2019 Spring The Honorable Mention

Dodge Hovermale helps a student with their math homework through the Promise South Salt Lake mentoring program. Photo courtesy of Promise South Salt Lake Honors students create cross-institutional relationships, support systems for younger students through mentorship BY JULIA VORSTEVELD Honors students are involved in variety of pre-college menThe Generation Project provides just one opportunity for tor programs and many students find their experiences have a Honors students to improve college access and promote accommon thread: acting as a support system for younger stu- ademic excellence. College students involved in the Dumke dents and preparing older students for life after high school. Center for Civic Engagement’s Walkways to Westminster proJessica Taghvaiee (‘19) and her sister Tiffany Taghvaiee (‘21) gram mentor students in grades 6-12 at a variety of South Salt founded the peer-to-peer mentorship program The Generation Lake schools. Project at their alma mater, Taylorsville “In school, they don’t talk about “I think it’s really important to remember High School. college,” said Sanskriti Timseena (‘21), The program trains high schoola Walkways mentor at Utah Internawhere you come from and give back to that ers to mentor students about to enter tional Charter School. “We create that community.” middle school and to help them think environment where we can talk about about their futures. school. Our main goal is to get most Jessica Taghvaiee “I think a lot of people succeed but kids into college.” forget where they come from,” said JesDodge Hovermale (‘22), another sica Taghvaiee, a political science and Spanish-Latin American student involved in Walkways who mentors at Cottonwood studies double major. “I think it’s really important to remem- High School, said “having people around that show [high ber where you come from and give back to that community.” schoolers] they can do the same things is really important, as continued on page 11 PAGE FOUR Honors students find, foster community across campus opportunities · PAGE FIVE · Spring 2019 Volume 17 Issue 2 Honors College climate survey, strategic plan strengthen institutional commitment to diversity Honors alum advocates for students, encourages action through poetry BY PEDRO RICO Willy Palomo, 2015 Honors College alum and Coordinator for the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Southern Utah University, promotes inclusion through slam poetry by demanding space to be heard. Palomo said he is working on multiple literary projects and is especially grateful to be a part of the website “La Piscucha Magazine.” The publication features literary works from El Salvador and writers who have emerged from the diaspora, which happened from the 1970s to 1990s because of the country’s civil war. Palomo’s family fled to the United States as refugees of the Salvadoran Civil War during the ’80s, he said. “I want these poems to move you to act in some way,” Palomo said. “I think the only ethical ways you can engage with the stories from the Salvadoran diaspora is acknowledging that we need to mobilize, such as protecting undocumented immigrants, changing policy to be more humane, and giving asylum seekers a chance.” He said he intends to make Salvadoran literary works accessible in both Spanish and English, and the website is expected to launch in late March. Palomo said he uses poetry to contextualize the experiences of the women in his family. Specifically, he chronicles the life of his mother, Maria Elba Palomo, in his new biomythography titled Wake the Others, which will be published in March 2020. “The book is very anatomical [...] you’ll find poems gravitating around different body parts that access memories that encapsulate the suffering my mother endured throughout the war,” Palomo said. “I hope that in creating this book, immigrant families will find healing in seeing themselves reflected in my mother’s stories.” He said his mother is also a crucial figure in his life when it came to understanding his Latinidad (Latin-American identity). At Westminster College, Palomo said his Latinidad helped him find connections that supported his education. “I most likely would not have made it to grad school the year I did if I had not had Eileen Chanza Torres,” Palomo said. “Eileen mentored me [and] validated my work, which for me was huge.” Photo courtesy of Willy Palomo Chanza Torres said Palomo is “a beautiful poet and one of our superstars,” and said she is excited that he will be teaching a May Term class on slam poetry. Palomo said his general advice to help students to engage in their work is to connect with peers who share their stories. “If you’re [LatinX], join a LatinX club or even check out the Diversity and Inclusion Center and become familiar with the resources,” Palomo said. “The ones that thrive the most are the folks using higher education to give back to their communities.” 