The Honor Roll Podcast

Through student organizations like GenCLEO, USF students are developing the skills and experience to become future leaders and engaged community advocates. A Florida-based environmental advocacy organization, GenCLEO’s USF chapter provides students with the resources, connections, and opportunities to advocate for climate policy, engage with elected officials, and create meaningful change in their...

As a student-run clinic, the USF Health BRIDGE Clinic provides free healthcare to uninsured patients in Hillsborough County. For more than a decade, Judy Genshaft Honors College students have volunteered at the BRIDGE Clinic, helping deliver medical care, social services, public health support, physical therapy, and more. This week, current medical students at the USF Morsani College of Medicine —...

As the University of South Florida continues to celebrate its 70th anniversary, the Judy Genshaft Honors College is bringing back some its past students whose bold leadership shaped the future of Honors for years to come. The Honors College student council plays an integral role in Honors culture – fostering professional development, leadership growth, and creating a community. On this episode, pa...

The art of medicine isn't always strictly scientific. More often than not, it requires navigating profound ethical and philosophical questions that can mean the difference between life and death. Dr. Victor Bowers, a transplant surgeon and medical director at LifeLink of Florida, teaches a biomedical ethics course in the USF Judy Genshaft Honors College that emphasizes the human side of healthcare...

Environmental science student Oliver Laczko joins the podcast to share how he is turning research into real-world impact, one green initiative at a time. After serving in leadership positions on the Student Green Energy Fund at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus, he's learned that sustainability is about more than good intentions, but about making green projects work within re...

This week marks the launch of our new mini-series, Voices of Service, where we highlight volunteer organizations that prospective and current Honors students can get involved with. We sit down with first-year Honors student Alexa Michael to explore how community service can be more than just checking off a requirement, and with the right mindset, a way to discover purpose and grow as a leader.  Dr...

A new program on the USF St. Petersburg campus is giving Honors students access to high-impact research opportunities that directly affect the health and future of the Gulf region they call home. Nestled between downtown St. Petersburg and Bayboro Harbor, the campus is now home to the Gulf Scholars Program — an initiative that allows students to take Gulf-focused Honors courses, receive funding to...

Understanding the complexities of foreign relations can feel overwhelming, but Honors affiliate faculty member Arman Mahmoudian helps make global politics approachable and relevant. From learning how to separate fact from fiction to researching current conflicts, students leave his courses with the confidence to stay informed. This week, Dr. Mahmoudian joins the show along with Honors students May...

Internships can shape who we become, and for USF Honors student Cameran Isler, they opened the door to public service. Through the Legislative Internship Program and the Tallahassee Internship Program, Cameran stepped into the world of government early, gaining firsthand experience working alongside elected officials and supporting the communities they represent. This week, Cameran joins the podca...

USF is celebrating a record-breaking achievement — four Honors students have been named 2025 Goldwater Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for undergraduate research. In this episode, we chat with Taylor Rand, Peter Alspaugh, and Abdul-Malik Zekri about their passion for discovery, ambitious mindsets, and how they’re contributing research that affects everything from our human bodies to t...

Some connections begin in a classroom and last a lifetime. For Patrick and Savanah Mullen, the Judy Genshaft Honors College wasn’t just where they studied — it’s where they met, grew together and discovered a shared purpose that would shape their futures. This week, Patrick and Savanah take us back 10 years to their time as Honors College students, from serving as student ambassadors to teaching a...

Judy Genshaft Honors College leaders and history-makers — USF President Emerita Judy Genshaft, inaugural Honors Dean Stuart Silverman, and current Honors College Dean Charles Adams — reunite to reflect on USF’s growth from Silverman’s arrival in 1970 to today, and on the Honors College’s central role within the university’s academic community. From just 20 students to a network of nearly 10,000 al...

What does it look like when a passion for public service leads to the nation’s capital? This week, we talk with Honors student Madison Reiter about her summer in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a legal and policy research intern through The Washington Center Internship Program with the Council of State Governments and the U.S. Department of Labor. Madison shares how she translated classroom...

