Centre News

The Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP) began its 29th year at
Centre on Sunday, June 24. High school juniors from across
Kentucky are taking classes while living on campus.
Scholars take three courses at GSP: one in their focus area; a
general studies course assigned by faculty; and a seminar class
focused on discussion and debate.

This past week, the Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP) began its 29th year at Centre. High school juniors from across the state arrived on campus on Sunday, June 24, and will spend the next five weeks taking classes from GSP faculty while living in campus dorms, experiencing the everyday life of a college student.

“Centre and GSP have always fit well together—there's a shared interest in personal education and the idea that building relationships between students and between faculty and students makes for a better educational experience,” says John Kinkade, associate campus director of Centre’s GSP and professor of English at Centre.

Centre is one of three campuses in Kentucky to host GSP, the other two this year being Bellarmine University and Murray State University. Since the program began in 1983, Centre has been a host site each year.

While studying on campus, scholars take three courses: one in their focus area, a major area of study the student is able to select; a general studies course assigned to challenge scholars and allow them to think outside of their comfort zone; and a seminar class focused on discussion and debate.

The courses offered to students cover a wide array of subjects, from the sciences to the humanities and everywhere in between. Past courses have included the science of cooking, Ukrainian dance, puppet-making and East Asian cultures.

Kinkade, who was himself a Governor’s Scholar in 1990, says that the most important aspects of GSP are the opportunity to make connections and to become more open-minded.

“The peer group is the first important thing. The scholars get to know other people from all over the state who have similar interests, abilities and ambitions,” Kinkade says. “Additionally, many of the scholars can be themselves at GSP in a way that's sometimes not possible at home, where social identities and cliques have been defined for years. That freedom to be themselves allows scholars to immerse themselves in the intellectual experience of Governor's Scholars. GSP gives scholars the time and space to think through ideas more fully.”

Governor's Scholars alumni—along with participants in the Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA)— who are admitted to Centre are awarded a scholarship of at least $10,000, as long as the student is in the top 10 percent of his/her high school class and has at least a 28 on the ACT (or SAT equivalent).

For more about GSP, to view daily photos and get news about GSP at Centre, visit the new Centre GSP website here. To watch a recent Sights and Sounds about GSP, click here.

Have comments, suggestions, or story ideas? E-mail elizabeth.trollinger@centre.edu with your feedback.

Centre College, founded in 1819 and chosen to host its second Vice Presidential Debate in 2012, is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges, at 42nd in the nation, and ranks 27th for best value among national liberal arts colleges. Forbes magazine ranks Centre 34th among all the nation’s colleges and universities and has named Centre in the top five among all institutions of higher education in the South for three years in a row. Centre is also ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News for its study abroad program. For more, click here.