All freshmen are required to attend at least three cultural events each semester they are enrolled in the Lee Honors College and to provide a written response using the form linked below that describes and critiques their experience.

During the year these responses are to be submitted to our graduate assistant via email at honr-grad@wmich.edu or at the front desk in the Lee Honors College office, and will become part of the students’ files used as we perform our yearly audit. If you include your cultural event responses in your iWebfolio, you do not need to submit them on paper to the honors college—we will view them online.

Most of our students already participate widely in the cultural life of the campus. The Lee Honors College has always tried to challenge its students to be citizens of the University and the world in the broadest possible way. This requirement aims to encourage students to learn (and, we hope, to love) as much as they can about the cultural life that is the heart of any civilized society and the soul of any civilized person.

Cultural events can be defined broadly, but are most specifically from the following categories:

• Lectures or programs sponsored by the Lee Honors College.
• Concerts, performances, and recitals in music or dance.
• Readings in poetry or prose sponsored by the Department of English.
• The foreign film series at WMU’s Little Theater or Kalamazoo College
• University Theatre plays sponsored by the Department of Theatre.
• Art exhibits and shows sponsored by the Frostic School of Art in any of its exhibition spaces.
• Seminars, symposiums, and speeches delivered on a variety of special cultural topics by many colleges and departments throughout the University.
• Programs at Miller Auditorium, when appropriate (as suggested by the above list).
• Exhibits at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts or other regional cultural institutions.
• Events and exhibits presented by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo (as suggested by the above list).

What does not constitute a cultural event?

The list of acceptable cultural events does not include raves, hootenannies, hockey games, NASCAR races, visits to tattoo parlors, square dances, or concerts of popular music, no matter how much fun these things might be. If you have any questions, please contact our graduate assistant at (269) 387-3230.

Submit a cultural event

All questions regarding the appropriateness or acceptance of an activity as a cultural event should be submitted to the graduate assistant prior to the event. All cultural event submissions should be made using the Cultural Event Form and delivered to the graduate assistant or emailed to honr-grad@wmich.edu at the Lee Honors College.