George F. Whitworth Honors Program

Honors Life at Whitworth

Recent:

Chloe Stelly

Since going through the Education Department here at Whitworth, I have become increasingly interested in the academic achievement of our students here in Washinton. Education has changed so drastically over the years, and the hope is that we are still meeting the needs of our students in an ever-shifting society. Since Covid, state testing has dropped and has continued to do so which raises concern; how can our children get the best education when standards are so demanding? Is the education we are providing right now the education our students need? I wanted to study the effects that state standards have on primary children and whether or not an increase in academic performance is happening in our schools. The reason for this project is to study the impact of our state standards on the growth and development of our students.

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April 29, 2026

Jaylee Graham

Gen Z is arguably the most politically outspoken generation in history. From social media activism to grassroots organizing, we aren’t afraid to use our voices to demand change. Yet, there’s a frustrating paradox at the heart of our democracy: despite being the most vocal, 18–24-year-olds consistently remain in the demographic with the lowest voter turnout. This project is driven by one central question: What do we actually need to do to increase young voter turnout?
I believe that education is at the root of many of the systemic problems we see in the world today. If we want to change the trajectory of our society, we have to look at where our civic identity is formed. For the vast majority of Americans, high school is the last time they will be part of a formal, universal educational environment. This makes the high school classroom our final and most critical opportunity to reach every future citizen. If we aren’t using that time to effectively teach the voting process and the importance of civic agency, we are leaving the health of our democracy to chance.

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April 28, 2026

Evan Galle

Many college students arrive on campus without a clear picture of their semester-to-semester education actually costs or how to manage it. Watching Whitworth University peers navigate financial stress often without adequate tools or guidance, inspired me to complete this project. A personalized budgeting spreadsheet built exclusively for Whitworth students

The central question driving this project was: how can a practical, student-financial tool be designed to make budgeting accessible, accurate, and actionable for Whitworth students specifically? I found that generic budgeting advice and one-size-fits-all templates fail to account for the unique situations Whitworth students face. Students are having to juggle the various fees associated with attending, the different room and board types, and the realities of student jobs that help the budget, this project addresses the gap directly.

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April 28, 2026

Mariia Yazepova

AI is changing more quickly than ethical norms can keep up, especially in the profession of journalism (Simon, 2024). Although AI tools increase productivity, professional journalism’s survival and credibility are at risk due to their unchecked use. The human-centered principles that support press integrity are being undermined by automated news writing, copyright violations, and algorithmic disinformation (Simon, 2024). This project will compare human-reported stories to AI-generated failures, look at the ethical consequences of generative AI in journalism, and offer solutions for responsible innovation. Raising awareness of these dangers and promoting AI integration that complements human journalists rather than replaces them are the main goals. I decided to focus on this topic because I want to work in journalism, where these developments will have a direct impact on my future writing. As someone just starting out in the industry, I’m worried about how a reliance on AI might change my field of communications, possibly decreasing chances for original writing and eroding accountability standards. However, I am aware of the advantages these tools provide when used appropriately. In order to make sure that future industry professionals like myself can have credibility and ethical storytelling in an increasingly automated media landscape, this project reflects my interest in helping find a balance where innovation supports integrity.

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April 28, 2026

Upcoming Opprotunities:

Fall 25 Wrap Up

This Fall semester went by fast! With many speakers on campus, a new Democracy Lab, Honors Lunches galore, a new Co-Director Joy York, Banned Books week, many literary journals, and mentorship opportunities it’s no surprise we lost track of time!

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December 9, 2025

Jubilation Dance Ministry

Whitworth’s primary goal as an institution is to educate the ‘Mind and Heart’ of its students, but further than that, the Honors Program wants students to thrive in the world they are stepping into. A crucial part of that is in movement and education of the body, in addition to the trademarked ‘mind and heart.’

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December 1, 2025

Honors Peer Mentorship

There has been a new initiative within the Honors Program to emphasize peer mentorship. Within the last few weeks, Honors Junior and Senior mentors met with their underclassmen mentees.

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December 1, 2025

Internships:

Love and Healing

Along with a group of thirteen Whitworth students, I traveled to Guatemala, unaware of the profound impact this experience would have on us.

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February 6, 2025

Summer Fellowship Program

Whitworth’s Office of Church Engagement runs the Summer Fellowship Program, which places students with churches, camps, and nonprofits nationwide.

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November 13, 2024

On-Campus Spotlights:

Collecting Dust

Elizabeth Atwood is published in WSU’s The Palouse Review, an Honors Literary Journal, for her art piece “Collecting Dust.”

