Bellavance Honors Program Earns Accolades on 30th Anniversary
SALISBURY, MD---An honors education should be rigorous, innovative and intimate, Dr. George Scouten told an audience of alumni, honors faculty and administrators at the recent 30th anniversary celebration of the Thomas E. Bellavance Honors Program.
A 1994 Honors alum, the award-winning teacher and Fulbright Scholar was the first student to represent SU at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR).
Director Richard England and Associate Director Lucy Morrison hosted the day, which saw the return of Honors Program founder Tony Whall and alumni from different 
eras. President Janet Dudley-Eshbach’s welcome and Provost Diane Allen’s remarks noted potential changes in the program including the possible establishment of an Honors residence hall, an idea several alumni welcomed.
In recent decades, Honors has played a distinguished role in the life of campus: Honors students, representing 4 percent of the campus, presented 20 percent of the papers at this year’s SU Student Research Conference. At this year’s NCUR, SU sent more students than the University of Maryland College Park and Towson and Johns Hopkins universities, and 33 percent of them were in Honors. The program had one of the first Living Learning Communities on campus and it has remained popular with students. England has also served as president of the Northeast Region Honors Council.
Special gue
sts for the day included Maryland Delegate and SU alum Norman Conway, and Maryland Senator Jim Mathias. Conway brought special citations, one from the General Assembly congratulating the program on its 30th anniversary, and the other from Governor Martin O’Malley which was “a special tribute to honor and celebrate the success of the Thomas E. Bellavance Honors Program and its ongoing commitment to students and educational excellence … the people of Maryland join together in expressing our great respect, admiration and sincere gratitude for your contributions to our state.”
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