CANYON, Texas — A trio of West Texas A&M University’s most accomplished students will be honored at a Nov. 30 reception.

Students from the Attebury Honors Program will celebrate their accomplishments and salute their advisers during the reception, set for 4:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in the Alumni Banquet Hall on WT’s Canyon campus.

“Attebury Honors Graduates engage in individualized honors pathways that include specialized courses, colloquial engagement, research activity, and presentation and leadership experiences,” said Dr. Carolyn Baum, Attebury Honors Program director and assistant professor in the Department of Communication. “These students are unique problem-solvers and are sure to enrich and elevate the communities in which they live.”

The program was established in 2001 to provide an enriched learning community for some of WT’s best and brightest students.

The students have taken specially designed courses under faculty from across the University, completed a capstone project unique to their skills and majors, and displayed leadership in their respective disciplines, Baum said.

Those honored will include:

• Madison Harmon, a biology major from Clovis, New Mexico, who wrote a literature review on how physicians assistants impact healthcare;
• Ashlyn Henslee, a psychology major from Boerne, who reviewed causes, correlations and effects of and interventions for procrastination in college students; and
• Logan Pinter, a computer science major from Amarillo, who published research into a virtual reality graphing calculator with the International Conference on Education and Multimedia Technology in Japan.

The graduating seniors will receive a special designation in the commencement program and a medallion at the Dec. 9 commencement ceremonies in the First United Bank Center on the Canyon campus.

Attebury Honors students initially enroll in honors sections of core curriculum courses taught by honors faculty that encourage development of exceptional written and oral communication skills with expanded content.

After taking courses within their major, students enroll in upper-level interdisciplinary honors seminar courses, where they critically consider local and global issues both past and present. Students are mentored throughout their degree by honors faculty from across the institution and complete an honors capstone research project or experience that showcase their unique talents.

Honors students also receive peer mentoring, priority registration and support for engagement in research conferences, internships and study abroad, and live in an honors-only residence hall.

The Attebury Honors program, which was endowed in 2007 by William H. and Joyce Attebury, includes 193 students.

Currently, 80 students come from the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, 10 from the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, 22 from the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences, 25 from the College of Engineering, 34 from the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities, 22 from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

The honors program is part of the rigorous educational environment laid out in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $150 million.