The Honors Program

Mary Lynn Rampolla, PhD, Director

The Honors Program at Trinity encourages students to take the fullest advantage of small, seminar-style classes and the rich cultural and political benefits of our location in the nation's capital. It provides academically motivated students with the intellectual stimulation that comes not only from courses designed specifically for them by faculty members but also from intensive debate and discussion with their peers.

In addition to reinforcing the goals of the general education curriculum, the Honors Program emphasizes the following:

(1) Superior Academic Achievement: To challenge strongly motivated students to achieve at their highest potentials, both in their major fields and in the broader context of their liberal arts education.

(2) Self Knowledge: To challenge students to develop greater insights into values, attitudes, and assumptions they hold about themselves and other and to explore the connection between these values and their academic and professional choices.

(3) Intellectual Risk-Taking: To encourage students to explore new areas of intellectual development, to participate in new methods of learning, to examine the connections between various disciplines and approaches, and to apply learning in new situations.

First-year students are invited to participate in the Honors Program on the basis of high school GPA, standardized test scores, and the college admissions essay. Sophomores and transfer students may be recommended by a professor or should apply to the Director of the Honors Program for consideration.