By The Keystone Newspaper Details still being finalized
By Linnea Devenney
KU Honors has organized a trip to Hawk Mountain on Oct. 19. Students in the community have been invited for the event.
Photo Credit: Linnea Devenney
The Honors Program planned an excursion for Hawk Mountain in Kempton, Pa. Details for the current event are still being finalized, however, past hikes brought along KU professors Dr. Christopher Sacchi and Dr. Brandon Krieg.
Hawk Mountain focuses on conservation efforts at their sanctuary while their mountain is a hiking destination. The sanctuary combines bringing individuals outdoors while they preserve native wildlife populations such as raptors and plant life.
Dr. Andrew Vogel of KU’s English department and director of the Honors Program stated that he “guides and supports Honors students.” His role also includes planning extracurricular activities for the community.
The outings serve as community-building experiences for Honors students.
“Any one of the excursions that we do is an occasion for diverse Honors students from other different interests to come together and have occasions to meet one another,” Vogel said when discussing what events like Hawk Mountain did for the Honors community.
Another goal of Honors trips is to provide learning opportunities.
A previous Hawk Mountain hike focused on the natural environment with Dr. Sacchi from the biology department. Native plant life was observed along with growing patterns while students had opportunities to sample the origins of flavors that occur in nature, such as tea berry, sassafras and sorrel.
English professor and nature poet Dr. Krieg led a group of students to the Pinnacle, another trail and peak local to the mountain, along with KU biology department’s Dr. Chris Habeck. This trip led students to the apex and allowed them to share unique viewpoints of the lookout from the mountain.
These excursions are also able to be used for Living and Learning events inside the Honors community for graduation purposes.
For interested students, the program attempts to keep costs as low as possible. While the final price is still workshopped, this philosophy was applied to all of the excursions hosted by the community.
Vogel said the fee represents a commitment. “We’re not looking for money to secure the bus; we’re making sure that the bus will actually fill,” he said.
Despite the academics involved with the hikes and other Honors trips, Vogel said the events are also meant to be taken as they are.
“We try to be thoughtful,” he said. “We try to be intentional with everything that we do, and they’re also just trips!”
Individuals interested in the Honors Program and Hawk Mountain hike can visit Honors Hall for more information or email honorsprogram@kutztown.edu.