Alum with long family history at LR creates Honors College

Lenoir-Rhyne University today announced the creation of the Fritz Honors College, thanks to a $1 million gift from Rob Fritz, a 1976 graduate of the university, and his wife Kathy.

The Fritz Honors College will be a selective program for students who demonstrate curiosity, motivation, passion and drive. The college will offer an honors academic curriculum, as well as opportunities for research, internships, study abroad and more. It will bring together the Engaged Scholars program, Honors Academy and Lineberger Fellows under a single umbrella to continue a long tradition of student enrichment.

“We are incredibly grateful to Rob and Kathy for their generous gift,” said Dr. Fred Whitt, president of Lenoir-Rhyne. “The Fritz Honors College will provide our highest achieving students with the opportunity to pursue their academic passions and to become leaders in their communities and professions.”

In 2022-23, 170 students — roughly 10 percent of all undergraduates — participated in Engaged Scholars, Honors Academy and/or Lineberger Fellows. These programs will make up the foundation of the Fritz Honors College. The creation of an honors college at LR is one of the initiatives outlined in the university’s strategic plan, “Pivoting to a New Level of Excellence,” to help attract and recruit high-achieving students.

“The goal is to streamline the programs while expanding opportunities,” said Michael Stiff, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and director of the Honors Academy.  “The existing honors programs all value and support academic, experiential and extracurricular scholarship, but in different proportions. In the Fritz Honors College, the programs can collaborate and share resources. They won’t be duplicating efforts, which means these programs can offer even more to students.”

Stiff currently chairs the committee engaged in a search for the founding dean of the Fritz Honors College — expected to join the campus this fall. The dean will assume responsibility for fine-tuning and executing the mission of the honors college while working with the directors of the three existing programs to ensure a smooth transition to the new structure.

“Each of the interdisciplinary honors programs is doing impressive work, and each one has its strengths,” shared Janet Painter, Ph.D., director of institutional assessment, professor of education and co-director of Engaged Scholars. “We want to be deliberate about developing this new model, preserving those strengths and making them accessible.”

Throughout the development and transition to the new model, students will retain access to the experiences and opportunities of the university’s current honors programming. Once fully implemented, the Fritz Honors College will also incorporate national best practices in inclusive honors, according to Jennifer Burris, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this exciting new opportunity to the students at Lenoir-Rhyne, thanks to this generous gift from Rob and Kathy Fritz. While incorporating the most successful components of existing campus programs, LR can now expand our ability to offer a unique honors experience to high-achieving students with a record of creativity, community engagement and academic achievements such as Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credit.”

The naming of The Fritz Honors College recognizes the long legacy of scholarship, engagement and patronage by Fritz family members throughout the years.  “I am excited about this important initiative that will further enhance LR’s academic profile,” said Rob Fritz. “Dr. Robert Lindsay Fritz helped clear the thickets for the Hickory location and ultimately served as president from 1901 to 1919, but it was his youngest brother, Dr. Charles E. Fritz, that was my grandfather. He graduated LR in 1914 and went on to send all five of his children to Lenoir-Rhyne, including my own father.”

LR expects to welcome its first students into the fully integrated Fritz Honors College in the fall of 2024.