RELEASED: June 18, 2009

DANVILLE, KY—It's a Centre College tradition and a sure sign of summer: Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program students are back on Centre's campus.

Beginning Sunday, June 28, 348 of Kentucky's outstanding rising high school seniors arrived in Danville for five weeks of intellectual and social exploration.

Check Centre's Web site often for daily photo updates from GSP!

Celebrating its 26th year, the Governor's Scholars Program mixes a busy academic schedule in the sciences, social studies, and humanities with a full enrichment and residential-life experience. The subject matter ranges from cultural anthropology to physical science to non-traditional subjects. The science of cooking, Ukrainian dance, puppet-making and Japanese children's games have been among the creative offerings taught at GSP.

International studies will be the focus of this year's program. Many of the GSP faculty, staff and resident assistants have had experience teaching, studying and living overseas in countries such as Japan, Russia, Nigeria and Vietnam.

"Entering my tenth year of involvement with the program, I'm still excited as we welcome new scholars," says Dr. John Kinkade, Centre assistant professor of English and humanities, director of scholars for GSP, and a former Governor's Scholar on the Centre campus. "This program is often a life-changing experience for the scholars, who are able to engage intellectually in ways that a traditional high school setting can't match."

Kinkade works closely with Dr. Clarence Wyatt, Pottinger Professor of History and special assistant to the president at Centre. Wyatt is also the campus director of GSP.

"Centre has been involved with the Governor's Scholars Program since its inception," says Centre President John Roush. "The program reflects the College's engaging approach to the liberal arts and sciences—small classes and one-to-one interaction with outstanding teachers and scholars. It's what we do best.

The program, which began in 1983 on Centre's campus, has grown to around 1,100 students each summer on three GSP campuses. This year, scholars will study at Centre, Morehead State University, and Bellarmine University.

The program on Centre's campus includes 19 faculty members, who are drawn competitively from colleges, universities and high schools in Kentucky and across the nation. The six office staff members and 20 resident assistants, many of them former Governor's Scholars, are students at a variety of colleges and universities.

Click here to visit the GSP Centre 2009 Web page, and check back each week for updated photos.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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