Fifty high-achieving high school graduates from throughout California make up the 18th class of President’s Honors Scholars in the Smittcamp Family Honors College at California State University, Fresno. The freshmen were selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants, said Dr. Saeed Attar, director of the college.

Applicants to the Smittcamp Family Honors College must score 1800 or above on the SAT (or 27 or above on the ACT), be in the upper 10 percent of their graduating class or have a minimum 3.8 GPA in college-preparation classes.

The 50 new Scholars were welcomed to Fresno State at an Aug. 16 reception hosted by University President Joseph I. Castro and Provost Lynnette Zelezny. Each scholar will receive an annual President’s Honors Scholarship for their undergraduate degree program up to a maximum of eight semesters. Scholarships cover in-state registration and an optional credit for University housing.

The Honors College was established in 1998 with a $1 million gift from the late Earl and Muriel Smittcamp and their family, a prominent agribusiness family and longtime supporters of Fresno State. The ongoing collective support of other donors has also played a significant role in the continued success of the Honors College.

The Smittcamp Family Honors College is unique in the California State University system. President’s Scholars are admitted as a cohort, take a series of specially designed honors courses, participate in a weekly colloquium with guest speakers and interact in educational, scholarly, and social activities.

In addition, each President’s Scholar is required to volunteer a minimum of 70 hours of community service through his/her junior year. To remain in the program, a student must enroll in at least 12 units and earn a minimum of 3.25 GPA in their first and second years, and a minimum of a 3.5 GPA in their third and fourth years.

Over 90 percent of the scholars graduate in four years, mostly with summa cum laude (3.9+ GPA) or magna cum laude (3.7+ GPA) distinctions.

The 2016 cohort of President’s Scholars and their high schools are as follows:

1. Eden Anderson (Central East)
2. Audrey Ang (Buchanan)
3. Jenna Aoki (Clovis East)
4. Averie Basch (Clovis)
5. Stefani Beale (Clovis East)
6. Colleen Busby (Mt. Whitney, Visalia)
7. Jezraiah Cabasa (Golden West, Visalia)
8. Kiana Cabasa (Golden West, Visalia)
9. Greyson Canterbury (El Diamante, Visalia)
10. Trenton Clutter (Clovis West)
11. Claire Copher (Liberty, Madera)
12. Cameron Ervin (Bullard)
13. Claire Evangelho (Roosevelt)
14. Baily Gong (Central Valley Christian, Visalia)
15. Bryce Granata (Clovis North)
16. Micah Gross (Clovis West)
17. Kollin Grunberg (Bullard)
18. Naseem Hamud (Central East)
19. Nadia Jasim (Clovis North)
20. Logan Kearnan (Redwood, Visalia)
21. Skyler Lee (Fresno Christian)
22. Mara Lewis (Hanford)
23. Francisco Maldonado-Vasquez (Sunnyside)
24. Patrick Manghera (Clovis)
25. Rebecca Mann (University)
26. Nicholas Marshall (Sanger)
27. Nicholas Matoian (Clovis West)
28. Cassidy Melton (Buchanan)
29. Erin Milks (Clovis)
30. Rojina Nekoonam (Clovis West)
31. Jerod North (Kingsburg)
32. Micah Olivas (Hanford)
33. Liliana Perez (Washington Union, Fresno)
34. Jennifer Phan (Desert Junior/Senior High, Edwards AFB)
35. Gobind Puniani (Clovis North)
36. Anindita Rasjaskeran (El Diamante, Visalia)
37. Danielle Richman (Mira Costa)
38. Bethany Samarin (Liberty, Madera)
39. Saraya Sears (Sierra, Tollhouse)
40. Zachary Shaath (Edison)
41. Morgan Siemer (Buchanan)
42. Shizra Sipra (Clovis North)
43. John Spankowski (Los Banos)
44. Cameron Standridge (Hanford)
45. Emma Van Fossen (Hanford)
46. Jennifer Vang (Mt. Whitney, Visalia)
47. Lilian Vang (Clovis East)
48. Demetria Wack (Arroyo Grande)
49. Vana Wassilian (Buchanan)
50. Dominic Zoldak (Hanford)

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