Honors Program
Department Contact
Columbia, SC 29204
With the goal of contributing to greater scholarship for the entire campus and local community, Benedict College’s Honors Program addresses twenty-first century economic and racial injustices facing the global society. The program’s mission is to enhance the intellectual, cultural, and career opportunities for its critically inquisitive students.
Why Join the Honors Program?
- Special honors designation on graduation diplomas
- An exclusive Honors Program Capstone ceremony
- Special honors stoles to be worn with graduation regalia
- A bronze medallion as an Honors Program graduate
- Scholarship and internship opportunities
- Individualized guidance in preparing resumes and applications for fellowships and graduate study
Eligibility
- Minimum grade point average of 3.4
- Completion of 13 semester credit hours at Benedict College
- Completion of 10 service-learning hours
- Enrollment in Purple Briefcase with a completed resume
- Completion of the Honors Program Membership Packet
By The Numbers
Beyond the Classroom
The Benedict College Honors Program provides its scholars with learning activities outside of the classroom that expand their horizons and align their education to the broader world. In so doing, we prepare these exceptional students to become true leaders in their chosen fields of study. Some of our enrichment opportunities include the annual conference of the National Association of African American Honors Programs, the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship, the James Gaither Junior Fellowship, and the James E. Campbell Race and Social Justice Initiative.
National Association for African American Honors Programs
Benedict College Honors Program scholars participate in the annual conference of the National Association for African American Honors Programs (NAAAHP). This national academic organization provides honors students with opportunities to present scholarly research, network, debate, and compete academically. Our honors program student Arianna Minns presented her research “Is Social Media Becoming the Primary Source of News?” at the 2021 NAAAHP Conference.
Benedict College Honors Program scholars are eligible to apply for the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship. This program explores the impact that effective leaders have had on social justice movements and critical peace and conflict resolution efforts around the world.
Frederick Douglass Global Fellows will explore conflict and injustice from various perspectives and the leaders who sought to affect positive change for their communities and their countries. Fellows will return to America with new perspectives on how effective leaders influence positive social change and inspired to be the catalyst for positive change in their communities and in our world.
The Fellowship honors the legacy of the abolitionist and statesman who himself traveled abroad in 1845 and experienced first-hand efforts to overcome religious injustice, gender injustice and racial injustice. He returned to America in 1847 transformed and inspired to agitate for positive social change.
Gaither-Carnegie Jr. Fellowship
Benedict College is proud to be a participating college in the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows program. Each year its Carnegie Endowment for International Peace offers approximately 12 one-year fellowships to uniquely qualified graduating seniors and individuals who have graduated during the past academic year. They are selected from a pool of nominees nominated by several hundred participating universities and colleges.
Gaither Junior Fellows provide research assistance to scholars working within Carnegie’s programs, listed below. They have the opportunity to conduct research, contribute to op-eds, papers, reports, and books, edit documents, participate in meetings with high-level officials, contribute to congressional testimony and organize briefings attended by scholars, activists, journalists and government officials.
The Race and Social Justice Initiative
Mia Douglas
Arianna Bastian
Benedict College Honors Program students Mia Douglas and Arianna Bastian each received the James E. Campbell Race and Social Justice Initiative Student Leadership Award of $2,500 in 2022.
Sponsored by the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, the Student Leadership Award (SLA) is a $10,000.00 travel and research stipend divided amongst 10 student leaders who recognize the importance of social justice activism and are driven to become organizers of change. Inspired by the findings of the The State of Racial Disparities in Charleston County, South Carolina 2000–2015, a study conducted and published by RSJI, the SLA funds students who are actively seeking solutions for the pervasiveness of racial inequality and injustice within the Lowcountry, the South, and the nation. Applicants are required to write a proposal, which will be reviewed by the RSJI team, detailing their unique travel and research projects. At the conclusion of the funding semester, each award recipient will present their findings at the James E. Campbell Race and Social Justice Initiative Student Leadership Award Symposium.
Staff
Dr. Shaneen Dials-Corujo
Director, Honors Program
shaneen.corujo@benedict.edu
