First-year Carys Johnston, senior Scout Lynch, senior Zach Smiley, junior Jadyn Patton, and sophomore Cierra Feazell presented their projects for the Honors 216 class–The Sixties, in the Franklin Hall atrium on April 1o.

Taught by Professor Katherine Grimes, the interdisciplinary class explored political, cultural, and scientific changes throughout the decade over the course of the spring semester. Preceding the 2025 Honors Banquet, the five students presented their final projects.

“One of the assignments in this class was to choose a topic that was relevant in the 60’s that is still relevant today. There were three options: talk about what happened in the sixties that led up to today, how they contrasted, or their similarities. Then, they proposed their topic, and created their posters!” exclaimed Grimes, beaming proudly at the work of her students.

Women’s rights, pandemics, protests, and LGTBQ+ rights were all topics featured at the presentation.

Lynch was enthusiastic as they shared their poster titled “LGTBQ+ Rights and Wrongs” to those passing by, highlighting the contrast in rights between the past and present.

“I really enjoyed this project, specifically because LGBTQ rights,” said Lynch. “They’ve always been really important to me. It was really fulfilling to do a project about this and because I want to go into education, and it’s nice to educate other people on a subject that I’m so passionate about.”

For Feazell, focusing on student protests and researching the subject was also a fulfilling and thought-provoking experience.

“Putting together my project really opened my eyes to protests in the 60s and those occurring now,” she noted. “It was really fascinating to see what has changed–and even more so–hasn’t.”

The class also displayed their work in the Franklin Hall atrium on Fri., April 11, during community hour, to share their efforts with the Panther community and enlighten the campus community with a meaningful glimpse of history of our nation that we call home.