W.E.B. Du Bois General University Honors Program

The W.E.B. Du Bois General University Honors Program, designed for students who have demonstrated academic capability, fosters excellence in scholarship throughout the student’s college career by encouraging and promoting honors studies and activities in the total life of the University.

The program gives concrete expression to the conviction that academic excellence is the hallmark of the institution’s educational enterprise. Emphasis is placed on:

Broadly defined educational experiences, intensive and extensive in nature;

Academic performance that is scholastically sound, clearly and effectively communicated, and relevant to the concerns of the times;

Individual initiative, including self-organization and direction, coupled with cooperative teamwork in a community of scholars.

Some students are invited to join the Honors Program upon matriculation to Fisk University. Current students with a minimum GPA of 3.5 may apply to join the program in their sophomore or junior year. Applications are due early in the fall semester, and are submitted at https://www.fisk.edu/w-e-b-dubois-honors-program/.

Students accepted into the W. E. B. Du Bois Honors Program receive a number of benefits, listed at https://www.fisk.edu/w-e-b-dubois-honors-program/. To remain in the program, students must maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA. If a student’s semester GPA falls below 3.5, he or she will be placed on honors probation. If the student’s GPA falls below 3.5 a second semester, he or she will be removed from the program.

Students who complete the requirements of the Honors Program, including the senior honors project, graduate with General University Honors, a designation listed in the commencement program. The requirements of the honors program are as follows:

1. Complete either CORE 100-H (Honors New Student Orientation) or HON 111 (Introduction to the Honors Program)
2. Take at least one honors seminar at Fisk (counts towards the CORE curriculum)
3. Complete at least one of the following:
   1. -Study abroad
   2. -Complete a summer internship (approved by the honors director)
   3. -Complete a summer research experience, at a university other than Fisk (approved by the honors director)
   4. -Complete a substantial, individually-driven community service project (approved by the honors director)
   5. Take an additional Fisk honors seminar, or an honors seminar at Vanderbilt.
4. Apply for at least one prestigious fellowship, selected from the list of the honors program website or approved by the director of the honors program.
5. Complete a senior honors project, consisting of at least four credits (two semesters) of independent study. At least two credits must be completed by the end of junior year.