Inducting students from both the incoming classes of 2020 and 2021, this year鈥檚 ceremony welcomed 72 students into the honors program, making it the largest pinning ceremony to-date.
Photo provided by Bruce Bounnakhom
Annual Event Celebrates the Antonian Honors Community
On the evening of September 14, excited students and their families filled Our Lady of Victory Chapel to celebrate the annual Antonian Honors Pinning Ceremony. Inducting students from both the incoming classes of 2020 and 2021, this year鈥檚 ceremony welcomed 72 students into the honors program, making it the largest pinning ceremony to-date. The program was introduced by Rafael Cervantes, PhD, Director of the Antonian Honors Program, who then turned it over for remarks by President Becky Roloff '76, Provost Anita Thomas PhD, Senior Honors student Emily Robinson, and Antonian Scholar Veronika Paprocka 鈥18.
Before turning the ceremony over to President Roloff, Dr. Cervantes paid tribute to the memory of Susan Welch, a recently retired English faculty member who had regularly taught and developed courses for the honors program. 鈥I loved her joy and presence and hope I can show up as a professor with her kindness and compassion...May her memory be eternal.鈥 Following a respectful moment of silence, President Roloff welcomed students and praised the honors program for creating an academic community at St. Kate鈥檚.
Provost Thomas then shared the important role honors program and honors students play in 亚色影库鈥檚 Academic Master Plan. The next speaker was Senior English and Women鈥檚 Studies major, Emily Robinson, who has been a leadership fixture in the honors program since arriving at St. Kate鈥檚. She invited students to claim their education and connect with their peers in the honors community. Finally, honors program alumna Veronika Paprocka 鈥18 shared the ways in which work on her senior honors project uniquely prepared her for graduate coursework at New York University鈥檚 Steinhardt School, where she recently earned her MA in student affairs.
Following the ceremony, parents, family and friends gathered in the quad for a reception. It was a joyful time of community building and celebrating.
This year the Antonian Honors Program inducted 72 members in total, which included those whose ceremony was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the inductees, 22 members from the 2020 class and 50 from 2021. The Antonian Honors Program currently supports 212 students across baccalaureate programs. 25 seniors are working on their Senior projects which will culminate in public presentations in March and April 2022.
The Antonian Honors Program is now part of the Office of Scholarly Engagement which supports engaged learning across a student鈥檚 St. Kate鈥檚 experience. More information