Caron Started College Early
It’s not every day that students start college early, but this Jamaica Plain, MA resident is no ordinary student. This year, Lucas Caron joined the fall 2020 class at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, the nation’s first early college. Simon’s Rock successfully created a safe, socially distanced learning environment this semester, with primarily in-person classes as well as hybrid and remote offerings.
Caron’s academic and personal achievements stood out, securing Lucas a spot at Simon’s Rock this fall. The college is home to about 400 students who engage in a rigorous liberal arts and sciences curriculum and graduate from college one or two years ahead of their peers.
Bard College at Simon’s Rock, founded in 1966 and nestled in the bucolic Berkshires, is the only college in the country specifically designed for highly motivated students ready to enter college early, usually after the 10th or 11th grade. Simon’s Rock offers a challenging program in the liberal arts and sciences, taught in small seminars by supportive, highly-trained faculty. The Princeton Review’s Best 382 Colleges rates academics at Simon’s Rock higher than Harvard and Princeton. For more information, visit simons-rock.edu.
Students Inducted into Honor Society
The following people recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.
• Krista Wenzel Beniga of Jamaica Plain at MCPHS University
• Rachel Kim of Jamaica Plain at MCPHS University
They are among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.
Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 325 campuses in the United States and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”