A Message from the Dean

Dear Honors Alumni,

Happy Holidays! This holiday season we are grateful for our alumni and all that you do to build the communities you live in. We are inspired by the many paths you have chosen to follow both personally and professionally.

We hope that you'll find ways to continue to lift our Honors Community by staying engaged and serving our students. We are excited to announce new opportunities in the coming year including an alumni mentoring program, speaking engagements, and alumni events.

Again happy holidays from our Honors family to yours!

Sincerely,

Sylvia Torti

Become a Mentor

In 2023, the Honors College will be launching a mentorship program where we will pair alumni with students following similar educational/career paths. Mentors will answer students' questions, review resumes, prep for interviews, or provide support in other meaningful ways. Each alum will be paired with one student for a period of one semester. Mentors can serve either locally or virtually. Complete the survey below to share your interest in serving as a mentor.

SURVEY

Honoring James Clayton

We are saddened by the recent loss of James Clayton former director of the Honors Program from 1967–1970.

Jim was passionate about education and providing individualized experiences for students. He believed that the purpose of the Honors College was to provide special classes to and recognize the achievements of students who had been overlooked or underemphasized.

During his time in the Honors College Jim made many valuable contributions. Jim magnified student voices by being the first to implement student course evaluations. Additionally, Jim created a system where Honors Faculty were chosen every year according to student needs and good performance.

In 2021, Jim's daughter Kitty Swensen established a housing scholarship for first-generation students in his name. There is also an office and honorary plaque dedicated to Jim in the new Honors Building.

Our condolences to the Clayton family at this time. James Clayton's legacy will forever be remembered in the Honors College.

VIEW OBITUARY

STUDENT SUCCESS

The Bystander Project

Four Honors students and one Honors alum: Malea Bauer, Matylda Blaszczak, Madeline Harker, Aya Hibben, and Anya Korfine have been working with law professor Amos Guiora to study the roles of enablers and bystanders in sexual assaults.

The team is specifically examining the Jeremy Bell case, where a 12-year-old boy was sexually assaulted and murdered by his principal in 1997. Dan Barber, the private detective over this case shared 15,000 pages of evidence with Dr. Guiora and asked him to ensure that something like this never happens again. The students are working to share Jeremy Bell’s story by publishing a book and law review article as well as collaborating with podcasts in hopes of using their research to persuade voters and lawmakers to criminalize bystanders and protect surviving and future victims.

Dr. Guiora is grateful for the chance to work with these students and ensures that his students have access to counseling and support as they navigate this challenging work.

LISTEN TO THEIR PODCAST

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

Honors Alumni Along with Dean Sylvia Torti Publish Article in Holistic Education Review

Dean Torti has just published a paper in Holistic Education on integrated pedagogy with two recent honors alumni (and her son). The paper is a “revisit”, 30 years later, of Dr. David Orr’s question of “What is Education For?”. The environmental and educational issues described by Orr have only intensified in recent years. This new paper proposes four pillars—roughly based on Orr’s principles—upon which to build a general education curriculum that equips students with tools to address modern-day ecological crises. This analysis uses the University of Utah’s Honors Integrated Minor in Ecology and Legacy as a case study of how our proposed pillars might manifest in institutions of higher education. The two honors students, both alumni of the Ecology and Legacy program, are first authors on the paper.

Five Emeritus Professors, including Honors Professor L. Jackson Newell "Jack" set up in the Union to chat and offer advice to students on campus. Jack's passion has always been to open minds to new ideas and possibilities, to build vigorous learning communities, and to relate learning to life and work. We are grateful that he continues to use his time to inspire students.

HONORS PHILANTHROPY

Thank You for Supporting Honors Students!

We would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to all of our donors who established new Honors College scholarships in 2022 including: The Karen Hinckley Campbell Scholarship, The McIntyre-Smith Scholarship Fund, and Integrated Minor scholarships.