On September 2 and September 3, the Honors College kicked off the 2026-2027 academic year with their first ever open house. The two day event took place in Cajon Hall on each day from 10am to 1:30pm. Upon entering the honors building, students were met with robust and exciting energy as they were able to freely hop from conversation to conversation among other students and faculty, including the dean of the Honors College, Caroline Vickers, and the college’s new Interim Director, Yolonda Youngs. All faculty members were excited to introduce themselves, meet new members of the honors college, and make themselves readily available to students with any questions. The college offered desserts, beverages, and other snacks all catered by the Coyote Commons.

During the event, the college held various giveaways, offering students air fresheners, Honors College themed Stanley waterbottles, and Honors College notebooks to any student who followed their instagram or facebook account. In addition to these giveaways, they also gave away free honors tote bags to the first 100 attendees on each day. In previous years, the college held an orientation for incoming students as a way to create a familiarity among students and faculty as well as to serve as an introduction to what is expected from honors students. This year, the Honors College plans to replace that with a new “Weeks of Welcome.” With over 200 students in attendance in total, it is only the start of the college's “Weeks of Welcome” events.

Honors faculty member Professor Tabitha Zarate says that she believes the open house can be helpful to students in ways that their previous orientation format couldn’t be. “Here we have deans and professors more readily available, whereas with an orientation it’s usually just staff and the director,” Zarate explains.

The honors college student coordinator, Brandon Landrum, says that he has “a strong belief that the [weeks of welcome] will bring the community together… We're gonna have the opportunity to bring students, whether they’re first year, second, third, or fourth, all together.” Landrum also says that many students have a misconception of the honors program and believe that it is too challenging or difficult to get into. He says he hopes the open house will allow students to “just talk, get to know us, meet the staff, and see what the Honors College is really about and all the perks students get for being a part of the college”.

To accompany the open house in the Weeks of Welcome, the Honors College has various other events planned for the month of September including an author’s book signing on September 15 and a collaborative event with student housing on September 14.