The Honors Beehive 

Blank as a Site of Collaboration and Community for Honors Students

by Kendall Doerr

You’ve probably seen the large glass building before. Behind tall, billowing trees and sunny picnic tables, this sleek, modern edifice is the Blank Honors Center. Located on the bustling T. Anne Cleary Walkway, the Blank Honors Center serves as a focal point for many honors students during their time here at the University of Iowa. 

With study spaces, a private outdoor patio, spacious classrooms, and helpful student admin and staff members, Blank serves as a place to study, meet friends, access resources, and make connections. 

Previously located in Shambaugh House and then the Jefferson Building downtown, the University of Iowa Honors Program was given its present home following a generous donation by Myron and Jacqueline Blank, both university alumni passionate about the education of gifted students. 

Construction on the Blank Honors Center began in 2001, and by 2003 the building was complete. Since then, Blank has served as a site of collaboration and community for countless honors students. 

“I really like to use some of the classrooms after hours just because they’re really quiet,” said Nina Osborne, a third-year honors student and honors peer -mentor. “There’s lots of space to write [and] hook my laptop up to the smart board.” 

Quiet isn’t the only thing Osborne is looking for, however. Her favorite place is the front couch by the elevators on the fourth floor because of the high likelihood that people will be passing by. “I can see when all my friends come up, all the peer mentors I’ve met, all the teaching assistants, all the presidential scholars, and I get to chit-chat with them,” she said. 

This tight-knit feel cannot be found just anywhere. The Blank Honors Center is special in how it provides a community within a community; there is support in the familiar faces that occupy the couches, classrooms, and hallways. 

This aspect of Blank particularly serves the first-year honors students. Having a space separate from the dorms and the occasional overwhelming congestion of campus is a plus for these new Hawkeyes. 

“We’re getting students into the space right away,” said Honors Student Engagement Coordinator Madison Schulte. She highlighted the Introduction to Honors course as an avenue for introducing new students to the Honors Program home. Welcome sessions, game nights, and peer mentor meetings are among the events hosted in the BHC. 

Honors Administration and Communications Coordinator Veronica Sanchez agreed, “I think the really nice thing about Intro to Honors has been exposing [honors students] to this space really early. I think it gets them more familiar with this space and lets them feel a lot more comfortable than maybe with other places that they just have a class in.” 

The Honors team works diligently to encourage students to make the Blank Honors Center their home, offering events such as Coffee Mondays, trivia, bingo night, and also academic and informational events. 

For Schulte, it’s about “students [being] able to see themselves in these spaces.” 

Honors students aren’t just forging new connections with fellow peers in Blank—they’re establishing meaningful relationships with accomplished honors faculty and staff as well. 

Aishani Kundu, a third-year honors student double-majoring in psychology and English and creative writing, has served as a front desk admin at Blank for four semesters. 

“The best part of being a student admin is that every time I go in for my shift a staff member will stop by and chat and ask me about how my week has been, how my classes have been going so far, exams, extracurriculars and stuff,” she said. 

Blank Honors Center facilitates these connections for all honors students – a distinctive privilege that opens up new avenues of connection and opportunity that prove to be invaluable.

“It’s been really great getting to know all of [the faculty], the kind of work that they do, and also just form a really personal connection with all of them,” Kundu added. 

Blank is more than a building. It is a site of collaboration. It is a community. Lifelong relationships are built inside its glass walls. Horizons are expanded, and students take initiative to mold themselves into the dynamic, ambitious, and empathetic individuals that populate the UI Honors Program.