Message from the Dean

Welcome to the Pennoni Honors College at Drexel University.

Since the founding of the Honors Program at Drexel in 1991, Honors has been a vital presence on campus, developing into a self-standing College in 2002. In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our long-awaited Honors House, Bentley Hall, was completed. It is an addition to the Bentley student residence, which opened in 2019. Bentley is a meeting place for students across campus and across disciplines, providing the chance for them to enrich each other and become broadly educated through programming and course opportunities.

We thank Gregory and Caroline Bentley, the Pennoni Advisory Board, and Drexel alumni for making this building and its programming possible. We also acknowledge our benefactor, Drexel alumnus and former interim President, C.R. "Chuck" Pennoni, for helping make Honors an unparalleled site of innovation, creativity, and intellectual exchange.

The College sponsors initiatives that serve all Drexel students interested in pursuing excellence. We encompass three units: our Academic Programs unit includes the Honors Program, the Custom-Designed Major, the interdisciplinary problem solving minor, and the theme-based Symposium; our Undergraduate Research and Enrichment Programs offers research through STAR and SuperNova; mentoring through the Aspire Program; and opportunities to prepare and apply for competitive grants and fellowships; the Marketing and Media unit offers students involvement with a nationally recognized online journal, The Smart Set, and an array of programming connected to our Center for Civil Discourse, including a nationally distributed television talk show, The Civil Discourse. Please check out the links for more information on these units and the events and programs associated with them.

The Pennoni Honors College has a range and depth of offerings unique among Honors Colleges in the country. Involvement with the College helps students become the best they can be: broadly educated, socially engaged, and culturally and intellectually fulfilled.

Paula Marantz Cohen
Dean
Pennoni Honors College
Distinguished Professor of English