Honors Programming Board

The Honors Programming Board is comprised of six student leaders who work closely with the Honors Program staff to plan activities in a variety of areas that reinforce Honors Core Values and the Honors Mission outside the classroom.  Program areas include:  Social Events, On-Campus Honors Program Events, Off-Campus Honors Program Events, Service Events, and New Student Recruitment.

Honors Programming Board Assistants

Coordinator of Honors Program Social Events

Name: Elizabeth Clark

Major: Music and Psychology

Hometown: West Branch, MI

In my role as Coordinator of Honors Program Social Events, I help plan Honors on-campus traditions such as the Honors Winter Charity Ball, Honors Coffee House, The Claude S. Larzelere Trivia Challenge Competition, and Honors Potlucks. I am excited to coordinate these events because I want to bring Honors students together and give them a time and space to destress and make memories. I am also appreciative that Honors faculty often join us for these types of events which provide opportunities for mentoring and relationship building. As I plan activities, I am hopeful that students will have fun, try new things, and come to appreciate new interests. Some ideas I have for future Honors events involve the arts such as hosting Painting/Crafting Parties, Yoga Night and also some Honors board game and trivia nights! I am also open to hearing your ideas so please feel free to contact me with any ideas you have for social events!

Co-Coordinator of Service Events

Name: Brooke Galloway

Major: Communications

Hometown: Otsego, MI

In my role as Coordinator of Service Events, I plan opportunities for Honors students with local organizations such as food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, youth mentoring programs, women's services, civic organizations and environmental projects. I am also responsible for coordinating service trips outside of mid-Michigan to places such as Flint, Detroit and Grand Rapids.  Serving the community is beneficial to Honors students because it provides us with an opportunity to encounter people and social issues in our world that we have the power to impact.  Service provides the Honors community opportunities to use our privilege to make waves of change in communities around our state, as well as an opportunity for our community to become stronger through shared experiences. I am excited to coordinate these events because I am extremely passionate about the impact that serving the local and neighboring communities can have on those being served as well as those doing the serving!  The gift of our time is the most precious gift we can give, and it has this powerful ability to uproot preconceived ideas about social issues and groups of people and can liberate us from the trap of stereotyping.  I look forward to serving the Honors community in this role.  If you have any ideas for service projects please reach out to me and I will do what I can to find opportunities that meet your interests.

Co-Coordinator of Service Events

Partaking in acts of service is a great way to give back to the community and form a sense of accountability for the greater good. Within the Honors community, service teaches students from all walks of life and backgrounds the importance of compassion and understanding for the situation of others. It allows us to use our platform to raise awareness about social issues that are impacting our community and campus. Service provides students with an opportunity to improve the local community and advocate for causes they are passionate about. In my previous experience, I have planned a fundraiser at Ponder Coffee Co. for the CMU Student Food Pantry, participated in a week-long alternative break, and have volunteered with local organizations. Aside from helping plan service opportunities for Honors students, one project I hope to help with is creating a thrift store on campus. The thrift store would be for students, by students, and the money raised would go to a selected organization or charity. Feel free to reach out and contact me if you have any service events you are passionate about! 

Coordinator of On the Road Events

Name: Erica Roman

Major: Event Management

Hometown: Harrison Twp., MI

In my role as Coordinator of On the Road Honors Events I plan activities for the Honors community outside the mid-Michigan area.  Some examples of past Honors on-the-road events include day trips to Chicago and Toronto, the Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk, Broadway plays and musicals at the Wharton Center and Detroit Opera House, the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, the Holocaust Museum in Farmington Hills and Art Prize in Grand Rapids.  Some trips are day trips and some are overnight or weekend trips.  I am excited to coordinate these events because I think it is a great learning opportunity for students to experience places and events in our larger world, beyond Mt Pleasant, that they can't experience here on campus.  Faculty and international students often join us for these types of excursions which adds to the camaraderie and bonding experience.  If you have ideas for museums, fine arts performances, festivals or special events please let me know and I will do my best to help coordinate trips that match your interests.  

Coordinator of On-Campus Honors Program Events

Name: Alex Kahmark

Major: Psychology

Hometown: Portage, MI

In my role as Coordinator of On-Campus Honors Program Events, I help plan and implement a series of events designed to engage Honors students with faculty, staff, offices, departments, colleges and campus speakers.  Some examples of past events include the Honors Fireside Chat Series with faculty guests, Dinner with the CMU President, helping build an exhibit at the CMU Museum of Cultural and Natural History, hand-dying scarves with apparel faculty, and special private tours of facilities such as science labs, the Child Development and Learning Lab, the rock wall, observatory and CMU Greenhouse.  I also help coordinate opportunities for Honors students to meet with big-name campus speakers and guests in a small group setting before the main event takes place.  Past examples of these intimate gatherings have included meetings with politicians, artists, scientists and humanitarians.  I feel these type of events are beneficial to Honors students because they provide unique opportunities to meet experts and explore topics in depth at a personal level.  Some ideas I have for the future include events regarding wellness and meditation, sports psychology, cultural food tasting, and a behind the scenes look at CMU theatre.  If you have ideas for on-campus events, or know of a cool campus place to visit that non-majors might not have access to, or would like to nominate a faculty member for a fireside chat, please reach out to me and I will try to plan events that meet your needs.

Coordinator for Honors Student Recruitment

Name: Nick Malendowski

Major: Psychology and Communication Sciences Disorders

Hometown: Chesterfield, MI

In my role as Coordinator for Honors Student Recruitment, I am responsible for helping current Honors students share their Honors story with prospective students and families to help us recruit next year's Honors cohort.  Specific helps I provide include guided social media postings, special training for Honors students who meet with prospective students, structured materials for Honors students who are willing to make a presentation at their high school regarding CMU, Honors and the Centralis Scholarship Competition. I also help coordinate volunteers for the Centralis Scholarship Competition and Centralis Review Process. Being in the Honors Program has given me so many opportunities and I want to show my love for the program with other students as well. I want to help recruit the next round of Honors students because this program can give students a chance to follow their college dreams. If you are interested in helping recruit next year's Honors cohort please contact me and I will be happy to provide you with opportunities to share your story!