Overview
The Virginia Commonwealth University Honors Program was established to uphold and nurture excellence in undergraduate education, and to further the university’s mission to provide a fertile and stimulating environment for learning, teaching, research and creative expression.

Mission
The mission of the program is to meet the needs of academically talented undergraduate students. The Honors Program provides courses with high academic standards and a challenging and exciting variety of intellectual, cultural and social activities. In doing so, the Honors Program adheres to the goal of the university: to foster a scholarly climate that inspires creativity, a free and open exchange of ideas, critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, freedom of expression, and intellectual integrity for the entire university, potential students, alumni and benefactors.

There are 27,000 students attending VCU, with 1,400 meeting the qualifications for the University's Honors Program. These are the most academically talented students at VCU. A student must maintain a 3.5 or higher grade-point average on a cumulative basis to remain in the program. These students represent all undergraduate schools.

Campaign goals
In accordance with the mission, the honors campaign goal is to raise $1.35 million to improve the academic quality of the program as well as to build a new honors center within the West Grace Street Housing Facility. We are focusing our fund-raising efforts on renovating space within the facility by offering donors naming opportunities. These naming opportunities within the Grace Street facility include: classrooms, study rooms, administrative offices, a student lounge and computer lab, kitchens and seminar rooms. All of these improvements are designed to enhance learning and the quality of student life. They will enable the university to recruit and retain academically talented students and provide them a "small college atmosphere" within the larger university.

Naming opportunities
Dorm – $3 million
First floor, administrative area – $500,000

Administrative area
Faculty offices – 7, each $25,000
Reception area – $250,000
Conference room – $200,000

First floor, Student Honors Center – $500,000

Honors Center
Multipurpose Room – $450,000
Terrace – $250,000
Computer lab – $250,000
Kitchen/lounge – $100,000
Study rooms – 4, each $25,000
Music rooms – 2, each $20,000

Upper floors
Seminar rooms – 6, each $25,000
Cyber Lounge – $250,000
Common area – 6, each $25,000

Contact
To find out more information about the Honors Program and its campaign, please contact Thomas Burke, executive director of the VCU Foundation, at:

Phone: (804) 828-3958
E-mail: tcburke@vcu.edu

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