2026 Sigma Tau Delta Convention
Whitworth’s active Sigma Tau Delta chapter had five students accepted to present at the 2026 Convention in New Orleans!
December 9, 2025
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.’
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.
Come see Whitworth’s production of Little Women March 7th/8th, 14th/15th at 7:30pm, doors at 7:00pm, or March 16th at 2:30pm, doors at 2:00pm
SIRC is a conference sponsored by Whitworth and Gonzaga University for undergraduate students across Spokane to present their research and creative works.
The first Honors Lunch Network of the Spring semester focused on how to get internships and faculty research assistantships.
Whitworth to send 9 presenters to the Sigma Tau Delta, an international English Honors Society, Conference March 19-22 in Pittsburg, PA.
Come see Whitworth’s production of Little Women March 7th/8th, 14th/15th at 7:30pm, doors at 7:00pm, or March 16th at 2:30pm, doors at 2:00pm
Whitworth to send 9 presenters to the Sigma Tau Delta, an international English Honors Society, Conference March 19-22 in Pittsburg, PA.
Kyle Marquez spent his summer interning with the Department of Agriculture, specifically the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Washington.
This semester, the Honors Program and its students were hard at work promoting our message of thriving in the world as it is and developing it as it should be.
Over the summer of 2023, Kate Vaccaro undertook an intensive 4-week program at Oxford University, one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
Going to Oxford had always been one of Kate’s dreams. “As a person who loves academics, the richness of learning there has always been appealing,” she said.
Our time spent in the Holy Land was rich with fellowship and joy, and highlighted the beauty of diversity in which God connects with his children. Beyond the spiritual encounters we had, there was an enlightenment of knowledge and understanding that came from the Biblical sites we saw, guides we were molded by, and the history we became familiar with during fall of 2022.
For Jan Term 2023, a group of freshmen Honors students travelled to Italy. Read about their journey through the Doge Palace and exploration of it’s historic and artistic value.
On our last day in Florence, Italy, the Honors group visited the Musuem of the Innocents, also known as the Hospital of the Innocents. A deeply emotional experience, the museum offered incredible insight as to what life might have been like for children whose families were unable to take care of them while the hospital was still in operation. Well-kept records and well-preserved artifacts were on display for all to see, telling tales of sorrowful loneliness and joyful reunions.
Modern language has become violent in a way that abstracts our words from their actual meanings. Phrases like “slay” “break a leg” “you’re killing it” and many others reveal how violence has settled into quotidian linguistics. This reorientation towards violence desensitizes people to its larger social implications and promotes inadequate communication. Language that was once, and by dictionary definition still is, seen as violent or harmful is now utilized in neutral or even uplifting ways. Desensitization towards larger problems in society like gun violence, racism, global warming, etc. engenders an escalation of language in order to gain an appropriate reaction to said issues.
My project, MisMatch, started from a real-life frustration — how much time and energy it takes just to pick an outfit. Research shows that people spend around 102 hours a year deciding what to wear (Marks & Spencer), and about 50% of Americans say it’s the most stressful part of getting ready for an event (Trunk Club). At the same time, the fast fashion industry produces around 92 million tons of textile waste each year (UNEP), most of which ends up in landfills. I wanted to create something that helped people in their everyday lives while also promoting more sustainable habits.
Aging Americans and their caregivers should have easy access to dignifying end-of-life care. The rapid increase in the 65+ population requires policy innovation in current Medicare regulation concerning hospice. Coordinated, intentional efforts between government and private sector providers, insurance navigators, community organizations, and houses of worship are also needed to change public attitudes towards hospice care, encourage referrals, increase uptake, and offer emotional, psychological, and spiritual support.
Broadly speaking, our world tends to see religion as a sort of ‘meaning-making’ device. In faith, one is able to carve divine order into the chaos and fragmentation of the human experience. This makes faith a vehicle for hope—for settling the existential realization that nothing in our lives makes sense. The premise of this project, however, challenges that assumption: What if grasping after order and unity is not a source, but an obstruction to our ability to embrace life?