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December 9, 2025

Jubilation Dance Ministry

Whitworth’s primary goal as an institution is to educate the ‘Mind and Heart’ of its students, but further than that, the Honors Program wants students to thrive in the world they are stepping into. A crucial part of that is in movement and education of the body, in addition to the trademarked ‘mind and heart.’

Read More »
December 1, 2025

Honors Peer Mentorship

There has been a new initiative within the Honors Program to emphasize peer mentorship. Within the last few weeks, Honors Junior and Senior mentors met with their underclassmen mentees.

Read More »
December 1, 2025

Script Literary Journal

Whitworth is the proud host of a literary journal called Script. Script is a completely student-run journal that has been producing editions since 1987, and this year’s edition is collecting submissions from several new categories.

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October 31, 2025

Study Abroad:

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

Restoring Language

The prospect of entire languages going extinct, however, introduces questions: What is lost when a language dies? How do we revive a dying language?

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January 25, 2026

Green World Coffee Farm

Every day, an average of 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed across the world, and while Hawaiian grown coffee beans account for less than 1 percent of annual United States coffee consumption, the state still takes great pride in their coffee production.

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January 25, 2026

Research:

Evan Galle

Many college students arrive on campus without a clear picture of their semester-to-semester education actually costs or how to manage it. Watching Whitworth University peers navigate financial stress often without adequate tools or guidance, inspired me to complete this project. A personalized budgeting spreadsheet built exclusively for Whitworth students

The central question driving this project was: how can a practical, student-financial tool be designed to make budgeting accessible, accurate, and actionable for Whitworth students specifically? I found that generic budgeting advice and one-size-fits-all templates fail to account for the unique situations Whitworth students face. Students are having to juggle the various fees associated with attending, the different room and board types, and the realities of student jobs that help the budget, this project addresses the gap directly.

Read More »
April 28, 2026

Mariia Yazepova

AI is changing more quickly than ethical norms can keep up, especially in the profession of journalism (Simon, 2024). Although AI tools increase productivity, professional journalism’s survival and credibility are at risk due to their unchecked use. The human-centered principles that support press integrity are being undermined by automated news writing, copyright violations, and algorithmic disinformation (Simon, 2024). This project will compare human-reported stories to AI-generated failures, look at the ethical consequences of generative AI in journalism, and offer solutions for responsible innovation. Raising awareness of these dangers and promoting AI integration that complements human journalists rather than replaces them are the main goals. I decided to focus on this topic because I want to work in journalism, where these developments will have a direct impact on my future writing. As someone just starting out in the industry, I’m worried about how a reliance on AI might change my field of communications, possibly decreasing chances for original writing and eroding accountability standards. However, I am aware of the advantages these tools provide when used appropriately. In order to make sure that future industry professionals like myself can have credibility and ethical storytelling in an increasingly automated media landscape, this project reflects my interest in helping find a balance where innovation supports integrity.

Read More »
April 28, 2026

Ahmed Amir

Small businesses operate under constant time pressure, often leading to missed calls. Data shows that 62% of calls to small businesses go unanswered, and 85% of those callers will not try to contact the business again. This translates to an average loss of over $126,000 in annual revenue per business. While large corporations have the budget for advanced AI communication tools, small business owners are often left behind due to high costs and technical complexity. My project aims to bridge this “tech gap” by creating a functional prototype of an AI onboarding process and dashboard tailored specifically for small business needs. My research focused on how to make sophisticated technology user-friendly; I developed an onboarding system that allows a business owner to set up a custom AI agent through simple, non-technical steps. Additionally, I built a dashboard that visualizes critical metrics such as response times, booking rates, and engagement patterns in a clear, accessible format. By simplifying the configuration and monitoring of AI, this project demonstrates how automation can reduce friction, save time, and help small businesses capture opportunities that would otherwise be lost. My goal is to prove that with the right design, cutting-edge AI can be a tool for every entrepreneur, not just those with enterprise-level budgets.

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April 28, 2026

Megan Hirasaki

When I learned about bicultural perspectives in psychology at Massey University, I was asked to write a critical reflection about connecting the Māori concepts in psychology to my future career. As I researched previous studies and articles about Native Hawaiians for my critical reflection, I noticed that Native Hawaiian mental health research is limited, and some topics of current research include depression, health disparities, COVID, and the impacts cost of living; consequently, Native Hawaiians are often the most misrepresented in healthcare. According to McCubbin and Marsella (2009), Native Hawaiians have not only been excluded from health research but also have not been adequately supported financially when projects emphasize Native Hawaiians. Because of these systemic barriers behind research, Native Hawaiians deserve more attention in psychological research and need specific strategies on how to include their worldviews into the therapy room.

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April 27, 2026