Happy Halloween!

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the Honors Haunted Halloween event this past weekend! Students showed their Halloween spirit with awesome costumes, creative pumpkin painting, and all around spooky good vibes! A big thank you to Honors Council's Community and Wellness Committee for organizing this event!

Looking to get more involved in Honors Council activities and initiatives like this one? Come to the next Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 4th from 5-6 in the CPC-2650 Bamboo Room to learn more (you also get 1/2 hour of Complementary Learning for attending Council Meetings!) Email council president Ellie Fairchild with questions, thoughts, or ideas.

In this week's message: 

Upcoming Events
10/31 CET Trick or Treating
11/1 Bagel Brunch at the Honors Office
11/1 Tie Blanket Service Project with SLC and Sigma Sigma Sigma 
11/1 Honors Women's Hockey Night 
11/3 Honors Workshop hosted by Honors Council Academic Excellence Committee
11/4 Honors Council Meeting - RIT Food Share & CHST Food Drive
11/4 Meaning of Service Reading and Discussion Group -- Pizza Provided 
11/12 World Affairs Council
11/15 Study Session with AEC
11/22 Rage Room with AEC
12/3 Leadership in the 21st Century - a Conversation with Rochester Mayor Malik Evans

Office Announcements & Updates
Submit your intent to present and abstract: Honors Research and Creativity Symposium
Early voting and voting on campus on election day
TEDxRIT 2025
Submit your design! ImagineRIT Poster Design Contest
Shopping Carts are Open: Spring Honors Courses
Comp Learning Opportunities

UPCOMING EVENTS

10/31 CET Trick or Treating

11/1 - Coffee and Chat Revamped: Bagel Brunch!

Join us Coffee and Chat - Bagel style! We'll have bagels, fruit, and good company. Have a question about your requirements? Want to check in with some of your peers in the program? Just want a quick bite to eat on a Friday morning? Stop by anytime within the hour!

November 1st from 10:30am-11:30am
Honors Office (GV 2000-400)
RSVP for this event here! 
 

11/1 - Tie Blankets with Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority & Honors Council's Service & Leadership Committee

The SLC is hosting an event in collaboration with the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority to make tie blankets for March of Dimes, a non-profit organization committed to supporting mothers and babies that have gone through premature birth. All supplies and materials will be provided.

November 1st from 8:00-11:00pm
Bamboo Room (CPC 2650)
RSVP for this event here! 
 

11/1 - Honors Women's Hockey Night

Join us to cheer on the RIT Tigers Women's Hockey team as they take on the Robert Morris Colonials! Sit together with your Honors friends and be a part of the action!

Tickets are free - We'll provide a $7 snack voucher for the first 40 people who sign up! Stop by the office this week anytime between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm - or meet Garth behind section 110 at the game - to pick up your voucher!

November 1st at 6:00pm
Gene Polisseni Center
RSVP for the event here!
 

11/3 - Honors Workshop Event with AEC

Do you have questions about program requirements? Want to know what counts for complementary learning and how many hours a year you have to earn? Curious about Honors Options and when to submit them? Need help figuring out how to get those last 3 points before graduation? Want to use your $500 Honors grant but not sure how? 

Honors Council's Academic Excellence Committee is hosting an Honors Workshop to provide an overview of the Program requirements, processes, and paths to program completion. Join members of Honors Council Academic Excellence Committee and student volunteers to ask any questions you have about the program. 

November 3rd from 3:00-5:30pm
Institute Hall Room 1140
RSVP for this event here! 

11/4 Honors Council Meeting: RIT FoodShare x CHST

Honors Council is collaborating with CHST and RIT FoodShare to coordinate a Thanksgiving Food Drive. During the meeting the Coordinator of RIT’s FoodShare will present information about their services as well as introduce upcoming events and supports for the food drive.

Don't forget, attending a Council meeting will earn 1/2 an hour of complementary learning!

