New Team and Lounge
We’ve got some new additions to the Honors Team and a new hang out spot in Westminster Hall!
September 14, 2026
We’ve got some new additions to the Honors Team and a new hang out spot in Westminster Hall!
Fall semester is here, and so are the semester’s Honors Lunches! We’ve got some interesting new topics, new faculty discussion leaders, and a new location. This year, our Lunches will take place in the Fireside Room in the Library (#102) from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. I look forward to our discussions this semester!
In September of 2025, youth and Gen-Z individuals in Nepal overthrew their corrupt government through a series of protests and riots. They voted for their interim prime minister through Discord, and throughout the protests, the world saw Gen-Z laughing and joking their way through a major historical event. Gen-Z has been nicknamed the “unserious generation”, but in Nepal they also led the movement that led to a significant change in government. This begs the question of how this will inspire other Gen-Z protestors and activists across the world. How does Gen-Z view violence as an actor for change? Do they use humor as a tool, strategy, or a way to cope? How necessary is humor for Gen-Z’s activism? In my academic project, I explored these questions by looking at a variety of examples all over the world, with a focus on Nepal. As someone who is Gen Z, loves memes and humor, and is interested in political activism, I think that this project is important to see how young people are actively changing the world around them.
Students with disabilities (SWD) make up 17-19% of the student population in higher education institutions. However, research focused on them accounts for only 1% of papers published in education journals. Furthermore, disabled students are less likely to enroll in science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) courses compared to their abled peers. Researchers have posited that this may be due to both physical barriers, such as inaccessible laboratories, and cultural ones, like negative experiences with peers and faculty. So what can universities do to improve the landscape of their STEM cohorts to make them more equitable and inclusive for students with disabilities? Existing research has suggested a variety of solutions, ranging from implementing Universal Design Learning (UDL) to purchasing specialized lab equipment. But there does not yet exist a compilation of the current recommendations for interventions and best practice for improving equity and accessibility in STEM departments. In this project, I will examine the specific challenges faced by SWD in the classroom and laboratory, interventions to improve challenges faced, and practical suggestions institutions can utilize to effectively implement the interventions in their STEM programs.
The Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference (SIRC) is a conference sponsored by Whitworth and Gonzaga University for undergraduate students across Spokane to present their research and creative works.
Your Planning Guide to 2026 Fall Term Registration!
For the last five years, Whitworth Honors has used old COVID plexiglass screens as research poster presentation boards. This One Pine Day, consider donating to ensure our Honors students have sturdier, more professional, and multi-use presentation boards in the coming years.
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!
Your Planning Guide to 2026 Jan Term, Spring, and Summer Registration!
Honors Political Science student, Nyah Hill, spends Spring 2025 in Tanzania learning everything she can about her home away from home.
The first Honors Lunch Network of the Spring semester focused on how to get internships and faculty research assistantships.
Along with a group of thirteen Whitworth students, I traveled to Guatemala, unaware of the profound impact this experience would have on us.
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!
Whitworth’s active Sigma Tau Delta chapter had five students accepted to present at the 2026 Convention in New Orleans!
Elizabeth Atwood is published in WSU’s The Palouse Review, an Honors Literary Journal, for her art piece “Collecting Dust.”
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.’
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.
The prospect of entire languages going extinct, however, introduces questions: What is lost when a language dies? How do we revive a dying language?
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.
Honors Political Science student, Nyah Hill, spends Spring 2025 in Tanzania learning everything she can about her home away from home.
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.
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.
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.
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.