Freshman Steak Dinner 2017

Seen at the Freshman Steak Dinner

2017 Entering Class

We welcome our largest class ever. SAU is growing and so is the Honors College

Nash Visits Cameroon

Laura Nash

We had adventures trying to retrieve our money transfers from the banks. The roads were very rough and had seemingly chaotic drivers everywhere. I had the pleasure of tasting some foods outside of my comfort zone: pangolin, porcupine, and goat!

I visited a small scale and a large-scale palm tree plantation and observed their different practices. I visited a research facility which had 5 different departments of study. The entomology sector had over 10,000 insects native to Cameroon encased. All soil testing for Cameroon, and several other parts of the continent, occurs at the IRAD facility.

At the rubber tree plantation, Hevecam, we observed the entire process from seeding to shipment all in one place. They were an Indian owned company whose practices were very good for sustainability. They had 33 schools on their land and housing for employees and much more. I also visited the Cameroon Department of Agriculture, where we learned their objectives and goals for their country as well as how to achieve they plan to achieve them. I traveled to 2 villages to pass out medical supplies and school supplies.

My group also paid for workers to come and fix the wells so that the people had easier access to cleaner water. I took my baths with boiled water mixed in another bucket that had cold water. I visited the ocean in Kribi for a night and it was beautiful! I sang and danced with the locals and just got a true experience of their culture. It was such an amazing trip and I would love the opportunity to go again!

Meet the Honors College Staff

1. From L to R David Wingfield, assistant director; Laura Nash, student worker; Bosede Edeniyi, graduate assistant; Ishwor Amgain, graduate assistant.

The crack SAU Honors College staff pauses briefly to pose for a picture prior to the 2017 Matriculation Ceremony.

David Wingfield has been with the Honors College since Day 1 and is the glue that holds the ship together. He can solve nearly any problem.

Laura Nash is in her second year as our student worker and has already traveled to Cuba and to Cameroon in pursuing her studies in agriculture and accounting.

Bosede Edeniyi is our newest staff member having joined us in summer 2017. She's from Nigeria and is studying Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Ishwor Amgain is from Nepal and is our technical guru. He handles all of our Web-based efforts and much more.

Davis attends Summer Undergraduate Experience Program

Gabrielle Davis

Honors student Gabrielle Davis attended The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program at Arkansas State University (ASU) Office of Diversity this summer.

The goal of the intensive four-week program is to prepare students to flourish in graduate school. Davis had to write a 20-page paper as part of the program. She chose, African American Underrepresentation in the 115th Congress as her paper topic. Dr. Veena Kulkarni of ASU served as her mentor for the paper.

See her Prezi presentation HERE

The programs covered lots of intellectual bases: law enforcement, social work, financial management, professional development, and photography. The group also traveled to the National Civil Rights Museum housed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis (the site where Dr. King was assasinated).

Davis reported a greater sense of academic purpose and potential for future accomplishment following the program. She now feels that she will succeed (as if there were any doubt!) when she attends graduate school in Business Administration.

She also got to meet former SAU psychology faculty member Dr. Loretta McGregor who currently teaches at ASU.

SAU at Versailles

As you can see, I did not take this picture, our guide did. I wonder how she got my iPhone to work better for her?

The weather held for us again today. We spent nearly three hours touring parts of Versailles, Louis XIV's "hunting lodge."

After we looked at the famous gardens behind the building (I rented a golf cart, btw). Hard to believe that the French kings lived such lives while their subjects suffered poverty, poor health, and early death.

We'll be home Monday and are not looking forward to that 8.5 hour flight. At least we'll be flying west so we'll gain some of that time back.

Zoave of the Seine

 Historic Flood Levels on the Seine

The Zoave today

On our boat ride today we learned about the Zoave (type of French soldier) that stands near Pont de l'Alma bridge. Many worry that the Seine will flood more often and more hazardly than in the past because of global warming.