2 Faculty, students discuss their experiences with diversity conversations in the classroom BY ERIC MELLMER Challenging dominant views and elevating the voices of un- complex readings that have multiple interpretations [...] prepares derrepresented groups are some of the key goals of the Honors students to have a much more nuanced discussion about [diversiCollege, according to Dean Richard Badenhausen. ty],” said Kim, who co-teaches the Science, Power, and Diversity Honors classes work towards these goals by training students Honors seminar. how to productively engage in conversations across difference as Some students said they also want to see underrepresented well as exposing students to diverse reading lists. Some students voices within the classroom elevated. and professors said Honors would also benefit from more repreAnisa Dahir (‘21) and Asma Dahir (‘21), twin sisters who sentation of people of color. joined Honors through lateral entry, said, although the reading “I feel like our Honors classes are laboratories for democracy, lists are diverse, Honors would benefit from minorities leading where we say, how are we doing, let’s evaluate ourselves. ‘Does our conversations about their experiences. conversation feel equi“[When we distable, does it feel parcussed] African Amerticipatory, does it feel ican history, [we as ‘top-down?’” said Julie people of color] weren’t Stewart, assistant direcgiven the platform tor of teaching, learnto openly share our ing, and assessment for thoughts and experiencthe Honors College. es in the class as much “Ideally, we want it to as our white counterbe ‘bottom-up.’” parts have,” Anisa DaBadenhausen said hir said. he continually trains Anisa Dahir sugstudents how to have gested elevating and productive conversasupporting the voices of tions to ensure the edstudents with personal ucational environment experiences in Honors. is supportive. This is especially im“If you’re not portant since it can be trained in difficult challenging to express conversations, [...] the Marley Dominguez and her classmates, in the Arts and Performance Honors seminar, discuss how these perspectives when voices from dominant graffiti relates to culture and economic class. those in the dominant Photo courtesy of Calen Smith populations will domgroup try to speak for inate,” Badenhausen minorities, said Asma said. “In our training [of students], one of the things we’re trying Dahir. to do is listen and build off other people’s points of views. And “[It’s] very difficult to articulate something and make [white that training is meant to clear space for different perspectives and people] understand the severity of it, when they don’t understand voices.” what it means to be a black woman or a Muslim woman or a refHonors student Naomi Shapiro (‘19) said she appreciates how ugee woman,” Asma Dahir said. Honors fosters a civil learning environment. Having a diversity council led by people of color is another way “Honors seminars offer a place where people can make mis- to increase representation in Honors, Asma and Anisa Dahir said. takes and they can be corrected respectfully,” Shapiro said. Kim said while some students may feel uncomfortable in these Associate Professor of Public Health Han Kim said Honors’ difficult conversations, these topics need to be discussed. emphasis on both critical perspectives and in-class discussion en“We’re gonna have to go into areas where you’re going to be courages students to focus on issues and not resort to personal uncomfortable discussing this,” Kim said. “[However,] these issues attacks. have to be out in the forefront if we’re ever going to address them “I think everything about the actual pedagogy [...] based on and solve them.” 3 Participation in different campus opportunities allows Honors students to find, foster community BY SABI LOWDER Charlotte Mulliniks’ (‘21) life is hectic. As a transfer student Additionally, the overlap between her communities eased her to Westminster College and single mom with three kids, her time transition to Westminster, she said. For example, Honors profesand energy are spent juggling many responsibilities. sor Lesa Ellis is Mulliniks’ major advisor, Legacy STEPS mentor, She said despite being a non-traditional student with a busy and research methods instructor for the McNair Program. schedule, she has had the opportunity to make connections with Mulliniks said working together in a variety of situations creatboth professors and other students through her involvement in ed a strong relationship between them. the Honors College, Legacy STEPS (a program through the StuAnother Honors student involved in Legacy and McNair is dent Diversity and Inclusion Center focused on college access for Marley Dominguez (‘21). She is also one of the political engagetransfer students), and the McNair Scholars Program. ment coordinators at the Dumke Center for Civic Engagement, Her communities’ support and understanding has helped her an Honors peer mentor, and a recipient of Westminster’s 2019 feel at home on campus, she Unsung Hero award. She said. said the overlap of her com“It’s been really important for me to be involved in a lot “I’m a little older and munities has helped in purof different things. It’s been amazing to see how they all I have a family and stuff,” suing her