Two ODU Students Lauded at Honors College Conference
April 27, 2017
Student Honorees at the Virginia Collegiate Honors Council Conference
Two Old Dominion University students were among the honorees when 150 honors students and faculty from 16 Virginia and West Virginia institutions gathered at the University in early April.
At the Virginia Collegiate Honors Council (VCHC) Conference on April 7 and 8, Blake Steiner, a senior biology major, received the best oral presentation prize, and Betty Gowans, a junior majoring in fine arts, won the prize for best art exhibition.
The conference is a forum for honors students from Virginia and West Virginia to present their scholarly and creative work and network with their peers.
"These are some of the most promising students in the Commonwealth," said David Metzger, dean of Old Dominion's Honors College and VCHC vice president. "The caliber of student research and creativity at this conference is some of the best that I've ever seen. I hope to see some of these students come to Old Dominion for their bachelor's degrees or graduate school."
The theme of this year's conference was "Adventures in Honors." The opening sessions on Friday were at the Virginia Zoological Park, where students participated in a service learning project creating items for animals.
The conference introduced two new formats: an art exhibition and a Flash Talk competition. For the first time, an online compilation from this year's conference was created, hosted by the ODU Digital Commons.
The Virginia Collegiate Honors Council (VCHC) joins universities, colleges and community colleges throughout Virginia and West Virginia to support and enhance programs and activities to meet the needs of honors students. The council's mission is to:
- Provide a forum for sharing information about honors programs;
- Provide students with greater opportunities for intercollegiate honors programs activities, collaborating with regional and national organizations that have similar goals;
- Encourage articulation between two- and four-year honors programs; and
- Increase public and private awareness of and fiscal commitment to honors programs and projects.
