Learning & Leadership for a Changing World
The RJ Fellows program is an honors community bringing together high-achieving and imaginative students who have demonstrated an exceptional intellectual and personal curiosity about change in the world. The program provides opportunities for Fellows to participate in challenging courses in the humanities, sciences and social sciences that develop their intellectual understanding of and capacity to affect change. RJ Fellows are diverse in their range of scholarly interests, backgrounds and talents. Whatever their future endeavors, every RJ Fellow exhibits the capacity to lead innovation in their chosen field.
Established in 2002, through the generosity and vision of Joseph and Rita Scheller, the goal of the RJ Fellows Program is to foster a community of students uniquely prepared to lead productive, informed and conscientious lives of leadership and service.
Introduction
RJ Fellows' interests in and commitments to change take many forms. While seeking to understand complex issues of change within their chosen field of study, RJ Fellows also take interdisciplinary courses in which they encounter various modes of theorizing and investigating change. Whether pursuing studies in neuroscience or education, art or economics, RJ Fellows are on the cutting-edge of their disciplines and know the value of thinking about change from multiple perspectives. In the first graduating class of RJ Fellows (2006), six of fourteen Fellows went directly on to graduate work at prestigious schools across the country. Eight Fellows in the RJ Class of 2006 received awards at Honors Convocation, recognizing their achievements in scholarship and service.
Two innovative culminating experiences shape the senior year. RJ seniors participate in an integrative Culminating Undergraduate Experience (CUE) and present a significant scholarly project at the annual RJ Fellows Senior Symposium.
RJ Fellows are exceptional not only for their intellectual achievements, but also in their contributions to the social vitality of their community, on campus and beyond. Fellows hold various leadership positions on campus, for example, as student body representatives, writing assistants, peer tutors, orientation advisors, and tour guides. They also participate extensively in afterschool programs for community youth, health programs for the public, and other organizations where they are challenged to contribute their knowledge and experience and to expand their perspectives in dialogue with community partners. It is this combination of intellectual curiosity about change in all its complexity and direct engagement with change that characterizes RJ Fellows.
Scholarship & Requirements
In order to maintain honors program scholarship, students must have a 2.5 cumulative G.P.A. at the end of their first year and a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. at the end of their second year. In addition, students must continually meet standards of good campus citizenship and meet all RJ Fellows program requirements.
To graduate with the "RJ Fellows" designation at graduation, students must have a 3.3 cumulative G.P.A. requirement, meet standards of good campus citizenship and meet all RJ Fellows program requirements.