goals. Mulliniks said. “My situaShe came to Westmincan cross over and help in different ways.” tion isn’t always the same as ster as a Legacy scholar, a everyone else I’m going to program she said has helped Marley Dominguez school with, and so someher feel comfortable on times it’s a little harder to campus and when she startfit in because of that. Being ed in Honors. in an [Honors] class of transfer students and in [a Legacy cohort “It’s been really important for me to be involved in a lot of of ] people who have kids and are non-traditional, it just helps, I different things,” Dominguez said. “It’s been amazing to see how think, create more of that sense of community.” they all can cross over and help in different ways.” She said the support she received from Honors and Legacy is what led her to applying for the McNair Scholars Program, and her coursework has helped solidify the writing and critical thinking skills that she uses in her research. The crossover that Dominguez and Mulliniks said they have encountered is intentional, according to Julie Stewart, assistant director of teaching, learning, and assessment for the Honors College and director of Westminster’s customized major program. Stewart said she often acts as a liaison between Honors and other organizations like Salt Lake Community College, local high schools, and Westminster’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “We’ve had a lot of synergistic conversations with other stakeholders on campus,” Stewart said. “When it works, it is really a beautiful thing.” Having a small campus form close relationships between these stakeholders, Stewart said. Also, being around other students who participate in multiple programs helps to build community, even when everyone’s responsibilities are different, Mulliniks said. “I think a lot of Honors students [...] are pretty ambitious and they have lots of stuff going on and they’re also busy,” Mulliniks said. “I think everybody kind of has that Senior Honors student Jessica Taghvaiee presents her research on DACA which was sense of what it’s like to try to juggle school and all of the completed as part of the McNairs Scholars Program. extra stuff that you want to do and accomplish.” Photo courtesy of Mary Jo Hinsdale 4 Honors College climate survey, strategic plan strengthen institutional commitment to diversity BY ANNETTE DONALD The Honors Council meets to discuss amending the existing mission and vision statements of the Honors College to better reflect the College’s goal of promoting access for students of diverse backgrounds. Photo courtesy of Richard Badenhausen Honors College administrators conducted a survey to understand student identities, perceptions, and experiences in the Honors College in spring 2018. This climate survey focused on student access, affordability, curricular diversity, community, co-curricular involvement, and civic engagement. Julie Stewart, assistant director of teaching, learning, and assessment for the Honors College, spearheaded the climate survey around these themes. “When you have a new cohort of people with different experiences, it forces us to reexamine the way we do things,” Stewart said. She said the results of the survey offers “incredible opportunities to rethink how [Honors does] things.” Based on the survey data, Dean of the Honors College Richard Badenhausen formulated a Diversity Strategic Plan with a variety of stakeholders, including members of the Honors Council, Dan Cairo, the director of the Student Diversity and Inclusion Center, and Marco Barker, former associate vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The main goals of the plan are recruiting diverse incoming cohorts, institutionalizing partnerships with other campus organizations, and improving opportunities for students to engage in conversations about diversity. “The challenge is to get everyone on board,” Stewart said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction. That intentionality is there.” This push toward diversity emphasizes supporting students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students. Badenhausen said the Honors College will accomplish its diversity goals by evaluating students more holistically during the admissions process, recruiting traditionally underrepresented college students, paying attention to the financial needs of current and future students, and diversifying Honors courses. 