Launched in the fall of 1994, the Adelphi University Honors College is now celebrating three decades of excellence in education. As part of that celebration, we spoke with the founding dean, Richard Garner, PhD, and the current dean, Susan Dinan, PhD, about the College and how it has evolved over the years.
Welcome to you both. Let’s start with some history. How did the Honors College get its start 30 years ago?
Dr. Garner: Well, there had been an honors program at Adelphi since the late 1970s. The program remained small for many years, but in the early 1990s, the University decided to begin giving it more resources.
The Honors College opened in the fall of 1994 with a class of between 50 and 60 students. It was built on the solid foundation provided by the honors program, but with students living together on campus in Earle Hall. We soon began adding more seminars along with many more cultural trips to the city each semester.
Does the College primarily attract students in the humanities?
Dr. Garner: Actually, we have always had more science students. Biology was always our largest major, and the number of English and history majors decreased over the years I was there. The number of nursing students exploded, as the need for nurses, and the reputation of Adelphi’s nursing program, grew. I was very happy for there to be lots of well-educated nurses out there in the world.
Dr. Dinan: The number of STEM students in the program is continuing to grow, which I also think is a good thing. We give them a very solid liberal arts education, helping them learn to read complicated texts and think deeply about them. And that really helps the students develop strong critical thinking skills, hone their analytical abilities, and communicate more effectively when speaking and writing. For instance, 91 percent of the Honors College students who applied to medical school in 2024 were accepted. There is something in the Honors College program that is making undergraduates better thinkers and communicators.
We recently had a healthcare panel for our students that brought three alums back to talk about their careers in healthcare. Dr. Kris Mahadeo [’99, MD], professor of pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine; Dr. Pranay Sinha [’09, MD], assistant professor of infectious diseases at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine; and Dr. Peter Vellis [’96, DDS], an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at New England Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, agreed that the education they got in the Honors College is foundational for who they are. It taught them how to communicate effectively with a range of very different people, which is essential for success in the field.
How has the makeup of the student body changed?
Dr. Dinan: The student body has grown more diverse in terms of where families are coming from. We have a lot of students from very different backgrounds and very different belief systems—and they are almost always profoundly respectful of one another. They’re willing to engage in class and informally in the Honors College lounge in Earle Hall, which helps them build an incredibly important skill in collaborating and communicating between cultures.
Dr. Garner: I think this was helped very much by the fact that we draw many of our students from Queens [New York City], which has the most diverse population in the United States. Lots of these students are the first in their family to go to college and spoke languages other than English at home.
All of our students take a class called The Modern Condition, which encourages expression of attitudes and beliefs from a great range of cultural backgrounds. Students have often said the discussions in class were the first time they faced challenges to their own beliefs. They were grateful for that, as it made them think things through.
Dr. Dinan: The students bring their perspectives from their majors, too. So the discussions in class can be very dynamic, and students have to grapple with different methods of interpreting texts. They never know what the person next to them is going to say.
Dr. Garner: Yes, the Honors College has a sort of natural diversity.
Have changes in the student body led to changes in the curriculum?
Dr. Dinan: Yes, it has in some ways. Another course that we have always had, The Human Experience, is a great books class. Our students still begin with The Iliad and The Aeneid, but they now read The Persian Book of Kings and The Tale of Heike from Japan. So, they’re still reading epics, but the works aren’t all from the Western tradition. We want to retain canonical texts, but we also want to broaden the voices at the seminar table—those of the authors and of the students.
The cultural trips to New York City are a big part of the Honors College program. How important are they to the students’ experience?
Dr. Garner: One of the great things about Adelphi is having Manhattan right near us, and we try to take the very best advantage of it and give them very special experiences. I took students into the boardroom at the New York Philharmonic to talk with conductor Kurt Masur before a Philharmonic concert. I was able to take students into the Metropolitan Museum on a day when it was closed to see special exhibits, so they could just have the museum to themselves and not have to fight the crowds. The Guggenheim has these Works in Process events in a beautiful little theater downstairs at the museum where students met artists and heard them talk about their creative process.
