George F. Whitworth Honors Program

Thriving in the world as it is.

Developing the world as it should be.

The Whitworth Honors Program challenges talented and motivated scholars to pursue excellence of mind and heart, to cultivate leadership qualities and skills, and to commit to lives of service. The honors program does more than guide scholars to navigate the world as it is; it equips them to solve problems and to develop the world as it should be.

Featured News:

Wahiawā Botanical Gardens: The Art and Tradition of Lei Making

At the Wahiawā Botanical Gardens, the practice of lei making is taught to visitors, both to carry on the tradition and teach the significance of the weave to visitors, but also to aid in the onerous task of weaving approximately 53,000 lei for Memorial Day. The Wahiawā Botanical Gardens contributes 7,000 natural lei every year to the project. In the hour and a half the Whitworth students were there, we made one hundred woven Ti lei. Hundreds of organizations run similar lei making sessions for the five months leading up to Memorial Day, freezing the lei braids to keep them until May.

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January 29, 2026

Haoles in Hawaii: Trip to the Polynesian Culture Center

On the 5th day of the First Year Honors group’s stay in Hawaii, we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. After a long, sun drenched day full of information, performances, and beautiful scenery, most of us came away with a deeper understanding of Polynesian culture and the complex traditions preserved in places like the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center).

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January 25, 2026

Beach Cleanup on Mokulē‘ia Army Beach: A Jan Term in Hawai’i

To end our first week on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, the 2026 Jan term Honors class went down to Mokulē‘ia Army Beach, a 2-minute drive from our camp, to clean up trash from the beach for an hour. We split up into groups of 3 to 6, turning our project into a little competition of which group could collect the most trash.

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January 25, 2026
The Honors Program is designed for talented and motivated students to get even more out of their academic experience. We want them to be part of a culture that dreams big and does the hard work to get there. We have great students, and we strive to offer a program built on both aspiration and perspiration. The value comes in the process by which we pursue world-changing achievements.