5 Julie Stewart, professor and assistant director of teaching, learning, and assessment, spearheaded the Honors College climate survey conducted to understand student identities, perceptions, and experiences in the College in spring 2018. Photo courtesy of Aidan Croft College more accessible, especially to those who historically have not had access to higher education, Badenhausen said. Holistic Admissions Process By holistically evaluating students during the admissions process, Badenhausen said Honors intends to assemble a cohort of driven students with diverse backgrounds and experiences, particularly first-generation students and students of color. As a result of the bias of standardized tests, the Honors College has deemphasized test scores during the admissions process and focused on a more holistic evaluation of a student’s readiness to succeed in the Honors learning model, Badenhausen said. Additionally, this year the Honors College has eliminated entirely a specific ACT score for students to apply for the Honors Academic Excellence Scholarship, whereas in previous years students had to have a 30 or higher on the test. Both Badenhausen and Stewart mentioned that standardized testing is directly linked to socioeconomic status and parents’ previous education rather than intelligence or academic ability. For instance, the students who tend to score well on standardized tests are more likely to have access to prep courses and study materials, as well as have the ability to retake the tests. Moving away from standardized test scores allows Honors to prioritize students’ backgrounds and experiences during the admission process. Additionally, the Honors College added its lateral-entry program during the 2015-2016 academic year to diversify the Honors community. This program serves transfer students and those who didn’t enter Honors as a first-year student at Westminster. Badenhausen said in fall 2018, Welcome to Thinking III, the introductory lateral-entry course, consisted of over 50 percent students of color, which is significantly higher than the campus average. These changes were made in an effort to make the Honors Making Honors Student Organizations Diversity Focused Student organizations like Honorable Mention and Student Honors Council (SHC) are also responding to the Diversity Strategic Plan. According to Calen Smith, the managing editor of Honorable Mention, the publication is making diversity and inclusion an active part of its platform. Even though the theme of Honorable Mention changes every semester, Smith said he believes “diversity should be ingrained in the structure and writings of the issues, regardless of the subject.” SHC, the elected group of Honors students who represent their peers on an administrative level, is also working to create a more diverse and inclusive Honors community, said Smith. Current SHC members will work with the newly elected members to create a constitution with concrete goals that will meet the needs of the students and the Diversity Strategic Plan. Honors Faculty Involved in Diversity-Based Programs on Campus Honors College faculty members are working with other organizations on campus to solidify intra-institutional partnerships. The Legacy Program helps to support underrepresented students in their transition to college. Last academic year, 35 percent of the entering Legacy scholars class were Honors students and currently a quarter of all Legacy students are in 6 Honors, which is double the representation of Honors students on campus. The Program Director Dan Cairo will continue to strengthen this relationship by teaching the Honors seminar Global Welfare and Justice next spring. Historically, Honors students also make up a significant portion of McNair scholars. While 12 percent of Westminster undergraduates are in Honors, nearly 40 percent of McNair scholars are Honors students. The McNair Scholars Program focuses on increasing the amount of students from underrepresented groups in graduate studies with a particularly focus on students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students. Another goal of the program is to diversifying the professoriate. Like Cairo, Director of the McNair Program Jo Hinsdale also works with students inside and outside of the classroom. Hinsdale currently co-teaches the Science, Power, and Diversity honors seminar. Additionally, a number of Honors faculty serve as McNair summer research advisors and professors in the McNair program. For example, Chris LeCluyse, professor of English, teaches the McNair Writing for Professional Research course, and Lesa Ellis, professor of neuroscience, teaches the McNair Research Methods course. “I feel like students that are fully engaged and invested in their learning, look for as many opportunities to be invested in it,” LeCluyse said. “I think it’s not surprising that there is such an overlap between Honors and McNair. It speaks to the role of Honors to empower and include underrepresented students.” While Honors faculty have been involved with McNair prior to the diversity strategic plan, this connection furthers the goal of institutionalizing partnerships with other campus organizations and offices. focused on themes like ability, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. Specifically, 82 percent of students surveyed said there was a significant gap in their readings around ability, 70 percent felt there was inadequate coverage of sexual orientation, and 43 percent felt there was an absence of readings on socioeconomic status, Julie Stewart said. As a result of these findings, Stewart said that the Honors College is committed to thinking about diverse content as well as voices that represent those point of views. For example, it is not sufficient to just read about sexual orientation from the perspective of a heterosexual