Dr. Djibo Zanzot’s Honors section of Organismal Biology, BIOL 1037, is a reminder that honors education at Auburn University does not proceed in isolation from teaching and learning across the university. Rather, the smaller sizes of Honors classes often provide settings in which faculty can experiment with teaching methods that they can then apply more broadly.

Zanzot, a senior lecturer in the biological sciences department who has been teaching Honors biology for more than a decade and was named one of the Honors College’s two Professors of the Year in 2025, cited his Honors teaching experience as a longstanding opportunity for him to experiment with approaches that then benefit all of his classes. “Teaching Honors sections provides me a pedagogical crucible to try out new projects to promote high-impact practices,” he explained. “The feedback I get from Honors students is essential to refining these projects so I can scale them up in my larger sections.”

Sitting in a crowded coffee shop near Auburn’s main campus, Honors alumna Maggie Tennant holds in her hand a replica of a bronze Roman clasp — a memory of her recent time in Italy and her academic and professional journey so far. As if this clasp were a rewind button, Tennant reflects on her time at Auburn University and in the Honors College, starting with her arrival in the fall of 2019, which didn’t begin in a lecture hall — it began with service.

Weeks before her first class as a freshman, Tennant joined fellow incoming students for the Honors College’s Week of Service, a program centered on volunteerism and service-learning experiences that go beyond traditional classroom boundaries. That week would set the tone not only for her time on the Plains, but for the path she would follow well beyond graduation.

Cater Hall is home to the Auburn University Honors College, but it is the students and staff inside who bring the historic space to life. As visitors walk through the doors of Cater, their first encounter is usually with two types of student workers: associates, who staff the front desk, and ambassadors, who speak with prospective students about their Honors College experience.

These Honors students come from cities across the country and represent a wide range of majors, bringing distinct perspectives to their work. As associates and ambassadors, they draw on their own Honors experiences to enrich and strengthen the broader Honors community.

Peer Instructors are an integral part of class, helping students navigate their first year in Auburn and in Honors. Their responsibilities include attending class, attending meetings with their instructor, co-facilitating classroom discussions, communicating with students and representing Honors through an upperclassman perspective.  After many applications and interviews, 28 Honors students have been chosen as our fall 2026 peer instructors.

Sienna Arens, Bryce Bell, Maryn Boomsman, Abigail Brown, Elizabeth Cruz, Claire Field, Natalie Halstead, Ava Irion, Jonathan Koeninger, Gabe Lambert, Evelyn Lubben, Sara McReynolds, Megan Prevallet, Gabriela Pugh, Manning Roberts, Amelia Smith, Claire Sturgis, Jillian Surla, Lila Weitz, Carson Greer, Kaylee Routh, Kate Moore, Saylor Jackson, Campbell McHale, Addison Pursell, Laela Gipe, Kelly Kerew and An Wilkes Cavanaugh

Congratulations!