November 4th from 5:00-6:00pm
Bamboo Room (CPC 2650)
RSVP for this event here! 
 

11/4 - Meaning of Service Reading and Discussion Group

Join us for the second in our series of reading and discussion group events made possible by a grant from Humanities NY. On 11/4 we will be reading "The Eleventh" by Henri Barbusse. This piece investigates the ethics and morality of charity and service, and the difficult decisions inherent in who receives support and who does not. 

This is a low-stakes, open dialogue that invites students from all backgrounds, majors, and interests to participate. Students attending will earn 1 hour of Complementary Learning.

November 4th @ 6:00pm
CPC 1010/1015
RSVP for this event here! 

Upcoming dates:
11/4 @ 6:00pm - Pizza - CPC 1010 / 1015 - The Eleventh - Henri Barbusse
11/21 @ 4:30-5:30 pm - Pizza -SAU 1829 Room- The Lamb and the Pinecone - Pablo Neruda
1/17 @ 12:30 pm No Pizza - SAU 1829 Room MLK’s sermon - The Drum Major Instinct
 

11/12 - World Affairs Council

Russia and Vladimr Putin were host to this year's BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit with an eye on expansion and greater influence across the globe. The rising economic and political power of these countries will impact international affairs and policy for generations. As NATO recognizes its 75 Anniversary it must contend with this shift in geo-political influence and examine its role in maintaining peace and security among its members. 

World Affairs Council provides you with the unique opportunity to join your peers in discussion with experts in the field of politics, international relations, and global affairs. This month's speaker, Peter Doran, adjunct senior fellow at Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, will help tell the story of NATO's inception and history while looking ahead at the mission of the organization in the 21st Century. Doran's expertise in Russia and the conflict in Ukraine are timely and relevant, particularly in relation to the ongoing war in the region, the United States' role in the conflict, and the explosion of Russian disinformation in our elections and across all media.

Doran is a senior fellow at FDD (Foundation for the Defense of Democracy) and former president of the Center for European Policy Analysis. A recognized expert on Russia, Ukraine, and transatlantic relations, he has testified before Congress on topics covering geopolitics and energy security and state-sponsored disinformation. 

Students will prepare with readings and other materials prior to a breakfast meeting with Dr. Lutzer on Sat. 11/9. During this meeting (free breakfast by the way!) students will discuss the salient issues and think about the questions they would like to ask of Doran. Students will then travel via carpool to the Irondequoit County Club on Tues. Nov. 12 to engage in a small group discussion with Doran followed by dinner (free meal again!) and the speaker's formal remarks. 

November 12th from 5:00-9:00pm
Irondequoit County Club - 4045 East Ave, Rochester, NY
RSVP for this event here! 
 

Study Session with AEC

AEC will be hosting monthly study sessions where we provide a place for Honors students to study for any of their classes. Join us for the next session on November 15th! Snacks will be provided!

November 22nd from 4:00-5:00pm
Honors Office (GV 2000-400)
RSVP for this event here! 

12/3 Meeting with Rochester Mayor Malik Evans

The Honors office has set up a meeting with Rochester Mayor Malik Evans to facilitate a dialogue around leadership in the 21st century. What led the Mayor to this role? What are the challenges and opportunities Mayor Evans sees for Rochester? What initiatives is the city undertaking to address pressing issues like poverty, crime, and under-employment while championing our best qualities in the arts, culture, and our long history as part of the social and racial justice movements.

We are looking for 10-12 students who will prepare for the meeting by doing some initial research and reading and attending a planning meeting prior to our time with Mayor Evans.

Students will carpool to this event.

Students will receive an hour of complementary learning for attending. 

December 3rd from 4:00-5:00pm
Rochester City Hall, 30 Church St, Rochester NY 14614 
RSVP for this event here! 

Join Honors Council Academic Excellence Committee at iSMASH and release your finals season tension in a Rage Room with your fellow Honors Students!

The cost is $10 per student for an hour in the smash room and pizza and drinks!