author—authors with other identities need to be included, too. Stewart said the Honors College has changed significantly in the last decade and has created more classes, like alum Nicole Bedera’s Sociology of Sexual Violence course, which is cross-listed with Honors. Additionally, there are significantly more women and a few more people of color at Westminster now than ten years ago, which allows Honors to diversify its faculty, Stewart said. Looking to the Future The climate survey pinpointed the needs of current students and the Diversity Strategic Plan generated action steps to meet those needs now and in the future. The Diversity Strategic Plan aims to recruit diverse incoming cohorts, institutionalize partnerships with other campus organizations, and improve opportunities for students to engage in conversations about diversity in academic settings. This emphasis on diversity focuses on students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students. To promote diversity and accomplish its goals, the Honors College will more holistically evaluate students during the admissions process, recruit traditionally underrepresented college students, pay attention to the financial needs of current and future students, and diversify Honors courses. “We have the opportunity to come together and make hard decisions that will benefit generations to come,” Stewart said. “That means bringing more voices into the conversation.” Honors Curriculum One of the goals of the Diversity Strategic plan is to make Honors courses more diverse. This includes offering classes that highlight different perspectives and including reading material from diverse authors. The climate survey results highlighted the need for readings Percentage of Honors students in diversity-based programs 12% Non-Honors Non-Honors Non-Honors Honors Honors Honors 25% 40% 88% Percent of Student Body 60% 75% Percent of Westminster McNair Scholars 7 Percent of Legacy Scholars Student Profile: Pedro Rico B Y J E N N I F E R H Y LW A Pedro Rico (‘21), a sophomore custom educational policy major that will address their own negative experiences and benefit others. whose pronouns are they/them/theirs, said they were inspired to “I think that [the exclusivity of higher education] has horrific promote educational equity after their own negative experiences effects on communities,” Rico said. “Specifically communities and what they saw happening on a national that don’t have or didn’t have the privilege level. of having parents who went through college Between graduating from high school and or this process of the commodification of starting college, they worked on and sold their education.” ceramic sculptures and acrylic paintings. Fostering inclusion, they said, provides “College was always in the back of my head, more equal opportunity for individuals of but was always more of a dream,” Rico said. all backgrounds to be heard and to have Rico eventually faced an ultimatum meaningful involvement within higher between moving to Mexico with their partner education. They said they hope to lead by or pursuing their education. example for others. “I didn’t choose love because I was thinking “I tend to be vocal about my identity because more based on my economic instability,” Rico I know that my story isn’t unique,” Rico said. said. “It was very difficult. At that point, I was “If people can visibly see me, I think people invested in going to school.” can have the confidence to be more vocal and Photo courtesy of Aidan Croft They first earned their associate’s degree in speak their truths.” political science from Salt Lake Community Despite challenges they’ve faced, Rico said College. After joining the Westminster College community, Rico they maintain a hopeful outlook for the future. became a lateral entry Honors student and the Student Diversity “There’s no way of reverting back the process,” Rico said. “But and Inclusion Center’s Heritage Series coordinator. we can try and come up with solutions that aren’t so exploitive and Rico said they aim to create a more inclusive educational system dehumanizing.” Professor Profile: Nicole Bedera BY BECKY DENNIS Honors alum Nicole Bedera (‘14) created the cross-listed Honors During her time at the University of Maryland, Bedera said course Sociology of Sexual Violence based on her own research she had many conversations that would not have happened on campus sexual violence. Bedera began her at Westminster because of the institutions’ research on the topic as an undergraduate in different levels of diversity. Honors and is currently an adjunct professor “When I moved to the University of of sociology at Westminster. Maryland, which is the most racially “My first project was actually my Honors representative public university in the country, grant,” Bedera said. “I got the summer Honors it was unbelievable how different it felt,” grant in 2013 [and] I did a project about sexual Bedera said. “The students’ perspectives were assault prevention tips on college campuses.” just hugely different; they’ve had different life Sexual violence in particular removes experiences.” women’s