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Reflections
on the History of the University Honors Program
by John Hague
Composed
on the Occasion of a Celebration of
Forty Years
of Honors at Stetson
University
In
the Spring of 1956 Dean William Hugh McEniry
decided that Stetson ought to have an Honors Program. After consulting
with several faculty members, he announced the formation of a program
which in the first year would only be available to rising seniors. In
the fall of 1956 Mary Ann Coslow, Rod Dugliss, Sid Knight,
John Morgan, and John Riser became the charter members of the Program.
John Hicks was named the faculty director. The students were, upon entering
the Program, forgiven whatever requirements were at that time unmet,
whether general or departmental in nature. Each student proposed a senior
project and asked three or four faculty members to supervise it. Those
most often chosen for Honors committees were Lycan,
Wynn, Hicks, Stewart, (Dean of the Chapel) Barber, McEniry,
Hague, and Copps (Economics). During the year
the students wrote a number of short papers related to the major project
and discussed each with the members of the committee. A major paper
brought the year’s work to an end. All of the work was un-graded: successful
completion of the projects were noted by H's
on the students' transcripts. An H meant simply that the work completed
was of Honors caliber. At the end of the year, after orals, the faculty
took the five to lunch at Rymals’ Restaurant
north of town. Sid Knight provided the most memorable reflection when
he told the group that it was a good thing for him to have joined the
Program because he would never have read anything otherwise. Gilbert
Lycan treated the remarks as a joke, but Sid insisted that
he could get a B in any non-science course without reading a book. Gilbert
said he knew that Sid had read the books for his Western Civilization
course, but Sid stoutly insisted that he never had.
The vast majority
of Honors Program graduates have had distinguished careers. The ranks
include deans, provosts, professors, writers, artists, health care professionals,
ministers, and lawyers. Carolyn Miller Parr has been a Federal Judge
for more than ten years and has given the Commencement Address at the
Stetson
Law School.
Merrill Maguire Skaggs has been the Dean of the Graduate
School at Drew University
and has given the Commencement Address on the DeLand Campus. A significant
number of Honors Program graduates have been inducted into the Stetson
Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
(read
the rest of Hague’s History)
© 1997 John Hague
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