College of the Pacific

Graduating with Honors

Every year, about 15-20% of the freshmen class is invited to join the university’s honors program and many of these are students in the College.  The program is directed by Dr. George Randels, a beloved professor of Religious Studies whose popular courses such as “Sex, Sin and Salvation,” “Biomedical Ethics,” and “Religion and Cinema” belie his commitment to integrative, innovative, and introspective learning.  Honors students participate in designated honors courses as well as a broad range of co-curricular programs designed to engage them in thinking deeply about themselves and the acquisition and responsibilities of knowledge.

In 2006, The College of the Pacific was honored to be chosen as host to a new chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa society, a 230-year old honors society with highly selective parameters for appointing new member-institutions.  As a champion of education in the liberal arts and sciences, the society’s recognition of the College of the Pacific underscores our own success at providing students with the best that a liberal arts and sciences education provides.  Although centered at the heart of a comprehensive national university, the College of the Pacific provides a small liberal arts college experience that continues to attract some of the best high school students from around the country.