Tulane Scholars Program seeks freshman applicants

Selby White, Staff Reporter

Tulane Scholars is a startup branch of the Honors Program beginning this fall and offers faculty mentoring, priority for research funding and specialized classes for freshmen.

While the eligibility requirements for the program are relaxed — one must simply be a full-time incoming student — the expectations are far from easily attainable. The Honors Faculty Committee reviews applicants looking for driven students with a passion for learning and scholastic ambition.

“We are looking for student[s] who [are] academically engaged, intellectually focused, seeking a scholarly community, and being a part of the intellectual life of the university,” Charlotte Maheu Vail, associate director of the honors program, said. 

“The idea is that they are guided along their academic career with a faculty mentor in terms of their own academic pursuits, their own intellectual pursuits and having a scholarly community that fosters that,” Vail said.

The Tulane Scholars program hopes to create a more structured collection of students who are inspired enough to ask provocative questions and who wish to look outside of the classroom for more learning. Organizers hope the program will be comprised of students of different majors and interests to create a diverse and curious community.

“We are interested in having all fields of study because we want them to have an understanding of the research opportunities in their area of study,” Vail said. “We want them to have an understanding of ways in which they can become engaged in the intellectual life of the university.”

Along with the honor of being selected, Tulane Scholars are promised a myriad of benefits making this opportunity even more desirable. Tulane Scholars receive advantages such as faculty mentoring, specialized courses, priority for Honors summer research funding, post-graduation advice and guaranteed entrance after freshman year into the Honors’ living-learning residence hall, Weatherhead Hall.

The program is intended to help students connect with a group of like-minded students. Tulane Scholars also take two classes on a variety of subjects. The first class will expose them to multiple fields of study and a second class will narrow in on the students’ more specific interests. 

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