voices on campus, Bedera said. Diversity in higher education is important, Making sure colleges address sexual violence, and there are different ways for institutions to and violence in general, is important for increase it, Bedera said. empowering students in the classroom. This “The first is that we’re getting unique is especially relevant for individuals from Photo courtesy of Aidan Croft perspectives brought to the table,” Bedera said. marginalized groups, as they tend to experience “The other is to make sure that the practices more violence in their lives, Bedera said. we’re doing in our organizations and colleges “Understanding the way that a traumatic past intersects with are not presenting barriers to getting those voices at the table.” what happens in the classroom is huge to moving any diversity Bedera said a goal for Westminster should be “recruiting and initiative forward,” Bedera said. supporting students who are diverse in nature.” After graduating from Westminster, Bedera went to the In her own work, Bedera said she aims to elevate the voices of University of Maryland for graduate school and is now completing trauma survivors, who often don’t have a voice or feel supported her PhD at the University of Michigan. on college campuses. 8 Let’s Get Your Perspective In your opinion/experience, what are the challenges and opportunities around enacting change in academia? Han Kim Jessica Taghvaiee Professor perspective Student perspective You look around the classroom and realize you’re the only person like you in the room. This is an experience that I and many other marginalized students can relate to when it comes to academia. As a firstgeneration, minority, and lowincome student myself, I have often wondered where my place is within academia and whether this is a place I want to be. Photo courtesy of Jessica Taghvaiee When contemplating change within academia, we must recognize that many students like myself constantly battle with the imposter phenomenon because academia was not built for people like us. The word “academia” comes from the word “academy,” originating from the Greek word “akadēmeia.” Like the word, much of what we consider “academia” today stems from its Greek roots. The Greek philosopher Plato is often praised for establishing the first higher learning institution in the Western world, his school of philosophy, “The Academy.” Yet, what is rarely recognized is how Plato’s “Academy” was intended for the intellectual growth of young, white, wealthy, literate, and able-bodied men. Although historically marginalized groups are currently creating a new generation of professors and scholars within academia, many of the structures which have traditionally restricted such access of diverse peoples or ideas are still in place. To truly make academia a diverse space, we must challenge its infrastructure, questioning what purpose promoting the “tradition” of grades, research, conferences, dissertations, or even who “professional” attire really serves. To use a metaphor, even if more people are allowed to enter the “house of academia,” this doesn’t mean much has changed if the new residents can’t remodel it to fit their needs and make it feel more like “home.” I believe academia can have a bright future if we not only continue to welcome diverse people and ideas within academic spaces, but also allow those same people to reconstruct academia. Higher education must lead the way to a socially just future: one that emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion, one that is inclusive towards historically oppressed populations that to this day are not given the opportunities that others have simply due to their identities. We’ve made strides by diversifying our student populations, our faculties, and our curriculums. We’ve created Photo courtesy of Han Kim social, economic, and academic programs to support students from historically oppressed populations. But this isn’t enough. They are simply a veneer; all of these efforts are simply cosmetic changes on a deeply embedded structure and framework of racism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, classism – the -isms that we are attempting to eradicate. If we are going to get to the root causes of these -isms, we need to question the very foundations of the academy and be willing to confront the very paradigms we take for granted in higher education. We need to question how we measure student “success,” if traditional grading privileges certain populations over others, whether standardized exams and GPAs are a just method for admissions, whether our liberal arts curriculum truly is inclusive, or whether our discussion-based seminar model excludes students from oppressed populations. This will be a monumental challenge, given the deeply seated traditions of Western higher education, and how we in academia often cling to them without truly understanding their purpose. However, this is what has to be done in order to lead the way to a socially just future. It will require innovation, courage, and deep introspection. Change must come at the foundations, otherwise, we are simply