Most students apply for the Honors Program during the process of applying to Christendom College. Students must have a minimum CLT score of 84, SAT score of 1280, or ACT score of 27, and must have been accepted to Christendom for the fall of 2027. Eligible students are contacted by the Director of the Honors Program and asked to submit a 500-word essay explaining their interest in the program. Complete applications must be submitted no later than January 31, 2027. Spots are limited to 24 students; additional applicants will be placed on a waitlist.

Students may also apply after completing their first semester at Christendom. Interested students must have a GPA of 3.5+ and complete an application interview with the Director.

Each tutorial consists of a faculty tutor and two or three honors students. The faculty member sets the topic and prepares a list of four to six sets of readings and an essay prompt for each set. For each meeting, all members of the tutorial study the prompt and assigned readings, but one student is assigned to prepare a 1250-1500 word seminar paper addressing the prompt. At the next meeting, the student provides hard copies of the paper to all members of the tutorial and reads the paper aloud. The tutor then lead the whole group in a critical discussion of the seminar paper and the readings on which it was based. Each student is expected to prepare two seminar papers in the course of the tutorial. The tutorials are graded pass/fail.

The Honors Program offers three kinds of seminars intended for three distinct sets  of students. Each semester we offer a special introductory seminar only open to first-year students. We also offer one or more seminars each semester open to all other honors students. Finally, the programculminates with a senior capstone seminar which students take in the spring of senior year.

The program begins with an introductory one-credit seminar on liberal education called “Leaving Plato’s Cave” co-taught by President Harne. The seminar is offered both fall and spring, so students may take the course either semester. It is a one-credit course, graded pass/fail.

The Honors Program culminates with a three-credit team-taught, interdisciplinary seminar which students take in the spring of senior year. The faculty and topic for the senior capstone seminar vary from seminar to seminar and semester to semester. Past topics have included “Community,” “Literature and Politics,” and “Theological Principles in Literature,” students are assigned a letter grade for the senior capstone seminar.

Each semester we also offer one or more one-credit seminars open to all non-first-year honors students. Like the senior capstone seminar, these seminars are team-taught and interdisciplinary. The faculty and topic for these seminars varies from seminar to seminar and semester to semester. These seminars are graded pass/fail.

“My experience in the Honors Program was truly a deepening of everything that Christendom’s education offers. I was able to delve deeply into the study of the liberal arts, reading everything from Benedict XVI’s Introduction to Christianity to Jane Austen’s Emma, and developing relationships with my professors and with other honors students who were also seeking a rich and full academic experience. Through readings, essays, and discussion groups, I gained a fuller and more integrated understanding of my Catholic heritage and of enduring truth. Most especially, my experience in the senior capstone seminar was enriching and inspiring, and strengthened my love for the pursuit of wisdom and virtue which I was able to develop throughout my studies at Christendom.”

– Meaghan P. ‘25

“The Honors Program allowed me to delve deeper into the areas of study that interested me and challenged me to read and analyze intellectual texts more carefully. The unique discussions with and mentorship from the professors took my academic pursuits to a new level, encouraging me to look beyond a surface understanding to a pursue an integrated form of knowledge. From Edith Wharton’s stunning prose to Pope St. John Paul II’s breathtaking Theology of the Body, all my Honors Program projects enhanced my education and enriched my appreciation of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful.”

– Helen D. ‘25

“For me, the Honors Program provided the opportunity for the most thought-provoking discussions of my entire college career. Each project, whether it was History, Latin, Literature, or Theology, showed me more and more of what it meant to engage with the core of the academic life: thinking deeply about the material I encounter in the pursuit of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. The capstone seminar, which brings all Honors Program students together in their senior year, was truly the richest and most rewarding course I have ever taken, and allowed me to use all the critical thinking, discussion, writing, and analysis skills that I had developed over my four years at Christendom.”

– John D. ‘25

“Sitting in a gazebo, listening as my student read a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem one beautiful Friday afternoon, I thought, “This is such a gift.” That semester, I had an Honors program project with two seniors, both non-English majors. The last time they were in my class was their freshman year. Yet in the proverbial blink of an eye, four years later, they were once again before my desk, wanting to include some “literary beauty” in their busy lives. So, we planned a rotating schedule that each week, one of us would choose a short story and poem, send it to the group, and then we’d meet to discuss it at the end of the week. I’ll admit that our plan to meet on Fridays at 4pm (the only time we all were free) at first seemed like an additional burden tacked onto the end of a long week, but happily, by each hour’s end, I always walked away with renewed energy and gratitude. My students agreed: to pause for an hour to read a poem out loud – pondering its meaning and discovering insights relating to faith and life – was leisure at its best. Those Friday gatherings are an example of the many fruitful Honor Program projects I’ve had with students over the years. They begin as a time of additional weekly study, yet they inevitably progress into a time of flourishing as we find within the literary works and our conversations nourishing food for our souls.”

– Dr. Kathleen Sullivan

“Born from the truth that the best education is personal, the Honors Program stands as a vital part of the intellectual life at Christendom College. It is a place where ‘iron sharpens iron’ and a place where professors and students—animated by a love of learning and the desire for God—engage in deep and sustained dialogue ordered to the highest wisdom.”

– George A. Harne, Ph.D., President

Dr. Jakub Voboril is the Director of the Honors Program and can be contacted via email at  jakub.voboril@christendom.edu.