In theory, the concept of the Commonwealth Honors College is a good one – an opportunity for students to engage more with their academics and surround themselves with students that share their goals and faculty that have time for them. However, at UMass, this concept has been corrupted to form an exclusionary and condescending hierarchy.
My first week back at school, I was invited by a friend to visit the honors dorms. With all the hype surrounding the new complex, I figured there must be something that sets it apart. What I found was more appalling than I could have imagined. When I entered the foyer of the residential building, I stumbled into a rally of sorts for honors students.
An adult was gesticulating wildly, displaying her excitement for these fresh-faced honors students. What I overheard was something along the lines of, “You are the best students at UMass, and every other student at this university looks up to you.”
I was repulsed. I have nothing against the concept of an honors college, but I do have something against the fact that students in the honors college are being brainwashed to believe that other students are jealous of them.
The honors college demands several requirements not expected of non-honors students, including an enormous thesis project. This is all well and good, but requirements such as this may prevent honors students from exploring and cultivating their learning outside of the college. I forwent applying to the honors college and because of that I have the time to take five classes per semester and earn a high GPA. I also have paid jobs on campus at the Daily Collegian and the Writing Center.
Students do not have to be in the honors college to be committed to their learning and excel in their studies and chase their passions. In my many conversations with past and present honors students, I have heard several express regrets about joining the honors college because they have not been given the same freedom to explore and engage as I have.
According to the honors college website, honors students are “capable of informed, ethical decision making,” “eager to hear and understand the ideas of others,” “excellent candidates on the job market and highly competitive for graduate study” and “effective communicators.” Not only is this just plain insulting, but it also points to a major flaw in the university if all students are not provided these skills. It seems as though the university is telling us that the only UMass graduates who are capable and willing to do something with their lives are the ones who graduate from the honors program. This looks pretty bad for the university.
Since honors students do not think that they are benefiting from the honors college and many non-honors students feel as though they are being treated like second class citizens, then it is clear that UMass is simply using it as an instrument to transcend negative academic stereotypes about the school.
Elise Martorano is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected].
Stefan Herlitz • Dec 8, 2013 at 3:56 am
The program can be extremely beneficial, and not just in terms of nice housing.
Honors classes give an opportunity to have a significantly smaller class size, and thus allow for actual in-class discussion with the professor. If you take honors classes to take honors classes, you’re missing the point- it’s not just about putting “HONORS” on your resume. It’s about enhancing your educational experience, and picking the right honors classes that fit you will do just that.
ComColl enhances what people come here for: your education. College isn’t just about a piece of paper.
Mr Mars • Dec 7, 2013 at 12:12 am
If you aren’t good enough, you aren’t. It’s life.
Your boss won’t make excuses at work. You are paid to perform. A lewd, but great, tirade about this would be Alec Baldwin’s speech in Glen Gary, Glenn Ross.
Ken • Dec 4, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Sounds like the same old stuff they pull. I was in their program, a half dozen years ago or so. The classes are jokes. Absolute jokes. At least half of the professors are lower quality than their non-honors counterparts. Of the dozen or so honors classes I took, I can think of only one that was interesting/not a gigantic waste of time. ComCol provides you no extra benefit whatsoever once you graduate. You’ll see. Mention it in a job interview and watch them stare at you blankly. No one cares. It’s really all a joke, especially now that you pay to be in it instead of back when I completed the program and they often paid you.
Elise Martorano • Dec 4, 2013 at 5:02 pm
Allison, I agree with your points–I tried to take the focus away from the students of the Honors College and focus instead on how they and the program are portrayed by the school. I do not believe that honors students actually have superiority complexes–I am friends with many people in the college and they do not hold themselves higher than other students. I am trying to speak to the attitude of the university itself toward the college. I am not suggesting that honors students are susceptible to what several comments referred to as brainwashing, but I AM suggesting that the university is using the college to try to transcend the “UMass stereotype,” and is suggesting that honors students are inherently better than non-honors students by employing meaningless rhetoric.
(Also, to speak to the blanket statement that I made in my article about honors students not being able to branch out, I realize that this is a blanket statement–many, many students ARE able to pursue jobs and multiple academic tracks and get great GPAs. I simply wished to point out that MANY other students that I have spoken to have expressed the fact that they wish they had more freedom.)
