In early April, eight undergraduate students in Mercy College’s Global Honors Program participated in the Northeast Regional Honors Council (NRHC) annual conference in Philadelphia. Several students also represented Mercy as presenters and committee members.
During the conference, students attended sessions on topics ranging from the 1971 Attica Prison uprising—which Pulitzer Prize-winning author Heather Ann Thompson spoke about during her remarks—to criminal justice, climate change, ethics, the role of the arts in creating societal change and the media’s impact on health. As part of a full-day City as Text activity, students explored Philadelphia through lenses including architecture, the arts, history, science and faith. They also socialized and networked with more than 400 other undergraduates from across the Northeast U.S.
“Being around all those ideas shows you a side of the world that you don’t always see when you're busy with your own life,” said Amrit Munir ’23, nursing major at Mercy College. “I felt so hopeful when I realized that there are a lot of people in our generation who are pushing for change, fighting for everyone’s rights and working toward a better future.”
The Northeast Regional Honors Council—a regional affiliate of the National Collegiate Honors Council—is an organization dedicated to supporting undergraduate honors learning. The council is comprised of almost 200 member institutions, including Mercy College.
“The conference expanded my knowledge and was a great opportunity to start building my career,” said Mercy student Alyssa Politi ’23 who is majoring in journalism with a minor in business. “I left with a desire to be more open-minded and more open to making connections outside of my major and even outside of Mercy.”
“We are extraordinarily proud of these students and are very grateful for the opportunity to learn from them and learn with them,” said Irina Ellison, Ph.D., chair of the natural sciences program and co-director of Mercy’s Global Honors program—alongside K. Patrick Fazioli, Ph.D. “They were truly transformed by this experience and are already planning their proposals for next year's conference.”
Mercy’s Global Honors program is a college-wide academic program that emphasizes interdisciplinary, collaborative, experiential and self-directed learning. Global Honors students attend small, seminar-style classes that allow for close interaction with faculty and peers, and they get the opportunity to participate in unique learning experiences and activities such as service learning, independent research and attending undergraduate conferences like NRHC.
“Joining the Global Honors program is one of the best decisions I've made so far,” said Munir. “It’s a whole new community of people who push you forward, stand by you and believe in you. It's made my college experience much more memorable and fun.”
