This fall, the Simmons Honors Program is launching new initiatives, including a service group, a book club, brown bag lunches, and collaborative events with the Colleges of the Fenway. We spoke to Anna Aguilera, Biology Professor and Director of the Honors Program, about how the Honors Program can enrich a student's experience.
"The Honors Program is about extra-curricular community building," says Professor and Director of the Honors Program Anna Aguilera. Each cohort is grouped together in core courses during their first year at Simmons, and they take an extra one-credit course, Talking in the 21st Century (HON 190). "It's more about offering extra opportunities as opposed to an additional curriculum. Our students are already in rigorous programs!"
Those extra opportunities include a student-driven service group, working with the London Center for Community Engagement and Social Justice.
"The group decides on a topic to research and meets monthly. This fall, they will organize educational events and lectures for fellow honors students," says Aguilera. The group will plan thematic programming throughout the year. Joining the committee isn't required, but it is open to students every fall.
The group has chosen a research topic for the fall semester.
"We will be working to address housing insecurity," says Honors Student Rachel Ledoux '27, a student in the Accelerated Program in Economics (BA) & Public Policy (MA) 3+1. "We have a few different focus groups exploring various facets of the subject, largely in relation to minority groups, like women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ folks."
According to Ledoux, each focus group is developing a proposal for different means of addressing housing insecurity. In the fall, the groups will discuss options and select events and service partners.
"A lot of honors students feel very strongly about serving their community, so this program will enable them to combine these two areas of interest with more support!" says Ledoux.
Another new initiative is the Colleges of the Fenway (COF) Collaboration Group.
"A group of students from Wentworth, Emmanuel, and Simmons are planning joint COF honors program events, with the support of the honors program directors at those schools," says Aguilera, who is planning a food truck meet and greet for this fall, giving Simmons students the opportunity to meet local students in the broader community.
Prospective students with high academic standing and a record of engagement with extracurricular activities are welcome to apply to the Honors Program. While the program doesn't require a specific GPA to qualify, all students must write an essay to be considered and maintain a 3.4 GPA to remain in the program.
"Participation can continue throughout their years at Simmons," says Aguilera. "The final course is a bookend with the public speaking course, offering students a chance to present their Capstone presentations to their peers."
A book club discussion of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and brown-bagged lunches are also in the works for the fall semester.