You can’t do these kinds of things at any university that isn’t located in or close to Manhattan.
Dr. Dinan: I cannot overstate the importance of having a budget that allows us to do several trips each semester, because at other institutions I’ve worked for there was only enough money for one trip a semester. The funds we have for culture allows us to expand the horizons of as many students as we possibly can and provide an array of different experiences.
We are able to go to plays and musicals on Broadway, as well as concerts and dance performances. Our Modern Condition course takes students to The Museum of Modern Art when the subject is modernism, and Assistant Professor Ben Serby, [PhD], who teaches this class every year, has developed this brilliant scavenger hunt that takes students throughout the museum to identify works of art. They have to reflect on a number of questions and even, at one point, write a poem related to an artwork in a room. So students not only experience the art, they’re stretched to think creatively.
And these experiences are utterly transformative for some of our students. We had a young woman whose family came from Haiti when she was small and never went into the city. She was a sponge and wanted to know everything. Shortly after the theaters reopened after Covid, we went to see the Tony Kushner musical Caroline, or Change. When the show ended and people stood to applaud, she was still sitting, just awestruck by what she had seen. And now she goes to as many cultural events as she can. She has also brought her family to museums and to see a play she first saw with Nicole Rudolph, [PhD], the College’s associate dean for student engagement, in one of our trips to Manhattan. These experiences have changed the way out students think about their relationship to the city and what is available to them, their families and their communities.
How is the Honors College celebrating its 30th anniversary?
Dr. Dinan: We’ve created a big 30th anniversary website that celebrates the College, our students and our alumni. It has profiles of 30 of our students with links to articles that have been about them, links to articles about the 33 students who have received 10 Under 10 Awards for their achievements after graduating, and a guide to upcoming events, including group trips to see Moby Dick at the Metropolitan Opera and Othello at the Barrymore Theatre.
One of the biggest features on the website is a list of 30 critical, thought-provoking texts that our students have read over the years that we hope everyone might read in the next year. We’re also hoping to draw a large number of alums back to campus for Spirit Weekend in October, which will include a Dean’s Circle reading group facilitated by Craig Carson, [PhD], the College’s associate dean for academic affairs.
Dean Dinan, you’re a past president of the National Collegiate Honors Council [NCHC], so you’re familiar with honors programs around the country. What makes Adelphi’s Honors College stand out?
Dr. Dinan: Yes, NCHC has a membership of over 800 honors colleges and programs. We have a really impressive program at Adelphi. The curriculum is very challenging, and the cocurricular activities we offer are outstanding, thanks to the support we get from the University. The interview process we have for applicants—which Richard started—is rare. It’s something you’ll find only at very small, very elite programs.
We interview every student who applies. Some of them are top high school performers. They’re great, but they’re just not curious. They’ll do well in college, but they will be unhappy in the Honors College. Then there are other students who don’t look great on paper, but when we bring them in, they just blow us away. They’re really curious, really engaged and really excited. We are looking each year to cultivate a group of 90 to 100 students who have those qualities.
Dr. Garner: I have to say that, when I was thinking of retiring, I would tell people that I couldn’t imagine that anyone would continue the interview process I set up. It’s so draining. But it is so crucial to forming a group of students who love reading, who want this sort of education, and who are ready for it.
Dr. Dinan: I agree—it is draining, especially as the number of applications and interviews goes up every year. Luckily, we’ve been able to bring in alums to help. They love being on the other side of the table and speaking with prospective students over the course of a 10-hour day. Our alumni who dedicate their time to the interview process do us an immense service, and they tell me they are joining us because of how much their experience in the Honors College means to them.
And, of course, I also agree that our emphasis on the interview is critical. I can’t overstate how important it is in shaping our program and helping make it what I believe is one of the most rigorous honors colleges in the country.