WCU Honors College
In 1979, the Honors College at West Chester University was built upon the three foundations of academic excellence, campus engagement, and community building. In the classroom, students complete a sequence of Honors core courses that emphasize personal leadership development as it relates to community service. Both inside and outside of the classroom, Honors students adhere to our guiding motto:
To Be Honorable is to Serve.
The Honors College's strength lies in its student body. Representing 52 distinct academic disciplines, Honors students engage in truly interdisciplinary learning . Math majors and Psychology majors, Music Education majors and Pre-Med majors, Cell and Molecular Biology majors and Business majors all come together to discuss issues affecting communities, such as strategies for economic enhancement, the formation of ethical standards for genetic testing, and approaches to survey research.
Interdisciplinary collaboration continues outside the classroom in our award-winning Honors Student Association, as well as in a variety of community leadership and service opportunities. The international service-learning (ISL) program in South Africa is one such opportunity.
Every 2 years, the Honors College sends a delegation of students to South Africa to participate in a variety of community engagement, research, and service activities to enrich student understanding of international relationship building and to benefit the people of South Africa. Over the past 20+ years, the South Africa program has become one of the most influential experiences for Honors students. Nearly every first-year student participates in a seminar course entitled Personal Leadership Development: Lessons from South Africa. Both the seminar and ISL program explore the community-based leadership of such figures as Nelson Mandela, Nkosi and Gail Johnson, Mary Burton, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. These leaders of a democratic South Africa guide students as they, too, strive to serve their communities by upholding the Honors college motto: To Be Honorable is to Serve.
