Eastern University's Templeton Honors College Celebrates Anniversary

St. Davids, PA - Eastern University's Templeton Honors College (THC) celebrates its 10th Anniversary and welcomes its largest, most diverse group of students yet. To celebrate its 10th Anniversary, THC will host various events, including an Abraham Lincoln Symposium on October 22-24, which will examine Lincoln's views of liberty, equality, nationhood, and government by consent, revisiting the importance of America's founding principles to America's greatest statesman.

The incoming first-year group consists of 35 students (51% female) coming from 15 states and two countries (Ethiopia and Haiti). The average SAT score for THC's fall cohort is 1320/1970 and the average ACT score is 30 (which is equivalent to an SAT score of 1340). Additionally, the incoming group consists of four National Merit Scholarship Corporation Finalists and one Semi-Finalist, as well as two high school valedictorians.

"Not only is this the largest class that the Templeton Honors College has ever accepted, but the diversity in terms of geography, gender, and educational background has really set this class apart," said Laura Hartley, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the THC. Such diversity really lets Eastern stand out among Pennsylvania Universities. "We are really excited about what this cohort is going to bring to the THC and to Eastern."

THC was one of the first programs of its kind among Christian colleges when the College was founded in 1999. Funded primarily through the gifts of Drs. John Jr. and Josephine Templeton, Eastern University's Templeton Honors College is designed to challenge and prepare academically gifted undergraduate students for leadership and service as individuals of influence in culture, society and their professions by providing a holistic program focused on the life of the mind, character formation and skill development. Students within the THC's rigorous, classically-oriented program receive scholarships that range from half-tuition to full tuition.

Committed to helping students discern gifting and vocation and cultivate their relationship with Jesus Christ, the THC helps promising young Christian thinkers and leaders develop character and acquire knowledge that equips them for the service for which they were designed. Within the THC, students learn to live lives of commitment and leadership in a society that struggles for a moral compass.

"This incoming class is one that has clearly done their homework in terms of looking at what their options are for higher education," Dr. Hartley said. "The students who have chosen to come here are coming because they understand that the Templeton Honors College is a unique place. The THC offers students a strong text-centered, seminar style liberal arts education in the context of a vibrant Christian community. Many of these students made the choice to come to the THC over other outstanding higher education options."

About Templeton Honors College

The Templeton Honors College at Eastern University is designed to challenge and prepare academically gifted undergraduate students for leadership and service by providing a holistic program focused on the life of the mind, character formation and skill development. For more information: www.templetonhonorscollege.com

About Eastern University

Eastern is a Christian University located at 1300 Eagle Road in St. Davids, PA. It currently enrolls about 4,000 students in its undergraduate, graduate, urban, Seminary, international and accelerated adult programs. Eastern University offers degrees in a wide range of fields, from Associate's in Liberal Arts to Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. While based in St. Davids, Eastern University is not only a Philadelphia Christian University, as students can take classes in dozens of locations throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, Central Pennsylvania, Washington DC and on five continents around the world. Eastern integrates faith, reason and justice into all of its undergraduate programs, graduate programs and courses of study.