High school seniors all across the country came to Union University Feb. 21-22 and Feb. 28-29 to compete in Scholars of Excellence. The Scholars of Excellence program allows prospective Union students to be acknowledged for their academic achievements and leadership experience.
“Prospective students have the unique opportunity to experience Union in a way that truly displays the excellence driven atmosphere we strive to achieve,” said Dan Griffin, vice president from enrollment management.
To be able to participate in Scholars of Excellence, students must be an incoming freshman for the Fall semester of 2020, have a minimum ACT score of 29, a minimum SAT score of 1330 or a 89 Classical Learning Test (CLT). Students could also be a National Merit Finalist, National Hispanic Scholar or National Merit Semi-Finalist. Students must also either be in the top 15% of their class rank or have a minimum 3.5 of 4.0 grade point average.
Scholars of Excellence weekend started on Friday afternoon. The students went to the Bowld Commons gym to meet their enrollment counselors and hosts for the weekend. All of the students then dressed in business attire and attended a nice dinner in the Carl Grant Center where President Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver spoke. After the dinner, the students went back to the dorm with their hosts while parents stayed in the Carl Grant Center for a Q&A session.
At night, the students had the option to go to Barefoots Joe to watch performances by Just Sisters, a Union student band, and Trella, a pop singer-songwriter based in Nashville, the first weekend and Blank Slate Improv the second weekend. These performances were a great opportunity for scholars to experience student life at Union before beginning the scholarship competition the next day.
“Scholars is the first big event that students share with the class they’ll come into Union with,” said Lydia Cyrus, sophomore social work major and student ambassador. “It’s also a great time to meet people and start friendships.”
On Saturday, the students met at White Hall and were welcomed by an enthusiastic admissions team who were eager to put the students’ minds at ease.
Each student attended a book discussion, a hot topic discussion and a personal interview with faculty members. Scholars are evaluated during the series of discussions and interviews and will be awarded scholarships based on their performances.
For many, coming to Scholars of Excellence makes all the difference.
“I couldn’t have been able to come to school here without the financial support from Scholars,” said Cyrus.
Photo courtesy of Kristi McMurry Woody
