About 40 alumni and students of the Cook Honors College met to share news and reconnect with each other in December at the Sienna Mercato Restaurant in Pittsburgh.
Though the event was mostly designed to bring alumni together, current CHC seniors were invited to attend to give them an opportunity to network with the alumni and ask questions as they prepare to start their careers.
“There’s a reason these Honors College alumni events have such a good turnout for us,” said Lisa Halmes, administrative assistant for the Honors College, ROTC, and liberal studies. “It’s because our living-learning community created many special relationships, fun times, and stories. These reunions reconnect our alumni and are a way for us to reminisce about the wonderful memories we all made together. Some of the alumni flew into Pittsburgh just for the event, and that says something.”
Kenneth Sherwood, a long-time Honors College professor serving as interim director in fall 2024, was at the event catching up with his former students, remembering their CHC days and hearing news about their lives now.
“Alumni still feel connections to their peers and their experience at the Cook Honors College,” he said. “They fondly recount memories of living together (as CHC freshmen) and the challenges of Core,” he said. “They are eager to hear what we’re doing in the CHC today, what traditions have remained, and what changes we are making.”
Kevin Berezansky, who is the associate director for the CHC, director for Community Standards, and works in the areas of experiential learning and academic success, was inspired by the insights alumni shared.
“Hearing how students talk about the Honors College experience at alumni events reminds us of what to keep doing well,” he said. “It reminds me of what commitment looks like when students seek out opportunities to reconnect. I think it’s true that there’s something special about a program that continues to be important to students well into their lives.”