Author: Isabella Berthel, sophomore
The fall semester held a fair amount of firsts for the sophomore cohort: the first time having all in-person classes; the first time (for some) being on campus; and the first time meeting everyone in person. However, it was not our first time to win the Honors House Cup Competition!
This was the second year of the House Cup Competition, which is a semester-long competition between the four Honors cohorts (seniors, juniors, sophomores, and first-years). There are different challenges and events, like sports games or trivia nights, that students can participate in to earn points for their cohort through their participation and victories.
Throughout the semester, our sophomore cohort participated in a lot of the House Cup challenges, which led to our eventual win and also helped us form friendships with each other outside of the classroom.
At the end of the competition, after putting it to a vote, our cohort decided to donate the prize money to a New York state non-profit organization called the Center for Community Alternatives. This non-profit works to promote reintegrative justice and reduced reliance on incarceration through advocating for public policy change and working directly with impoverished communities that suffer the effects of the state’s current reliance on incarceration.
Through our donation, our cohort hopes to raise awareness for this specific social justice issue, as well as inspire our peers both in and outside of the Honors community to work to embody our call to be a Community of Scholars for Justice.
Please visit the CCA’s website for more information: https://www.communityalternatives.org/