Honors Director Announces New Classes

The Honors program hosted its annual Honors Reception on Sept. 26 at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) in downtown Florence.
The event had various members of the Honors program meet in the lobby of the PAC where there were food and drinks. The mingling was then followed by everyone gathering in the auditorium, where Honors Director Chris Kennedy gave a speech about the program, announced the results of the Honors Student Advisory Council (HSAC) election and announced the upcoming Honors courses for the spring 2025 semester.
“It’s just a series of, really, announcements or previews of what’s to come,” Kennedy said.
After then advertising the Rock the Vote event happening that same night and the importance of voting, Kennedy listed the Honors courses planned for the spring 2025 semester.
“Dr. Hubert Setzler is going to be doing the Honors Leadership Symposium,” Kennedy said. “Dr. Kyle Morgan is doing a new special topics course, the rights to privacy in the digital age. Another brand-new special topic course, Dr. Brian Jones is doing the history of African American music.”
These, among several others, are courses that will be available to all Honors students in the spring 2025 semester. Kennedy encourages students to start planning their classes for the next semester and to keep these Honors courses in mind while doing so.
“Please speak with these professors or come see me, so we can start talking about these things,” Kennedy said. “Your priority registration starts October twenty-third.”
Next on the agenda was the annual fall semester trip the Honors program takes. Last year, the location was Washington D.C. At the reception, Kennedy announced this year’s location to be the city of Philadelphia.
Kennedy also announced the destination for the Honors ambassador spring break trip to be Burgos, Spain, where FMU has also partnered for international studies programs.
As has been tradition, the newly elected HSAC officers were announced at the reception.
“One of the positions we actually just established this fall is the social media coordinator,” Kennedy said. “Our very first HSAC social media coordinator for 2024 to 2025, from Lake City, South Carolina, majoring in nursing, is Emily Palmer. The HSAC vice president for 2024 to 2025, from Effingham, South Carolina, majoring in nursing as well, is Willie Daniels. The HSAC president for 2024 to 2025, from Lugoff, South Carolina, majoring in political science and Spanish, is Sadie Price.”
The last item on Kennedy’s list was the recipient of the Honors Faculty Mentor Award for 2024. The award was made for Honors faculty members who go above and beyond to help teach classes and support students working on their Honors thesis.
“This year’s recipient her BS right here in 2009 at Francis Marion University,” Kennedy said. “She joined our faculty in 2015 and has been a brilliant member of our faculty ever since. I am pleased to award the 2024 Honors Faculty Mentor Award to associate professor of biology, Dr. Jennifer Lyles.”
After handing out the award, Kennedy gave his closing remarks before dismissing the assembly. While some students left the event directly after the reception, some stayed behind to take pictures or continue talking with their peers.