Honors professor Ulluminair Salim’s Narrative Cartography: Mapping the Stories of Your Life course is reshaping how Honors students see themselves. Through educational techniques like guided reflection, Dr. Salim invites students to explore the meaning embedded in their names and the rituals that shape identity — from food and failure to remembrance and legacy. This week, Honors students Jon Rosar...

This week, we’re sharing a new podcast from the Judy Genshaft Honors College Podcast Network for prospective students and their families: The Suite Life of the LLC . Formerly known as Dorm Room Dialogues , this refreshed series takes you inside the Honors housing experience and explores how the Living Learning Community supports students’ academic, professional and personal growth. In today’s epis...

This week, Honors students Elaine Pan and Shivanshu Kumar share how a chance meeting in their first-semester Honors Foundations course spakred the creation of Florida MedConnect, a thriving student organization.  As pre-med students, they knew firsthand the challenges of finding research opportunities on campus and set out to build a solution. Elaine and Shivanshu discuss what it takes to build an...

The Judy Genshaft Honors College is home to some of USF’s most innovative problem-solvers, including the Honors IT Team. In this episode, we sit down with Associate Dean of Planning and Programming Reginald Lucien and student developers to explore the story behind the USF Undergraduate Research Portal — the university’s first centralized hub for undergraduate research opportunities. Built by Honor...

What is an Honors College? Beyond the name, beyond the GPA, beyond the myth that “honors” just means harder classes, what does it truly mean to be part of a transformative academic community? In this episode, we sit down with Dean Charles Adams of the Judy Genshaft Honors College, alongside Honors students Nick Nechaiev and Rysun Chu, to explore how USF’s Honors College is redefining higher educat...

Sometimes a scholarship offers more than just tuition — in this episode, we sit down with first-generation college student Adam Costello and Jenkins Scholars advisor, Kate Ashmore, to talk about one of USF’s most unique scholarships. We discuss how receiving the Jenkins scholarship gave Adam space to focus on his academic success and personal aspirations, while providing him access to a close-knit...

The Honors Student Councils offer students a chance to build leadership skills, direct events, and create meaningful connections within the Honors community. Katelynn Paciorek and Olivia Pinilla are Honors students doing just that. In this week’s episode, they share how their involvement led them to take on leadership roles as the incoming president and vice president of the Tampa Judy Genshaft Ho...

Have fun with it! After choosing the University of South Florida as a National Merit Scholar, recent Honors graduate (and incoming adult) Natalie AmRhein shares how she combined her passion for the outdoors with health care. In this week’s episode, Natalie reflects on her undergraduate experiences, from studying abroad in the U.K. to leading outdoor adventure trips through the USF Recreation Cente...

A proud former member of the Honors Living Learning Community, two-time study abroad participant, marketing graduate assistant, and the college’s first-ever Honors admissions director, University of South Florida alum Grace Beck (’16) returns to the Judy Genshaft Honors College to share her story and excitement as the inaugural chair of the new Judy Genshaft Honors College Alumni Society. From pro...

Honors student Chinaza Munonye is using her coursework to lay the foundation for a future in dermatology. A first-generation college student with Nigerian roots, Chinaza shares her hopes of improving equity in dermatological research and how the intersection of her academic interests and career goals has shaped her path at USF. By researching issues such as sanitation-related skin conditions in re...

Get to know four of this year’s USF Muma College of Business 25 Under 25 honorees who are driving change at USF and beyond. In this episode, we sit down with Rylee King, Emilie Leyva, Minh Ha Pham, and Joshua Streitmatter to explore how leadership, service, and real-world experience have shaped their journeys and prepared them for future success. From fundraising efforts to guiding fellow students...

Honors Professor Deepak Singh believes leadership isn’t taught through lectures but discovered through stories. In this episode, students Jenna Epright and Daniel Anderson reflect on the Honors course Exploring Leadership Through Literature and Film — a seminar-style capstone course that examines works like “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu and “Things Fall A...