November 22 from 6:30 - 8:00pm
iSmash Rochester - 1225 Jefferson Rd Suite 24, Rochester, NY 14623
RSVP for this event here!

OFFICE UPDATES

Submit your intent to present and abstract

The deadline to submit your Intent to Present and Abstract is Sunday, Nov. 10 at 11:59 PM

Please follow the link below to indicate your intent to present at the 2024 Research & Creativity Symposium which takes place on Saturday, December 7 from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm in the SHED rooms 3300 and 3350. 

Submit your Intent / Abstract here!

Please review the information below before submitting: 

• All research presentations will be in the form of a poster presentation / presentation of artwork - there are no lecture style presentations this year 

• The Honors office will support students in the printing of posters up until Sun. Nov 17  

• You can use your Honors grant to pay for the cost of printing your poster

• Creative presentations can be in the form of a poster, or depending on the project and logistics can present the artwork itself (a painting, sculpture, media presentation, etc.) 

• Each presenter will have approximately 25-30 minutes to present 

• Students can present independently or with a student or faculty co-presenter (can be a non-Honors student)

• Presentations at the R&CS fulfill the presentation requirement for an Honors Option

• The R&CS will be open to the RIT community
   

Early Voting and Voting on Campus 

If you are registered to vote in Monroe County there are early voting loactions where you can cast your ballot before election day. Here's a link to sites and hours: Early voting in Monroe County NY. The closest location to the RIT campus is the Henrietta Public Library, 625 Calkins Rd., Rochester, NY 14623. 

If you used your RIT address when you registered to vote you will be able ot cast your ballot at the Gene Polisseni Center on Nov. 5th. 

To ensure you are prepared to vote and have all the information you need to make informed decisions on election day visit: https://www.ballotready.org/  to see policies and platforms of all the candidates as well as the ballot initiatives you will see the day you vote. 

TEDxRIT 2025

The TEDxRIT 2025 team is happy to announce that nominations are open! Any internal RIT community member, including faculty, staff, and students, may apply. The theme is "Innovation at the Intersection" - as long as the speech can be applied in some way, we will review the application (i.e. innovative approaches to ideas, innovative research, etc). Applications are due by November 10th.

Nomination Link: TEDxRIT 2025 Speaker Nomination

• Applications will be reviewed anonymously (a third party will remove identifiable information before selection occurs).

• Applications will be reviewed based on credibility and uniqueness.

• There are 2 rounds to the application process. Applications selected for Round 2 will be asked to do a brief interview to assess communication and knowledge of their proposed topic.

• Must be available for tech day and the day of the event: February 22nd and 23rd.

• Talks are 10-15 minutes in length.

• Speech coaching will be provided for selected speakers/presenters.

Interested in seeing some of last year's TEDx speakers? Here are a videos from the event:

Nick LaLone | Alexander-Joseph Silva | Samuel Malachowsky 
Izzy Moyer + Leah Humenuck | Ahmad Kirmani | Kayley Judd | Ernest Fokoue

ImagineRIT Poster Contest now open! 

RIT students of all majors are invited to create a design for this year's festival poster that captures the spirit of Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival. Last year's poster was made by Jessica Hall, a member of CAD Honors!

More details can be found here

Shopping Carts are open: Check out these Spring Honors Courses!

Please see above for spring '25 Honors courses that may be of interest to you as you build your schedule for the next semester and think about your plan for earning points. You can access this document here: Spring 2025 Honors Courses or on our website in the "Courses" section under the "User Tools" tab.
 

Complementary Learning

Intersted in going above and beyond with your service? Consider going on an Alternative Break with RIT's Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement this spring! Visit the CLCE website for more information or email lead@rit.edu for more information.


For a full list of events and activities that are approved for Complementary Learning visit Complementary Learning | Honors Program | RIT 

 

"It's Halloween! It's Halloween! The moon is full and bright and we shall see that can't be seen on any other night." - Jack Prelutsky