Birmingham-Southern is watching the Harrison Honors Program in its renaissance as it continues to grow, thanks to a generous gift this year.

The program received a significant gift from Dr. Donald C. Harrison ’54 that will provide continual support to honors students and their academic goals. Harrison’s gift adds to his 14-year commitment to the honors program and 35 years of unwavering support to his alma mater.

This academic year has been a particularly good one for the Harrison Honors Program with an excellent start from Dr. Will Hustwit, Associate Professor of History and Honors Program Director, who began overseeing the program in fall 2021.

Dr. Will Hustwit in his honors class.

“The Harrison Honors Program adds breadth, depth, and complexity to the student’s education at BSC,” Hustwit says. “The ideal honors student is intellectually curious, knows how to make distinctions and ask thoughtful questions, enjoys reading, recognizes weak or sloppy arguments, including his or her own, and loves learning.”

Students in the program enroll in honors-specific curriculum designed to promote discussion in and out of the classroom. The program culminates in the honors capstone, for which students work on individual projects outside of their majors with faculty mentors. As of this year, honors students also have access to a newly renovated Honors Commons along with the same small, interdisciplinary classes that have always been part of the program.

Raised in Blount County, Dr. Harrison was encouraged by his mother to pursue his academic and athletic interests, leading to his entry in an oratorical contest held at BSC that provided a one-year scholarship to the winner. After his selection for the award, he attended BSC, and he looks to his solid, interdisciplinary education as an important part of his life.

The Harrison Honors Program’s emphasis on academic curiosity reflects Dr. Harrison’s own passions throughout his education and career. Harrison served as chief cardiologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine for 19 years and as senior vice president of medicine and provost at the University of Cincinnati for 17 years, and he saw extraordinary medical advancements and educational programs in both positions.

The College honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1972 and awarded him an honorary Doctor of Law degree in 1996, when he served as a commencement speaker. Dr. Harrison and his late wife, Laura McAnnally Harrison, chose to help other students following in his footsteps, and he and his family continue to support students on the Hilltop as a testament to his own experience.

Newly renovated Harrison Commons.

Lauren Barnett, a senior economics major and honors student, was drawn to the Harrison Honors Program because of its interdisciplinary focus. When she first came to BSC, she was not sure what she wanted to study or pursue after college, and honors courses allowed her to explore multiple options.

“The Honors Program offered not only a wide range of courses – from photography to religion to natural sciences – but also courses that focus on interdisciplinary learning,” Barnett says. “This allowed me to simultaneously explore multiple disciplines in one course and see what subjects I was passionate about far more quickly.”

Thanks to the generosity of the Harrison family, the program also offers financial support for student research, which has elevated Barnett’s honors capstone. For her research, Barnett will study ethical production within the craft chocolate market in contrast to mass chocolate producers like Hershey, Mars, and Nestle that are linked with unsustainable production methods. The Harrison Honors Program provided her with a stipend that covered her professional chocolate tasting certification and travel expenses to Boston, where she visited several craft chocolate factories.

In addition to senior research stipends, Hustwit hopes to create additional financial awards and scholarships to support honors students. He is also looking forward to next fall’s Honors Convocation with inaugural speaker Dr. Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, who will give a campus-wide talk on race in contemporary America.

Barnett is grateful for the ways the honors program has enhanced her education. As the student facilitator, she has worked alongside Hustwit on new changes this year and has seen the program thrive over her four years at BSC.

“The Honors Program truly embodies what a liberal arts education should be and perfectly complements the stellar education that Birmingham-Southern already offers,” Barnett says. “Every professor who has created an honors course is adamant about including perspectives from multiple disciplines and emphasizing the importance of exploring multiple points of view on one topic. Through this, the Honors Program produces a community of both professors and students that loves learning for the sake of learning and appreciates a wide array of disciplines and perspectives.”