Hoffman Honors Scholars program kicks off third year

Hoffman Honors Scholars program kicks off third year

Prestigious memorial scholarship welcomes new cohort

This year marks the third cohort of the Hoffman Honors Scholars (HHS), which offers exceptional students in the College of Arts & Sciences (A&S), the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and the Carl H. Lindner College of Business (LCB) a $20,000 annual scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. This scholarship is made possible by a generous endowment from the estate of Hugh Hoffman (MBA '63).

Additionally, HHS offers exclusive opportunities for leadership, service and global engagement, equipping these high-achieving students with the skills and experiences needed to participate fully in a continually changing world. The program also collaborates with numerous community and campus partners, including the Cincinnati Nature Center, the Cincinnati Museum Center, the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens and ALS United Ohio.

This fall, the program is proud to welcome ten incoming Bearcats to A&S, LCB and CCM. Their hometowns range from Jounieh, Lebanon, to Mason, Ohio, and their majors include commercial music production, neuroscience and finance. They are highly accomplished, with recognition at the state and national levels in athletics, academics and the arts. All incoming HHS students are also admitted to the University Honors Program (UHP).

Student spotlights

Niko Villegas

Biology

Madeira, OH

Ava Greenberg

Musical Theatre

Madison, WI

Yara Hadchiti

International Business | Finance (Pre-Law Track)

Avon Lake, OH

The year ahead

HHS students look forward to a full schedule of programming this fall, which began with a welcome reception and retreat. Featured speakers at this year's reception included UC's Provost Rudolph Buchheit, HHS Director Whitney Menser and HHS student ambassadors. Menser also read a letter from a Hoffman family member, Zoe Bullock. Subsequent events will speak directly to the program's core pillars (community commitment, leadership excellence, digital literacy and global engagement) while building connections within the HHS cohorts.

Audrey Zelinski Third-year HHS student and journalism major

Third-year HHS student and journalism major Audrey Zelinski spoke directly to the program's mission, as it has played out in her own college experience: "This program continues to teach me not only what it means to be a better academic and a better professional but what it means to be a better person, what it means to be a member of a community, what it means to pursue my passions, what it means to support others and be supported by others and what it means to be committed to something, showing up whenever possible and participating whenever able even when I'm tired or anxious. I love being a Hoffman Scholar, and I truly could not imagine going through college without this program."

This September, HHS students will engage in collaborative service through two of the program's community partners: the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and ALS Ohio. Students will complete service hours at the zoo's Bowyer Farm location in support of ongoing conservation work; for ALS Ohio, students will help the organization host its annual ALS Walk.

October will bring a workshop on "Career Development in an AI World," in partnership with the UC Career Studio, and a Day of Service with the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati. As the semester winds down, subsequent events will focus on networking and professional development.

In Spring 2027, HHS students will embark on their inaugural program-exclusive study tour: Vienna as City of Music in the Long Nineteenth Century, led by CCM faculty member Jonathan Kregor, PhD. Students will discover Austria's history through music and learn on-site about the political, economic, artistic and other cultural forces that shaped the development of music in Vienna and Salzburg.

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