putting “lipstick on a pig.” “ To tru ly m a ke a c a d e m i a a d i ve r s e s pa ce, we “If we are go ing to get to the ro ot causes of mu s t c h alle n ge i t s i nfra s t r u c t u re , q u e stio ning these - ism s, we m eed to questio n t he very w h at p u rp os e prom ot i n g t h e ‘ t ra d i t i o n’ of fo undatio ns of the academy and be w illing g rad e s , re s e a rc h , co nfe re n ce s , d i s s e r t atio ns, o r to co nf ro nt the ver y paradigm s we take for eve n w h o ‘profe s s i o n a l ’ at t i re re a l l y ser ves.” granted in higher educatio n.” 9 NEWS & NOTES Ben Rackham (’09) has been selected for a prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowship at MIT (one of six in the country), where he will continue his study of exoplanets now that he has completed his PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Arizona. Ali Monjar (‘10) was hired to manage the Idaho chapter of the Urban Land Institute. John Cook (‘10) was promoted to associate general counsel at Zayo Group, a global network solutions provider. Camber Jones née Stoddard (’11) joined the law firm Spencer Fane in Springfield, Missouri last summer as an associate in the firm’s Financial Services practice group. Cooper Henderson (’11) was featured as one of the five “Real Human” interview subjects in a marketing piece for Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, where he is working on his MBA. Tracy Hansford (‘11) was honored by Governor Herbert last year with the Governor’s Award for Excellence for Leadership for her work with the Utah Division of Arts & Museums Change Leader professional development program. Abby Speicher (’12) was named as one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 in the enterprise technology category for her co-founding of DARTdrones. Jillian Edmonds (’12) started this past fall as a Women’s and Reproductive Rights attorney with the ACLU of Illinois in Chicago. Chris Cunningham (‘15) is a legislative assistant in the Washington, D.C. office of Congressman Ben McAdams (D-UT). Emma DeLoughery (’16) had her most recent essay, “Medical moulages of farm accidents,” published in Internal Medicine Journal, while continuing her medical school studies at the Mayo Clinic. Hannah Williams (’16) was awarded a oneyear marketing fellowship at the New York Community Trust while working on her master’s in nonprofit management at Columbia University. Alli Carson (‘17) started the PhD program in mathematics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Ashleigh Albrechtsen (‘17) is finishing up her second year in Annecy, France as an English language instructor with the Teaching Assistant Program in France. Jeremy Dormitzer (‘17) has started a job as a software engineer at Lola.com. Jared Rich (’18) works online as a teacher for DaDa, a Chinese company based in Shanghai that offers English lessons to children in China, while also studying Chinese at Weber State University. Olivia Wathne (’18) is finishing her first year of law school at the University of San Francisco. Jessica Taghvaiee (‘19) is serving as the SLC International Rescue Committee’s first advocacy intern. She presented her McNair summer research “UnDACAmented & Unafraid: How United We Dream Uses Twitter to Discuss #DACA” at the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. She will also present her paper “The Non-Citizen Nightmare: An Analysis of Racist U.S. Immigration Policies” at the 2019 Western Social Science Association Conference. Sarah Turner (’19) presented the results of her honors summer research project at the American Association for Applied Linguistic (AAAL) annual conference in Atlanta with Education professor Anneliese Cannon and faculty from other universities. Carolyn Janecek (‘19) received an honorable mention recognition in the 2019 Academy of American Poets Student Prize poetry competition and won F(r)iction magazine’s winter poetry contest. Carolyn will also be attending Colorado State University’s M.F.A. program in creative writing this fall. Ambur Staab (‘19) has been accepted to the University of Utah School of Medicine. Annette Donald (’19) and Eric Mellmer (’19) are the assistant directors of Westminster’s Writing Center. Cole Polychronis (’19) will begin the scientific computing PhD program at the University of Utah in the fall. Max White (’20) won $500 for his business idea at Westminster’s latest Opportunity Quest. Tage Gould (‘19), Emma Thompson (‘20), Ryeleigh McCready (‘21), and Hannah Orr (‘21) were involved in Westminster’s production of Lucas Hnath’s The Christians, directed by honors faculty member Michael Vought. Kenzie Campbell (‘20) was chosen as the Truman Scholar for the state of Idaho. Maggie Regier (‘20), Kenzie Campbell (‘20), Kate Pasco (‘20), Rebecca Blanton (’21), and Brendan Sudberry (‘22) were elected to serve on the ASW Student Board as student body president, vice president, chief justice, speaker of the senate, and clubs president respectively for the 2019-2020 academic year. Marley Dominguez (‘21) was awarded the Westminster’s 2019 Unsung Hero Award and participated in the Global Ties