The W.E.B. Du Bois Scholars Program was conceptualized in 1988 when then-College President Dr. Irving P. McPhail requested that a French professor named Dr. Miriam DeCosta-Willis start an Honors Society. Dr. DeCosta-Willis proposed the program be named in tribute to a man who has been called the most outstanding intellectual of the 20th Century. It was Dr. DuBois who stated, “You, our accomplished students, can and must become a part of the ‘Talented Tenth.’”
Several objectives aim to shape the development of the Honors Program to:
- identify academically gifted and talented students presently enrolled at the College
- attract gifted students, including transfer students and recent high school graduates, to the College
- motivate underperforming students to excel so that they will be invited to join the Program
- create an academic climate that will stimulate all members of the College community to perform to their greatest intellectual capacity
- counsel students to pursue and excel in a rigorous academic program
- assist students in preparation for graduate and professional work
- promote the college as the capstone of higher education in Memphis
At LOC, the Honors Program provides a novel approach to learning which is stimulating to the most motivated and ambitious students, rather than simply increasing the volume of material covered. The coursework activity completed by Honors students must be above and beyond what is done in the regular classroom. If students complete academic activity with a “B” or better, the course is labeled as “Course taken for honors credit.”
