If you were a University of Delaware Honors student on campus in the late 1970s, well, you might not have been on campus.

That’s because the early Honors Program was housed not in Newark, but Dover, Del., on the Wesley College campus. Many faculty members drove or took the bus to Dover each day. Going the opposite way, a shuttle bus delivered Honors students to UD’s main campus, where they could use the library and other resources.

In the decades that followed the program’s launch, Honors at UD naturally grew and changed – and today is the Honors College. But some elements have been timeless. Since the beginning, all Honors students enrolled in a special colloquium, a writing course that is still taken by Honors freshmen today. Whether passionate about history or theater, language or geology, Honors students were curious and dedicated to learning and exploring together. 

What has changed or remained the same is at the crux of the History of the Honors College project, a research project launched by Dean Michael Chajes more than a year ago. It’s a timely endeavor now that Honors officially became a college in July 2020, and is nearing its 50th anniversary in 2026.

“As we look forward to our future as a college, we're also looking back at the history of honors,” explained Chajes. “It started off with us not exactly knowing what we wanted to capture, and pretty quickly realizing there was a wealth of stories to record and share. It’s going to be a continually evolving piece.”

“There's a lot of value for the students because students don't often have this kind of historical perspective during their four years at UD,” Peters said. “Also, for me, it’s interesting to see the longtime tradition of committed professors, who were dedicated to teaching.”

Of course, as many in the Honors community may expect, one of those dedicated mentors was Burnaby Munson, who worked with philosophy professor Donald Harward to found the Honors Program in 1976 and served as the director of the Honors Program in the 1980s. There from the very beginning, Munson, who died in 2019, still remains part of Honors in spirit through the Munson Fellows, or the peer mentors who help facilitate the Honors first year experience.

Being a Munson Fellow herself, Sammy Simon, AS21, said she felt connected to the alumni she spoke to, no matter what year they graduated. Hearing about lifelong friendships, murder mystery parties and weddings, or quirky stories – like one student’s first night in Dickinson Hall and hearing the unsettling rumble of the train going by in the night – have turned working on the project into one of her favorite parts of the UD experience. 

“All the stories about Dr. Munson are close to my heart,” Simon said. “There was one interview where the alum talked about how being a Munson Fellow helped him realize what he wanted to do in life. As someone who has also served in that mentorship role, I really like the beauty of those long-lasting connections.”

Much of the project is based on interviews with Honors alumni and current and former staff members. Kelsey Wagner, AS23, one of the student researchers for the project, said the experience of talking to talented alumni has left her thinking about her own future. Even while being “transported back to the 1980s for a couple hours” while looking through Honors archives, she was inspired to think about her place in the Honors community and what impact she might make.

“I think it also gave me a greater appreciation for the Honors community — understanding the history of any group certainly fosters greater connection to that group in one's own time,” Wagner said.

To get in touch to share your UD Honors story or ephemera for the History of the Honors College project, contact Ray Peters at rpeters@udel.edu.

For more information on the Honors College, visit udel.edu/honors. To find out more about philanthropic support and alumni engagement within Honors, contact TJ Cournoyer senior director of development in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, at tjc@udel.edu.