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Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Reaud Honors College will host the annual Great Plains Honors Council (GPHC) conference March 31 to April 2 in the new Wayne A. Reaud Building. The college confirms 440 participants from 45 different educational institutions across six states will gather at the university.

“The Great Plains Honors Council is our regional Honors organization, covering Texas and five other states, so it is a great honor to have been selected from all of the Council's member institutions to host this year's Conference,” said Kevin Dodson, dean of the Reaud Honors College.

The GPHC is a regional section of the National Collegiate Honors Council, which provides guidelines for all of the honors colleges and programs in the United States.

Members from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas will gather at Â鶹ÊÓƵ for the 2017 conference to enable students and faculty of the area to meet and share their work.

“As the host institution, we have a great opportunity to showcase the activities and new facilities of the Reaud Honors College, as well as Â鶹ÊÓƵ and Southeast Texas,” said Dodson.

The conference will offer sections for student presentations, a meeting for administrators, two banquets, keynote speakers and a lunch at Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum followed by excursions to explore the area. The last night will include a blues guitarist and a student party.

“It’s exciting because the participation at this conference has continued to grow over the last few years. Our Lamar students have been a huge part of this year’s conference by helping to plan and serving as volunteers at the conference.” said Rebekah Maxwell, coordinator for the Reaud Honors College.

This year’s, the conference theme is “Exploration through Honors.” Excursions will feature major local destinations like Shangri La, the W.H. Stark house, the McFaddin-Ward house, downtown Beaumont and a tour with Neches River Adventures.

“This is great for our area with so many people coming from outside of Texas. We get to show off our local treasurers of Â鶹ÊÓƵ and the fabulous museums, nature areas and local architecture,” said Maxwell.

The Wayne A. Reaud Building is a part of the new entrance to the campus on the corner of Jim Gilligan Way and Rolfe Christopher Drive. The three-story building is a state-of-the-art facility serving the Reaud Honors College, university administration offices and Information Technology, Marketing and Institutional Research and Reporting.

The Reaud Honors College furthers the goals and aspirations of Lamar’s high ability students within the university and community. It offers enriched classes in the core curriculum, upper-level interdisciplinary classes and seminars, advanced classes in many majors and opportunities for independent study, honors contracts and the Honors Thesis.

The Reaud Honors College began in the ’60s with a handful of students and has since gained prestige on campus and college status with enrollment at around 300 students. Â鶹ÊÓƵ recently became the ninth to offer an honors college in Texas.