolph student each year by A.J. and Lynn Land ’60, this summer.
Read MoreNo longer invisible: Randolph student shines a spotlight on Asian-American filmmakers
This summer, Mengna Zhao ’23 is teaming up with media and culture professor Jennifer Gauthier to examine the work of Asian and Asian-American filmmakers as part of Randolph’s Summer Research Program.
Read More