Lester Lefton Lester Lefton - Kent State University
Lester Lefton Lester Lefton - Kent State University
Lester Lefton Lester Lefton - Kent State University
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Chic<br />
‘Geek’ is<br />
Honors students find a home in the heart of campus<br />
By Megan Harding, ’83<br />
Honors College Dean Larry Andrews speaks to a group of freshmen during an orientation session in the new Honors College building.<br />
Photo by Bob Christy, ’95<br />
On any college campus in America,<br />
students who qualify for and enroll<br />
in an honors program run the risk<br />
of being considered geeks and nerds by their<br />
nonhonors classmates. In reality, however,<br />
honors students more often pursue a wide<br />
range of interests, participate in international<br />
travel and form close social ties with peers.<br />
Plus, in this era of Web surfing and instant<br />
messaging, geek has become chic.<br />
The Honors College at <strong>Kent</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
recently boosted its already prestigious<br />
image with a move from the outskirts<br />
of campus to a new residence hall complex in<br />
the heart of campus. The new Honors Center<br />
is located at the juncture of Stopher and<br />
Johnson Halls, which have been rebuilt from<br />
the ground up, following the footprint of the<br />
original buildings in order to preserve the<br />
historic May 4 site. The Honors Center was<br />
dedicated on Oct. 14 in conjunction with the<br />
Homecoming Extravaganza.<br />
A major advantage of the new, central<br />
location is the revitalization of the Honors<br />
Living Learning Community. <strong>Kent</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
now has 13 learning communities devoted<br />
to student interests ranging from science to<br />
entrepreneurship, but the honors community<br />
is the first and oldest, dating back to<br />
the late 1960s. Honors began as a program<br />
in 1933 and became a full-fledged college in<br />
1965.<br />
“People have put up with the distance<br />
for three decades,” says Honors College<br />
Dean Larry Andrews, of the now infamous<br />
treks back and forth from the former honors<br />
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