Point Park University Honors Program Wins Big at Northeast Regional Honors Council Conference
Pictured are Honors Program students Tayler Cleveland, Charlotte Hosek, AJ de la Cruz, Maegen Steiner, Cloe Loosz, Vince Smykal and August Stephens. The group won several awards at the 2025 Northeast Regional Honors Council Conference.
"I have gained numerous experiences and insights from my involvement in the Honors Program. I have met lifelong friends, participated in multiple Honors conferences and gained community engagement and volunteer experience."
Point Park University's Honors Program scored a flurry of accolades at the 2025 Northeast Regional Honors Council (NRHC) Conference in Harrisburg, an event that celebrates honors students' research and academic pursuits.
"This year, our students truly shined in all they did," said Jessica McCort, Ph.D., professor and director of the Honors Program. "From volunteering to help the conference run smoothly to delivering practiced and meaningful presentations, they represented our University so well, and they came home with many awards as a result."
Point Park's newly reinvigorated Honors Newsletter, spearheaded by junior digital journalism major Carson Folio as editor, took second place in the region’s Publications Contest.
August Stephens, a senior digital journalism major with a minor in photography, was one of 13 Scholarship for Equity & Access (SEA) Award winners.
Maegen Steiner, a senior biological sciences major and MBA student, was a finalist for NRHC Student of the Year at a four-year institution.
Stephens and Cloe Loosz, a senior creative writing major with a minor in women's and gender studies, were recognized as finalists in the Creative of the Year 2025 contest for their poetry and photography submissions.
Loosz and AJ de la Cruz, a senior creative writing major with a minor in women's and gender studies, served as two of four students alongside established faculty on the Publishing in Honors feature panel, sharing their process for publishing their work in NRHC's Illuminate journal.
Tayler Cleveland '25
The following students were also recognized for their contributions to the conference through service on the Student Activities Committee:
- Tayler Cleveland, senior secondary education English major
- Charlotte Hosek, junior English major and creative writing minor
- Vince Smykal, junior creative writing major
- Maegen Steiner
- August Stephens
Dr. McCort served as the NRHC president-elect and conference co-chair this year, which allowed her to better understand how to help Point Park students get involved and develop their leadership skills.
"Working with Point Park Honors students has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my career," she said. "I love helping them prepare for conferences, identify experiential learning opportunities, create meaningful honors capstone projects and so much more. At this point in my life, helping up-and-coming students gain access to opportunities that will allow them to achieve their dreams is what drives me."
Learn more about the event and Point Park's Honors Program from students Maegen Steiner and August Stephens:
What did you enjoy about participating in the NRHC conference?
Steiner: I enjoyed meeting and networking with hundreds of students and professionals from across the northeast region. Learning about the subjects everyone researched over the past few months was nothing short of inspiring.
Stephens: I enjoyed the emphasis on academic engagement throughout the entirety of the NRHC conference. The opportunity to engage with Harrisburg's history, other students' academic work and learn from local professionals is one which cannot be taken for granted. The ability to listen and talk to such a variety of people and share educational ideas in a notably accessible format is inspiring. The experiences I took with me from the NRHC 2025 conference have made me realize my career dreams may be changing in the best way possible!
What have you gained from your involvement in the Honors Program?
Steiner: I have gained plenty of skills that will help me beyond graduation. The program has allowed me to meet so many students, including some of my best college friends, as well as faculty and staff. I also have had the opportunity to serve as a mentor for the past three years and on the executive board as the president-elect and president.
Stephens: I have gained numerous experiences and insights from my involvement in the Honors Program. I have met lifelong friends, participated in multiple Honors conferences and gained community engagement and volunteer experience. Overall, the Honors Program has granted me several opportunities to network, attend lectures from professionals and learn more about connecting with the history of Pittsburgh as a student.
How has the Honors Program enhanced your studies?
Steiner: The Honors Program has allowed me to add some academic rigor to my biological sciences major. This rigor kept me motivated to pursue other opportunities and projects within my courses. For example, in the Honors Program, students have the opportunity to "honorize" existing non-honors courses to earn honors credit. You work with your professor to add another project or aspect to the course to enhance your learning experience. As a junior, I "honorized" my genetics course with Laura Frost, Ph.D., by completing an additional research project titled, "The Role of CACNA1C: A Plausible Link Between Genetics and Mental Illness." In the project, I analyzed different components of the human brain/genetics to find a correlation with anxiety-based mental disorders.
Stephens: The Honors program has enhanced my studies as a digital journalism major by providing an outlet to connect with others outside of the School of Communication. As the co-opinions editor of The Globe and general manager of WPPJ 670 AM, it’s nice to learn about authentically connecting with others in team-oriented environments, public speaking and ethical research principles through the Honors Program and actively apply them to my studies.
Why would you recommend Point Park to a prospective student?
Steiner: My favorite aspect of the campus is the community. In all disciplines across campus, especially within the Department of Natural Sciences and Engineering, class sizes are often in a ratio of 20 or fewer students to one professor, which allows students to establish one-on-one relationships with professors they would not experience at a large institution in a lecture hall with 300 students. These relationships helped me, and many others I know, be successful in the field and have set us up for future success.
Additionally, Point Park's community consists of many student-run organizations. I've worked with the Honors Student Organization and Student Government Association. The Federal Work Study program allowed me to branch out of the biology field into the Rowland School of Business, which has been an amazing experience that introduced me to many faculty and staff members I would not have had the opportunity to work with otherwise.
Stephens: I would recommend Point Park to a prospective student because of the amount of opportunities in and around the city. The faculty and staff are truly the most genuine and informed people I have met, and it has been wonderful learning amongst them and other students.