A celebration earlier this month marked the official opening of the David C. Frederick Honors College (FHC) at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, the first regional campus in the Pitt system to host the respected program.

"We are celebrating the creation of new opportunities for Pitt students to discover, to learn, to collaborate, and to find new possibilities in themselves," said FHC Dean Nicola Foote in her spoken remarks during the event. "We are one of the oldest honors colleges in the nation and we were recently formally named as one of the best in the nation. Today we get to expand that powerful and innovative and transformative model of honors education to even more Pitt students. I truly can't think of anything more exciting, more powerful."

Almost two years in the making, the partnership among FHC, Pitt-Greensburg and University leadership was officially announced in May. Numerous offices and departments on both campuses were involved in development, key support was provided by the Office of the Provost, the Office of Admissions, the Office of Financial Aid, and the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement.

Pitt-Greensburg initiated an Honors Program in 2020, building on a foundation that started in 1999 with the establishment of the Academic Village. Frank Wilson, Pitt-Greensburg's assistant dean of Academic Affairs and interim associate dean of the Frederick Honors College at Pitt-Greensburg, worked with fellow faculty members Sheila Confer, William Pamerleau and John Prellwitz to mirror - where possible - the fledgling Honors Program on the direction and requirements of the FHC.

Students accepted into the Pitt-Greensburg program now have access to the same support and opportunities as the FHC students at the University's Pittsburgh campus, including help applying to important scholarships and fellowships like the Fulbright, Truman and Rhodes. Pitt-Greensburg students will also officially graduate from the Frederick Honors College if they complete the Honors joint-degree, Honors Distinction, or the prestigious Bachelor of Philosophy degree.