On February 7-8, Union University hosted the annual Scholars of Excellence Weekend on campus.
Scholars of Excellence is an opportunity for qualifying high school students to demonstrate their knowledge and leadership ability in a series of collaborative competitions with other students on Union’s campus. They compete against other students to win the Founders’ Scholarship, a full-ride scholarship to Union University with all expenses paid, including tuition, board, books and meal plans. Though this scholarship is only awarded to one student, additional scholarships are awarded to other Scholars of Excellence participants.
“At any of our events, we try to focus on our core values. Scholars of Excellence is one of those events that encompasses all of our core values,” Amanda Chenault, director of campus events, said. “It’s an opportunity to show them that we are excellence-driven: one, in the sense that these are most excellent applicants that are invited.”
Scholars participate in one-on-one interviews with professors, group essay discussions and hot topic discussions. Students are judged based on the articulacy of their answers, thoughtfulness and leadership qualities.
“When they’re hearing from our president and through speakers throughout the weekend — even hot topics that they’re discussing in competition — it shows that we are Christ-focused,” Chenault said. “It gives them a good glimpse into that we are not just a Christian university by name, but we are really Christ-centered.”
“Scholars of Excellence really challenged me in a lot of ways,” recent alumni and former participant in Scholars of Excellence, Abbey Orwig, said. “It helped me get out of my comfort zone, prepared me to think critically and converse in a thoughtful and critical way and gave me a taste of what engaging with other minds in in the college classroom would be like. That whole experience enabled me to be stretched as a person and was a way the Lord provided for me to be able to attend Union.”
This is the first of two weekends’ worth of in-person competition, the second happening on the weekend of the 21-22 of February. A third weekend will host students virtually, allowing international and previously unavailable students to participate in the event via Zoom. After these three weekends, scores are tallied, and a single student will be chosen as the recipient of the Founder’s Scholarship.