The Henderson Scholars experience is not a list of events to attend. It is a four-year journey, intentionally designed so that each year builds on the last. You arrive as a scholar finding your footing. You leave as a leader who has mentored others, led groups, and contributed meaningfully to your community. What happens in between is the program — and it was built with you in mind.
In 2022, HSP established the University of Oklahoma’s first Living Learning Community — a structured residential program in which first-year scholars live together on campus and participate in learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom. This was not an incidental addition to the program. It was a deliberate investment in what decades of national research shows is one of the most effective structures in higher education for supporting student success.
For HSP scholars, the Living Learning Community means that your first year at OU is not a general residential experience with programming attached. It is a purposefully structured environment — the people on your floor, the weekly cohort meetings, the Foundations course through University College, and the second-year peer mentors who have walked this path before you — all of it is designed to give you the strongest possible start.
Your role: Scholar & Mentee
You arrive at OU and move into OU’s first Living Learning Community alongside your fellow first-year Henderson Scholars. Weekly cohort meetings give you space to make sense of college life — academically, socially, and personally. You will begin identifying the wellness strategies that work for you, learn what resources exist to support you, and build real relationships with people who are navigating the same transition. You are not doing this alone. Your foundation starts here.
Your role: Peer Mentor
In your second year, you become a mentor to incoming first-year scholars. You help them navigate the same transition you just made — socially, culturally, and academically. This is not a ceremonial role. You will practice real mentorship skills, learn how to show up for someone else with empathy and consistency, and begin articulating how you as an individual can contribute to positive change. The people you mentor will remember you.
Your role: Small Group Leader
Third-year scholars lead. You will facilitate small group conversations on meaningful topics connected to the HSP curriculum, bringing your own voice, perspective, and preparation to every session. You will practice project management, facilitation, and collaborative leadership in a real context with real stakes. This year is structured around professional development and the art of leading people well.
Your role: Impact Team Member
Your final year is lighter in structured responsibilities because you have given and grown so much in the three years before it. Senior scholars serve on the Impact Team — as Chair for Service, Chair for Small Group Mentorship, or Mentor Chair — and support third-year leaders with the wisdom of experience. You will also help organize program events like the HSP Olympics BBQ, a tradition you now get to shape. You are leaving, but you are leaving something behind.
The HSP Peer Mentoring Initiative is a curricular strategy to equip upper-year Scholars with the necessary skills to be effective mentors to first-year incoming Scholars as a means of assisting them socially, culturally, and academically as they transition into the Henderson Scholars Program and the University of Oklahoma.
A one day off-campus program designed to promote self-awareness and leadership skills to all Henderson Scholars. During the retreat students will be introduced to a variety of programs and resources on campus. The students will also begin a dialogue about enriching the OU community. Together we can advance new ideas and challenge roadblocks to leadership.
In the spring of 2013, we hosted our first legacy reception. This event includes a keynote speaker who introduces the scholars to the Alumni Association. Our organization teaches students how to stay connected to the University after graduating and shows them how to use these connections to succeed in life after their college career.
Read about the impacts and experiences of current Henderson Scholars on campus and within the surrounding community. HSP Awards, HSP highlighted on campus, and more!
HSP is a community, not just a scholarship. What makes it work is that every scholar shows up — not just physically, but fully. The expectations below are not bureaucratic requirements. They are the shared commitments that allow this community to give every scholar what it promises: belonging, growth, and the chance to lead.
Scholars must attend both All-Scholar and Class meetings and annual retreats (in-person unless studying abroad).
Each Scholar is allowed one absence per semester to use towards meetings.
Scholars must complete twenty (20) hours of approved community service activities each semester.
Scholarship comes first. The Henderson Scholars continually average, as a class, a 3.3 cumulative grade point average.
The Henderson Scholars have always been leaders on campus. Our scholars have completed over 1700 hours of community service.
Henderson Scholars do not stop being Henderson Scholars when they graduate. Our alumni are leaders in their fields, communities, and in the ongoing story of what this program was built to do. Read their stories below.
