The Harrison Honors Program continues to grow, thanks to a generous gift in 2022 – a $700,000 gift from Dr. Donald C. Harrison ’54 and his wife Laura M. Harrison 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.

“The Harrison Honors Program adds breadth, depth, and complexity to the student’s education at BSC,” says Dr. Will Hustwit, associate professor of history and Honors Program director, who began overseeing the program in fall 2021.

“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, in 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.

The Harrison Honors Program’s emphasis on academic curiosity reflects 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.

Lauren Barnett, a senior economics major honors student, was drawn to the program’s interdisciplinary focus.

“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.”

The program also offers financial support for student research. In addition to senior research stipends, Hustwit hopes to create additional financial awards and scholarships to support honors students.

Barnett is grateful for the ways the honors program has enhanced her education. As the student facilitator, she has worked alongside Hustwit on changes and has seen the program thrive over her time 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.”

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Inaugural Honors Convocation

In October 2022, the Harrison Honors Program held its inaugural fall convocation featuring speaker Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Kennedy’s talk on the legacy of the civil rights movement was titled “Shall We Overcome?”

While in Birmingham, Kennedy conducted research on Walker v. the City of Birmingham for his upcoming book, “From Protest to War, Triumphs and Defeats in Struggles for Racial Justice, 1950 to 1970” and spoke with WBHM about the lasting implications of the case involving Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

His time on campus was spent meeting with Honors students and visiting with BSC alumni working in law.