Batten Honors College Competition Welcome Reception

We welcomed scholars from throughout the country tonight for the first of three competitions for seats in the elite and highly selective Batten Honors College of Virginia Wesleyan University. Students invited to campus this weekend have an average GPA of 4.18 (on a 4.0 scale) and an average SAT of 1373. We started with a pool of over 30,000 potential students, one-tenth of that group were deemed eligible in meeting preliminary requirements for the program, and only about 120 out of 30,000 will be invited to campus between now and March. Only 3 percent of those who meet the admissions requirements of the Batten Honors College will be admitted. Currently enrolled are 120 Batten Fellows and Shumadine Scholars, who will grow to the desired capacity of 160 next year. Pictured with Joyce Easter (Dean of the Batten Honors College), David Waggoner (Vice President of Enrollment), Maynard Schaus (Vice President for Academic Affairs), and Denise Cunningham (Director of Enrollment for the Batten Honors College) at the beautiful Slover Library in downtown Norfolk. This distinctive national-niche program is made possible by VWU Trustee Emerita Jane Batten and her late husband Frank.