By Caleb Adams | Guest Writer
Each year, seniors in the Westover Honors Program spend their final semesters researching, writing, and defending original thesis projects. This intensive process challenges their skills, shapes their futures, and showcases the power of undergraduate research.
Through original research guided by faculty mentors, students tackle complex questions in science, public health, the humanities, and more.
Dr. Beth Savage, Director of the Westover Honors College explained that the senior thesis project is the accumulation of undergraduate learning.
“The senior thesis is really something that we try to work up to through all of our previous classes in terms of building, writing and research skills,” Savage said. “It’s an opportunity for students who have a thesis in the major to actually have an extra three credit hours dedicated to that…so that they can further explore something that they’re truly and genuinely interested in.”
For senior Asher Stang, the thesis process brought together years of interdisciplinary learning and helped him see the broader impact of his scientific research.
“The classes… had a lot to do with this interdisciplinary model of understanding the world around you,” Stang mentioned. “So I think Westover really made me learn how to question literature, but it also made me learn how to integrate sources.”
As the thesis process ends, the Westover Honors Program marks a special moment of recognition and celebration for the students’ hard work.
Dr. Rachel Willis, an assistant professor of English, noted that the cording ceremony that follows the completion of the senior thesis project is among her favorite parts of the process.
“They get to, before graduation, with their families, have their thesis title read aloud and their thesis director gives them their honor cord,” said Willis. “I don’t know what it is about that ritual, but it just feels so concrete to me.”
As these students prepare to enter the next chapter of their lives, their dedication to research and learning inspires the greater Lynchburg community.
If you’re ready to explore your own academic potential, visit the Westover Honors Program.
