About the Community of Scholars
The Community of Scholars comprises Furman students who are recipients of Duke, Vaughn, Townes, Hollingsworth, and Lay Scholarships. These students have been chosen for these scholarships because of their outstanding academic achievement, demonstrated commitment to their communities, and promising leadership qualities. Starting with the Advantage Scholars summer program preceding their freshman year, these motivated and intellectually curious students become highly engaged with the world around them and form connections with their like-minded peers during their college experience. Through programming created specifically for the Community of Scholars, these students have opportunities to understand and respond to critical issues, cultivate their leadership capacity, and engage in community-building activities together throughout their time at Furman.
The Community of Scholars Experience
Intellectual Growth Opportunities
One of the goals of the Community of Scholars is to provide students with continual ways to engage with one another about relevant critical issues. Through exclusive opportunities to attend dinners with guest speakers, scholars have the chance to hear from a diverse set of people who are change-makers in their fields, and perhaps spark a conversation with their fellow scholars about real-world issues. And it all begins at the Advantage Scholars Summer Program, where scholars hear from speakers and spend time working together to think critically about issues relevant to our own community.
Sense of Belonging
The Community of Scholars is intended to be just that—a community. Students are able to form connections through a variety of activities, and regular emails keep students up to date on what is going on with their peers. Across a range of different academic fields and interests, like-minded students connect through the Community of Scholars. The Advantage Scholars Summer Program provides a jump-start to meeting people before other students arrive on campus for the fall semester, and intentional programming for scholars during their first year and beyond solidifies those connections.
Resources and Mentorship
As members of the Community of Scholars, students have the chance to interact with a variety of enthusiastic faculty and staff members, other scholars in the classes above them, alumni scholars, and members of the Greenville community. The Community of Scholars also has a faculty liaison – Dr. Scott Henderson, William R. Kenan Jr. professor of education and director of national and international scholarships ([email protected]) – who provides counsel to scholars about their academic plans, career options, and national/international scholarship opportunities.
Community of Scholars Events
Graduating Scholars Reception 2025
Riley Institute hosts Advantage Scholars Summer Program
This summer, The Riley Institute welcomed 39 incoming scholars to Furman University’s campus for a four-day immersive experience focused on leadership development and effective communication on pressing civic issues.
This 2029 class of scholars, composed of students who received Furman’s most prestigious scholarships, has 48 students in their cohort, with around 240 students in the four classes at Furman right now.
Advantage Scholars Summer Program
What is Advantage Scholars?
Advantage Scholars is a four-day residential program that takes place over the summer and is open to all incoming scholars, offering a unique opportunity for scholars to start building their Furman family before their first day of class.
The purpose of the Advantage Scholars Summer Program is to expose these young leaders to a variety of critical issues that impact their new community, widening their lens about what supporting social and economic progress looks like. During the program, students learn from local leaders, engage in complex discussions with their peers, and think about how they may further cultivate and utilize their leadership skills while at Furman and beyond.
What to expect from the program:
- Develop close social bonds and build community among the group of scholars
- Meet a range of Furman faculty and staff through workshops, sessions, and discussions that they lead throughout the program
- Engage with the surrounding Greenville community through site visits to local organizations, an informal dinner with community leaders, etc.
- Dive into large and small group discussions on complex issues to broaden perspectives and explore potential solutions
- Further critical thinking skills while examining real-world issues
- Have fun!
Frequently Asked Questions
Advantage Scholars is at no cost to you, other than travel expenses to and from Greenville. Your scholarship covers the cost of this program. If travel costs are a barrier, please contact the Riley Institute.
Yes. Advantage Scholars is NOT a substitution for either summer or fall orientation. We have strategically planned Advantage Scholars to align with summer orientation sessions so that you may combine it all in one trip, and attend an orientation session on the first day of the Advantage Scholars program (our programming on the first day will begin in the evening after summer orientation has finished). However, unlike orientation, there are no planned activities for parents—this is a students-only experience.
Recipients of Duke, Vaughn, Townes, Hollingsworth or Lay scholarships are invited to the Advantage Scholars program. The program takes place the summer before freshman year. Exact dates for the 2026 summer program are TBD.
Student Takeaways from the 2025 Advantage Scholars Program
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“The key to making tangible change starts with listening, thinking deeply, and communicating concisely to make connections with people and therefore facilitate action.” -
“Only way to overcome our biases is to actually participate personally and directly. Passion and care are integral to character but change only comes through their full application.”
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“You don’t have to be vocal to be an effective leader; effective leadership can certainly come from examples.”
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"Leadership is a much more subtle and empathetic position than often portrayed or acknowledged. Assertiveness may feel hard to achieve but compassion is hardest to feel."
