Promoting civic duty and relationship-based decision-making among Reaud Honors College scholars, Home for the Holidays creates an unparalleled recruiting experience that prospective students can relate to on a generational level.

Participate in the Reaud Honors College's popular student-to-student recruitment program, Home for the Holidays! 

Our students love this program! You will return to your former high school during Winter Break while it is still in session and talk to students about your unique experiences at Lamar University and in the Reaud Honors College.

The Reaud Honors College partners up with LU's Office of Admissions to assist you with preparation. Current students receive an invitation in the Fall to attend an informational chat that will share more about how the program works. Once you complete your first high school visit as a Home for the Holidays Ambassador, you are free to participate for the rest of your undergraduate career without having to attend the session. 

Sharing your story as a high school alum counts as an Honors Experience.  

HISTORY

As the brainchild of Honors alumnus and Lamar University’s former Director of Recruitment Tony Sarda (Class of 2009), Home for the Holidays was initiated in December 2018 and developed through a collaboration between the Reaud Honors College and the Office of Admissions. The innovative recruitment program takes advantage of the fact that colleges have a longer winter break than high schools.

Reaud Honors College students arrange to visit the classrooms of influential teachers from their high schools to share their personal stories and experiences as a college undergraduate. This face-to-face interaction opens the door for authentic recruiting and creates a bond between Lamar University and the respective high schools.

Honors students are often role models for their younger high school peers, and these relationships can be a medium to share the opportunities to grow academically and personally at the Reaud Honors College. High school students receive valuable firsthand knowledge about the Honors experience and university life. This personalized information can be the deciding factor on whether a student chooses to attend Lamar, as empirical evidence indicates that the most important factor influencing a student’s choice of university is personal relationships.

This program also has the benefit of extending the community of the Reaud Honors College beyond its current students. Home for the Holidays has fostered a thriving system of relationships between Lamar University, prospective and current Reaud Honors students, and high schools and teachers.

Our Home for the Holiday Ambassadors have also shared our unique program with a national audience! At the National Collegiate Honors Council’s 2020 Conference, Annabelle Broussard (Chemical Engineering), Edward Doan (Chemical Engineering), and Jasmin Reyes (Biology Pre-Med) presented their experiences to encourage other honors colleges to offer this program to their students. 

For our Honors Cardinals, winter break yields more than hearty meals and laughs with family and friends. It also offers opportunities to give back to your alma mater.

Home for the Holidays is the gift that keeps on giving!

- Waverlee Cooper, Biology Pre-Dental Honors Cardinal