Honors News Archive

News in Brief

It's Celebration Time!

Jun 10, 2015
The UW Honors Staff, Spring 2015

This is a bittersweet time of year at the UW and in Honors: even as we feel pride in our graduates and all they have accomplished, June also means saying goodbye to students we have worked with since they were in high school. Since arriving on campus, these students have not only brought new life and energy to the Honors community, but involved themselves in every facet of UW life, from programming to poetry publications, social justice to student government. As they transition beyond the comfort and inspiration they have found (and created) amongst their peers, let's take a moment to appreciate the hard work and talent of these soon-to-be alumni.

This year, we'll graduate a total of 522 students from the Honors Program: 77 Interdisciplinary Honors graduates, 401 Departmental Honors graduates, and 46 College Honors graduates (who completed both Interdisciplinary and Departmental Honors). Of these graduates, 86% participated in research (including a whopping 289 presenters at this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium); 33% studied abroad; and 30% participated in service and leadership opportunities. These are big numbers for such a small group of students!

Of course, our students are much more than statistics. To get a feel for the experiences of our graduating class, and to see where they're headed next, visit our Graduate Profiles page, where you can also see links to students' outstanding Honors portfolios showcasing their UW stories.

Join us in celebrating our class of 2015! Graduates, congratulations on concluding these years of hard work, too much coffee, not enough sleep, and, hopefully, fun, friendship and fulfillment of many dreams. We can't wait to see what comes next!

PS: Interested in more graduation inspiration? Check out these speeches by student speakers at past Honors graduation celebrations: Justin Brown and Emily Nitz-Ritter (2014), Roman Camarda (2013), Charmila Ajmera (2011), and Alex King (2010).