Georgia Southern University welcomes more than 150 of the best and brightest high school seniors from Georgia and across the United States to campus this weekend for the eighth annual Southern Scholars Showcase. Today and Saturday, students will tour Georgia Southern and interview for academic scholarships and the University Honors Program.
    "We are so pleased to have these academically talented students visit our campus," said Teresa Thompson, the vice president for student affairs and enrollment management. "This is a wonderful opportunity for these scholars to interact with our outstanding faculty and staff to learn firsthand about our in depth programming that integrates learning, service and leadership to empower students to become global citizens who lead with a lifelong commitment to service."
    For students to receive an invitation to the Southern Scholars Showcase, they must have outstanding SAT or ACT scores and GPA. Organizers of the scholarship event said the average SAT score for students attending last year's event was 1345 (math and critical reading).
    "Georgia Southern faculty and staff understand and value the importance of creating an academic and extracurricular environment of excellence for all students," said Jean Bartels, the provost and vice president for academic affairs. "To be able to showcase our integrated culture of academic excellence through the Southern Scholars Showcase event gives us an extraordinary opportunity to share this commitment and vision with the most gifted of students of this year's graduating class."
    After students and their parents tour campus and attend some informational sessions this afternoon, they will meet at 5 p.m. for the Southern Scholars Showcase banquet and dinner at the Nessmith-Lane Conference Center. Students can meet and have their photographs taken with University President Brooks Keel and Bartels.
    The scholarship interviews begin Saturday morning with select students interviewing for the prestigious 1906 scholarship through the Honors Program. Between interviews, students and their guests will attend sessions to learn more about Georgia Southern's honors program, student life, housing, engineering, intramurals and study abroad opportunities. There will also be campus and residence hall tours going on throughout the day. After the event wraps up at noon Saturday, students and their families have the option to buy tickets for a reserved a block of seats at the Central Arkansas vs. Georgia Southern football game.
    "Hosting these scholars energizes our commitment to our mission, vision and belief in faculty and student engagement with the total academic enterprise," Bartels said. "In our experience, students attending this event leave sharing our passion for all that Georgia Southern can provide for their academic growth and personal development."