The University of Houston Bonner Leaders exemplify the university’s commitment to community engagement.
The Bonner Leaders Program in the Honors College at the University of Houston is a community of students, neighborhood leaders, and faculty who collaborate in response to the economic, social, and cultural challenges affecting the way of life in the city of Houston.
Bonners are some of the most civically active and academically outstanding students on campus. Our students work with faculty and neighborhood leaders on anti-poverty projects, engage in active service learning, and develop leadership capacity — in order to build a better Houston.
Service
Service is at the core of our program; it is what Bonners do. Each Bonner serves between 5 - 10 hours per week, working on various projects in partnership with community organizations. Projects range from education to health to food recovery.
Bonners believe that the result of an education should be contributions back to the community, and service is incorporated into their undergraduate career.
Community
Bonners are successful both academically and socially largely because of the strong community in our program. Bonners are encouraged to live and study together, especially in their freshman year. Bonners receive weekly training on how to be effective students, leaders, and employees. They also receive their own academic and financial aid advising. In addition, incoming Bonners are assigned a Bonner mentor.
Career
Through crafting and implementing service projects, Bonners develop substantial leadership skills necessary for their post-graduation life. Working in teams, Bonners gain the ability to design and lead initiatives, secure funding, and assess progress. They also develop skills in critical thinking, personal responsibility, communication, as well as team, project, and stakeholder management.
Research
Bonners stand out academically with a higher average GPA than Honors College freshmen as a whole. The first two Bonner cohorts won a significant number of the Honor College's Outstanding First Year Student awards. Bonners come from diverse backgrounds, majors, and minors. In addition to serving their communities and being engaged in the classroom, Bonners participate in research projects related to their fields of interest.
On Thursday, February 18th, 2016, the University of Houston System Board of Regents presented the Regents’ Academic Excellence Award to the Bonner Program in...
Dr. Seuss’s On Beyond Zebra!: that was the closing for the keynote speech of the 2015 Bonner Congress. This year’s speaker, KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg,...
