Third of six stories
By Rick Vacek | April 16, 2024
The University of Texas at Dallas scores with scholarship and cultural opportunities, not touchdowns and field goals.
“We don’t have a football team – I really celebrate that,” said Dr. Donal Skinner, dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College. “But we produce academic quarterbacks. That’s what we do. All universities have great students. It’s just that the number of those students here is proportionately much higher.”
That is particularly evident in its National Merit Scholars Program. For the second consecutive year, its total of first-year students (182 in Fall 2023) ranks fifth among U.S. universities.
But another significant National Merit trend has developed at UT Dallas: Nearly half of the newcomers are from outside Texas. That’s remarkable, given that football prominence can become an extra recruiting tool.
“Because we don’t have a football team, we might not be on the radar of out-of-state students,” said Valerie Brunell, assistant dean of the Honors College and director of the National Merit Scholars Program. “They find out about us through this scholarship and then learn more about our rigorous academics, cultural and academic opportunities, and beautiful campus when they visit, either on an individual visit or on one of our National Merit Preview Days.”
UT Dallas has been offering merit scholarships to high school students since 1992, but in 2014 the late Dr. Hobson Wildenthal sought to grow the National Merit Scholars program by moving its supervision to the college that bears his name.
The program’s generous scholarship package is only part of the attraction. Among the many opportunities available to National Merit Scholars is becoming a National Merit Ambassador and showing prospective students around campus on those Preview Days as well as other occasions.
“They’re very giving of their time,” Brunell said. “They appreciated being shown the campus by students and having their questions answered as they made their decisions, so they’re really good about giving back and helping in any way possible.”
Giving back also is a key aspect of another prominent opportunity for Honors College students, the Terry Scholars Program.
The Houston-based Terry Foundation was created in 1986 by Howard and Nancy Terry to help Texas students attain their higher education goals. It supports more than a thousand students at 11 state institutions and has been offered at UT Dallas since 2006.
But the giving goes both ways. Students aren’t required to participate in service opportunities; it’s just understood that they will.
“Mr. and Mrs. Terry asked that scholars make the most out of their four years through classes, experiences and service,” said Terry Scholars director Sheila Kelly, who meets one-on-one with every Terry Scholar at least once per semester. “Volunteering is a big part of our program. Students were selected for their dedication, and that continues at UT Dallas.”
Jimena Soto, a Terry Scholar, senior political science major and first-generation college student from nearby Mesquite, typifies that dedication.
“I knew I wanted to be surrounded by individuals who are passionate about serving their community,” she said. “I think that’s the number one thing we all have in common: We all come from different backgrounds, but we’re all passionate about service.
“I was raised by a community of people. Giving back to that community that has given me so much is so important.”
Like so many other Honors College students, studying abroad was a highlight of Soto’s college experience. She is one of the many who have accessed the opportunity via the Maymester Programs and Summer Programs – she took two classes in Lugano, Switzerland, and traveled to Italy with her roommates to sightsee in Rome and Venice. The memories have inspired them to explore going elsewhere in Europe this summer.
Kelly loves hearing the students’ stories when they return.
“Nobody ever has a bad experience,” she said. “Someone could be homesick, and that’s another reason why going for only two to three weeks can be helpful. Students are with a group, parents feel more comfortable and there are faculty there rather than just striking out on your own.”
Then they come home and exchange stories of their adventures. Being a Terry Scholar means being part of a very special group.
“It really is a family,” Soto said. “You’re integrated into this family that provides all this support for you, all these opportunities for you, without having to worry about the financial burden.”
Honors students also have access to a wide range of activities, both on campus and a short drive away.
“Another idea of Honors is to open your mind,” Skinner said.
Said Dr. Douglas Dow, associate dean of the Honors College, “These are the handful of memories that you have 20, 30 years out.”
The Honors Roundtable Series features a lunchtime forum of small-group, discipline-specific discussions led by UT Dallas faculty members or guest lecturers.
Honors Nights Out again bring students together with faculty, often to witness a cultural event they wouldn’t normally see.
“Most college students haven’t had the opportunity to see a symphony or opera,” Kelly said. “Getting to experience it with UT Dallas faculty when we have Honors Nights Out is a way students expand their knowledge of art and also get to know the city.”
Junior Samar Ahmed, a National Merit Scholar who plays the violin and is minoring in music and art, loved the Mozart/Beethoven concert that attracted about a hundred students early in the fall semester.
“Not all of the people there were classical music nerds, but it was a good introduction to the arts,” she said. “People wouldn’t go unless it’s free. I don’t have $60 or $70 to drop on a concert.”
Said Brunell, “A lot of these students participated in band, orchestra or other arts in high school. Even if it’s not something they’re going to pursue extensively in college, they appreciate the opportunity to continue playing their instrument here and attend the performances.”
The opportunities grow in other ways. Ahmed took a class taught by Dr. Jacqueline Chao, former curator of the Crow Museum of Asian Art and now a curator at the Dallas Museum of Art, and was inspired to attend one of the professor’s Honors Roundtable presentations.
“That broadens your education,” Ahmed said. “If I hadn’t taken that class with that professor, I wouldn’t have known to go to the talk. It opened up to me a whole new world of Asian art in Dallas and what that looks like – the museum scene, the art scene.”
Opportunities to experience the arts are readily available to all UT Dallas students through the Carl J. Thomsen Fund for Student Enrichment, which provides free tickets to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center, TITAS/Dance Unbound, Texas Ballet Theater and other prominent nearby venues.
All students have to do to snag those tickets is to be in line at 8:15 a.m. on the second Wednesday of the month in the Founders Building Second Floor Atrium. It’s first come, first served … and first priority for many.
“I’m always in line on that Wednesday morning,” said Aditi Manjrekar, a senior National Merit Scholar.
Skinner’s predecessor as Honors College dean, Dr. Edward “Ted” Harpham, saw the cultural opportunities as an essential element in attracting the best students. He even encouraged students to bring a parent to a performance and would give lectures beforehand about what students would see, such as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
“My goal was never to limit and restrict. My goal was to use this as a way to build the University,” he said. “The Thomsen Fund made a big, big difference, and I think it has become an essential part of the University.”
Notice the constant in all these Honors College activities: They are conducted in groups. That usually is what makes for a great experience.
Even without football.
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More Honors College stories:
No Question, Honors College’s Value Goes a Long Way
The Story behind Collegium V’s Name? Just Ask Aristotle
Next: Honors Lounge builds community with activities, conversations … and a puzzle.