This fall is the first official semester for Sacramento State’s GE honors program, which organizers hope will attract higher-achieving students with its smaller class sizes and discussion-based teaching.

Fifty-eight freshmen were admitted to the program and each was awarded a $500 scholarship, Honors Program Director Roberto Pomo said.

Classes that honors students take differ from regular GE classes because only 25-30 students are in each class and they’re usually based on group discussions instead of lectures.

Students in the program must take three honors courses each semester during their freshmen and sophomore years, along with three upper-division courses, for a total of 45 units of honors courses. The sophomore and upper-division courses are still under development, according to the Honors Program website.

The core of the honors program, according to its website, is a study on influential world literature such as the writings of Albert Einstein, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Homer’s Iliad, the Bible, the Koran and many others. The students will begin this program during their sophomore year. The program also includes honors courses in almost all of the other GE subjects.

Although many aspects of this program are still under development, students are enjoying it.”I love that we have the honors program,” said freshman Daniel Vasilchuk, a chemistry major. “It makes me feel like I’m a part of a community.”

And the program is beginning to be a reason why students choose the university for their higher education institution.

“The honors program was one of the determining factors for coming to Sac State,” said freshman Roberto Torres, a double major in government and communications. Torres said he is enjoying the small, intimate nature of the honors classes.

“They’re all pretty engaging,” said Torres.

Some honors students have formed an honors committee in hopes that it will serve “as a liaison between faculty and students,” by bringing the concerns of honor students to the faculty teaching the program, said Vasilchuk, who runs the committee’s website.

Torres, who is chair of the committee, said the committee discussed plans to hold events like an honors ball or potluck and has a lounge in Foley Hall 205 where honors students can gather to study and relax. The lounge, which is located across from Pomo’s office, is not used often, Vasilchuk said.

“We’ve only talked about a couple things,” Torres said, explaining that the committee is still in its preliminary stages.

Pomo said the honors program will need to be supported by outside donations, which would fund the lounge, outside activities and the necessary teacher fees. When faculty members teach honors classes, their departments must be paid to compensate for the class that the faculty member can no longer teach.

Pomo said an advisory board will be formed of people from the city and region who are committed to Sac State and this program. The board will help identify possible contributors to the program, Pomo said.

“My dream is to be able to say that (the honors program) can pay for your tuition,” Pomo said.

Sac State’s last honors program vanished in the 1970s, said George Craft, a professor of history and human and religious studies and founding director of the current honors program. Although faculty had discussed starting a new honors program in the late ’80s and early ’90s, a serious effort wasn’t made until 1998. But the idea was turned down in 1999 by faculty members.

Craft said some of the “older” members of Sac State’s faculty objected to the program.

“The older faculty came here from an egalitarian ethic, saying that the CSU system is here for the people,” Craft said.

Craft said the idea of an honors program at a public university like Sac State was considered discriminatory and that it “saved those who were already saved.”

This notion has been strongly rejected by participants and organizers of the program.

“Everyone has an equal opportunity to be in the honors program,” said honors student Karissa Horton, a freshman psychology major and Honors Committee secretary. “They can always strive to meet the requirements.”

“We’re letting (honors students) know that we care about them just like the university cares about athletes or band students,” Craft said.

Even though the honors program is in its infancy, Pomo has high hopes for its future. He hopes that it will change the way the school is viewed by other colleges and the community.

“(The honors program) will help elevate the academic reputation of Sac State,” said Pomo, who believes that with the help of its rapid growth and a well-respected honors program, Sac State could become one of the most highly respected schools in the state.

“I think Sac State will become the flagship of the entire CSU system,” Pomo said.

Students wishing to apply for the Sac State GE Honors Program must be incoming freshmen who have scored at least a 1200 on the SAT or 27 on the ACT or who had a cumulative high school grade point average of 3.5 or above. Students can make a request to be considered for the program if they do not meet these requirements.

Students who are eligible for the program must also complete a four-page application and submit a 500-word personal statement explaining why they should be considered.

Cody Kitaura can be reached at [email protected]