Macaulay Honors College

“There's something profoundly mesmerizing about exploring new cultures by immersing yourself in them. I'm living with a host family and eating and breathing everything that embodies Costa Rica.”
--Long Tran, Hunter '09
Student LIve

While at Macaulay Honors College, University Scholars have extraordinarily rich opportunities beyond the classroom. Co-curricular experiences such as internships, study abroad, and community service abound on each local campus and across the university. In addition, the Honors College encourages—through its own institutional partnerships and its Cultural Passport program—University Scholars to use New York City as a wider venue for engagement and exploration.

University Scholars also have an enormous array of local campus student activities and organizations open to them. Many University Scholars have founded their own organizations or taken leadership roles--from editor-in-chief of a campus student newspaper to captain of a sports team or leader of CUNY-wide community service projects. University Scholars also have opportunities to serve as Macaulay Honors Ambassadors, both at their home colleges and at Macaulay.

University Scholars recently formed their own council, to organize social events, develop a new Honors Code, and coordinate freshman mentoring projects.

University Scholars report that their faculty, mentors, and peers make a tremendous impact on their educational experience, both in and out of the classroom. The dynamic and supportive honors community—across the University and New York City itself—is at the heart of the Honors College mission.

"Macaulay Honors College students are vibrant and tremendously active. From the minute they reach campus, they seek ways to expand their horizons. Students relentlessly explore their interests by enrolling in the most challenging courses across a broad academic spectrum--whether in the arts, humanities, or sciences, there's a match. And with access to courses throughout the entire 23 colleges of the CUNY system, students find their intellectual appetites well-nourished by award-wining faculty. The learning continues outside of class as students participate in sports, community service, internships, theater productions, research assistantships, student government and a host of other activities. So by graduation, Macaulay students have cultivated a deep connection with their home campus and CUNY as a whole.

"Most of all, though, students relish the deep bonds they share with their peers. These bonds begin during orientation, grow through cross-campus seminars, and flourish in study abroad and international service-learning projects. With their eyes open and creativity engaged, students of the Macaulay discover their mutual visions and interests. And so inspired, they set out to live in NYC, and the world, during their college years, resulting in a number of unforgettable, enriching experiences and unimaginable relationships with peers and professors."

--Solita Alexander, EdM, Advisor, Macaulay Honors College, Hunter College