Allison • Dec 4, 2013 at 1:23 pm
I graduated from the Honors college roughly 1 1/2 years ago, admittedly before the new dorms were fully erected and livable, although I did do a 1st year honors LRAP program, where I made some wonderful friends. In fact, one side of the floor was an honors LRAP and the other side was non-Honors, but that had no bearing on how friendships formed our freshman year. However, the main point I take issue with in this article is how in choosing to not be part of the Honors college, the author believes she had more “freedom to explore and engage.” I was part of the Honors college for all four years as a scholarship recipient as I completed a dual degree program, completed my thesis, maintained a good GPA, and still had the time to work part-time jobs, have a social life, compete with the ballroom dance team (and be its President for two years- a significant time investment), and heck, even minor in Chinese (talk about academic exploration when your majors are environmental science and political science). I believe that it supplemented and aided me in my dual degree track and that the opportunity to do my “enormous thesis project” was not a burden but rather an incredible opportunity to connect with a leader in my chosen academic field and do substantive research. I am not saying any of this to make the point that I was a busy undergraduate student, but rather to illustrate that I believe my time in ComColl greatly enhanced my academic exploration and and success, rather than being an impediment. I don’t believe that students in ComColl are any “smarter” or “better” than the other students (I know some brilliant people who just chose not to be part of the program for their own reasons); I just don’t see why the author seems to paint being in ComColl as some sort of weird little club that keeps its students on a rigid track, slated for educational stagnancy. I am sure there is a great deal of marketing and revamping going on right now for the Honors College as UMass (like EVERY undergraduate institution) wants to make itself more attractive to future students and boost its rankings. But I don’t think the author gives enough credit to the ComColl students whose (as of yet unproven) incubating superior attitudes are being referred to- surely if the author can sniff out the alleged brainwashing going on in the Honors dorms, the ComColl students will likewise be savvy enough to brush off the “wild gesticulations” of the adults feverishly attempting to rebrand the Honors program, make friends in the many non-honors courses they will take and non-honors-related activities they will engage in, and life will continue as normal.
Ty • Dec 3, 2013 at 5:09 pm
I wouldn’t say I looked up to Com-Col, but I kind of felt bad for them. No one I know from Undergrad actually had a great experience in Com-Col. In fact, almost everyone I knew in the Honors program during Undergrad did so because Com-Col gave them a scholarship. Come senior year, it was mass exodus as people dropped Com-Col because they didn’t want to do the capstone. IMO, UMass is using the dorms to entice kids to join Com-Col who wouldn’t normally want to commit. It’s just one more way to separate students from being together. I have the same feelings regarding the Freshmen only res areas/clusters. Never really was a fan of those either.
Kris • Dec 3, 2013 at 2:14 pm
“I forwent applying to the honors college and because of that I have the time to take five classes per semester and earn a high GPA. I also have paid jobs on campus at the Daily Collegian and the Writing Center.”
http://mie.umass.edu/sites/default/files/mie/ME_FlowChartWnotes_5-13.pdf
Average of 4.75 classes per semester. I would get into my college GPA, 3 jobs, exercise habits, and social life, but that would be too pretentious…
Stefan Herlitz • Dec 3, 2013 at 2:44 am
A single encounter with an unnamed adult figure is not grounds to claim that Honors College students are “brainwashed to believe that other students are jealous of them”. Honors students are the same as every other UMass student, just with slightly higher grades, test scores, etc.- it’s not an elitist cult, separate from the rest of campus.
In addition, the honors requirements are not as stringent as this column seems to imply. There are only two distinct classes required for honors students, one of which is a single-credit seminar. The other honors course requirements are fulfilled within your major. The thesis can take the form of either an individual thesis or a special class. These are not overly inhibitive, and I know plenty of honors students who take 5 (or more) classes, have a job, and maintain excellent GPAs.
Greg • Dec 3, 2013 at 1:46 am
“You are the best students at UMass, and every other student at this university looks up to you.”
Isn’t some variation of this told to every student within every group/organization/major?
Everyone has an ego. This is a fact of life. Stop being so butthurt.
(And by the way, this is coming from someone not in the Honors College)