Welcome

A note from the director...

Every August since 1999, seventy or more new students, strangers to each other, have come to Hope to begin their first year of college as Phelps Scholars. We are now in our eleventh year of the program. This year's Phelps Scholars will experience many things together:

• First-Year Seminar in the fall term
• Encounter with Cultures in the spring
• Bi-monthly meetings on many different topics, such as "Cross-Cultural Communication" and "The Role of Race in American Sports"
• Field trips to numerous destinations, including Detroit's Holocaust Memorial, Chicago's World Music Festival, and the Underground Railroad re-enactment at Conner Prairie near Indianapolis
• Get involved in community service projects
• Informal gatherings-dinners, parties, and get-togethers just for fun

When we ask Phelps Scholars about the most meaningful part of their experience, the answer is always the same: Relationships. Year after year, Phelps Scholars build a strong community with people from many different backgrounds, and learn from both the differences and the similarities they have with others.

It is a privilege for me to be a part of this terrific program. I like the opportunities to learn new things and to go to new places. I like teaching First-Year Seminar and planning events and attending the social functions. But the best part for me? Relationships. Being part of a strong community. Learning from our differences and our similarities.

Thanks for visiting our web site. You can learn many things about us this way. I hope that you will develop a sense of what we do and how we do it-and catch a glimpse of the relationships that make the Phelps Scholars a special group of people.

- Dr. Charles Green