Conferences in Washington, D.C. and the Public Policy and Leadership Conference at the Harvard Kennedy School. Abbie Hagen (‘22) recently finished working on Salt Lake Acting Company’s The Cake as assistant costume designer through the University Professional Theatre Program. Char Crear (‘22) was awarded Mx. Congeniality in the 2019 Mx. Westminster pageant. Did you do something notable? We want to know! Email your news and notes to Richard Badenhausen at [e-mail]. HO NO RS WR IT ING A WA RDS: W INNING ENTR IES Lienne Cupal Stephanie Held Jessica Taghvaiee Carolyn Janecek Society and Sacrifice Is Phlogiston Science? The Medical Monopoly Encoded in Nature Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 10 Category 4 Best Overall Stephanie Held Is Phlogiston Science? Honors Philanthropy Update BY HONORS COLLEGE DEAN RICHARD BADENHAUSEN The Honors College continues to benefit from the generosity of students, faculty, staff, alums, and friends who all believe strongly in the Honors mission and are passionate about supporting the $13 million Honors College campaign. Westminster alum and former chair of the board of trustees Ginger Giovale made an extraordinary pledge of $2 million to the Honors campaign in support of the underlying operations. This incredible gift brings Ginger full circle in support of Honors, for she gave seed money in 1986 to help Michael Popich found the program. We also kicked off the global learning endowment at a lunch on February 15, where former recipients of Adamson International Study Grants—Nicole Bedera (’14), Mary Lewis (’20), and Emma Thompson (’20)—spoke eloquently about the power of MTSE international experiences to their own development as learners. Current Westminster Board of Trustee and Vice-Chair Preston Chiaro co-hosted the event and generously started the endowment with a $25,000 gift of his own. Finally, during Westminster’s annual Giving Day this past March, the Honors community really stepped up to the plate, winning two of the four giving windows by having the most number of donors of any of the five academic schools. At the end of the event, Honors College donors raised the most money and had more than 70% of the number of overall donors of the next closest school, Arts & Sciences. Thanks for your support and for helping establish such a strong culture of philanthropy in the Honors College! Continued from page 1 The various steps of the college application process, such as the FAFSA and standardized tests, can be intimidating for students, especially if they are the first in their family to apply to college. “We’re there to guide them through that process,” said Hovermale, a first-year English major. Timseena said that many students she works with speak English as their second language, are first-generation college students, and come from low-income families. She emphasizes the importance of getting to know mentees personally. “What I’ve learned about mentoring, about diversity, is that if you don’t understand something, or someone isn’t from the same culture, then I think sometimes it’s best to listen and give space for minorities to speak, as a way to understand,” said Timseena, a sophomore computer science and math double major. W E S T M I N S T E R 2 0 1 9 G I V I N G D AY D O N O R PA R T I C I PAT I O N Total: 313 donors HONORS COLLEGE 131 DONORS ARTS AND SCIENCES 76 DONORS BUSINESS 65 DONORS During Westminster’s annual giving day, the Honors College community won two of the Giving Day challenges. Info-graphic courtesy of Scout Invie Timseena said that “an open mind and a kind heart” are essential to listening and fostering a genuine relationship between mentors and mentees. “Assumptions sometimes stop a relationship or a connection from growing,” Timseena said. Additionally, when creating The Generation Project, the Taghvaiee sisters said they found a lot of underrepresented or marginalized students were not getting access to the same resources as their peers. Despite this unfortunate reality, Jessica Taghvaiee said she doesn’t let that reality stop her; instead, it motivates her. “Being part of this program, you realize what a difference one person can make,” Jessica Taghvaiee said. 11 HO N O RAB LE MENTION E DI T O RS 2018-2019 Scout Invie (’19) Layout Editor Aidan Croft (‘20) Photo Editor Kate Pasco (’20) Copy Editor Calen Smith (’19) Managing Editor Stephanie Held (‘19) Copy Editor Marina McTee (’21) Layout Editor Note from the Editors This is the first edition of Honorable Mention with the theme of diversity. This issue is part of a plan within Honors to elevate a wider range of voices and experiences. The Honors College has recently implemented the Diversity Strategic Plan and is challenging barriers to inclusion with the goal of further creating a welcoming environment. This issue seeks to support that goal. With the growing discussion of representation in Honors, we, as editors, hope to authentically represent the breadth of experiences within our community. Honors College Westminster College 1840 South 1300 East Salt Lake City, Utah 84105 westminstercollege.edu/honors · · Spring 2019 Volume 17 Issue 2