Honors College Awards

Each year, we recognize those members of the Honors College community who have made truly exceptional contributions—to their professions, to their communities, and to the College of Charleston.

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Distinguished Alumni Award

2025 recipient Lancie Affonso: A gifted teacher and life-long mentor who's been empowering College of Charleston students to achieve their goals for over two decades and counting.

Meet Lancie Affonso ’96, ’08
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The Honors College Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Charleston Honors College. The award publicly recognizes Honors College alumni who are noted for their professional achievements, their contributions to society, and their support of the College of Charleston.

Honorees have performed exceptional service for the College of Charleston through cumulative contributions or by extraordinary efforts that advance the both the Honors College and the College of Charleston.

Keep reading to learn more about past recipients, or nominate an exceptional Honors College alumni for the award.

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Honorary Graduate Award

2025 recipient Rose Hamm Rowland: A former associate professor of mathematics and director of the College of Charleston Honors Program who oversaw tremendous program growth in the 1990s.

Meet Rose Hamm Rowland '72
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The Honors College Honorary Graduate Award is given annually to an individual who has demonstrated sustained commitment to the College of Charleston Honors College and to its students. Recipients are selected for the ways in which they exemplify the mission, goals, values and ideals of the Honors College.

Past Recipients

Learn more about all our award recipients over the years to get a sense of how truly extraordinary the Honors College community can be.