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When Norbert Schedler walked up the front steps of Doug Corbitt’s house in 2001, sat down, and motioned him to come and talk, Corbitt wouldn’t have guessed that 24 years later, he would be an integral part of the Norbert O. Schedler Honors College as a beloved lecturer in philosophy and the Peer Mentor program coordinator.

Corbitt reflected, “I’d given a short presentation on Christian and secular ethics at a church in Conway, not knowing that Norb Schedler was a member. Then, as I was mowing my lawn one evening in April 2001, looking much like a green monster, he’s walking down the street dressed, he always looked like a million bucks, and I wave at him, and he turns into my sidewalk, walks past me to my front step and sits down.”

“He looked at me and said, he was very dramatic, ‘How would you like a one-year position in the Honors College?’ I was charmed. I was interested. And, here I am, 24 years later.”

While teaching philosophy in the Honors College, Corbitt earned UCA’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2013 and served as Chair for the BT����Excellence Award Committee.

“That was very meaningful. One of the sweetest outcomes was getting to serve on the committee, and that meant going and visiting other teachers’ classrooms. And, I was, and still am, in awe of the quality of teaching that we have on our campus, and they are putting so much time, energy, effort, creativity and love into what they do for the student,” he said.

As coordinator of the Peer Mentor program, Corbitt works with Honors peer mentors who are there to “help smooth the transition into college life for our first-year students and to do co-curricular programming that supports what’s going on in the classroom, and they do fun, entertaining community-building programming.” They meet once a week to hear about interactions and to brainstorm ideas to inspire new students and make them feel included, which Corbitt sees as an important part of his time here.

“This is a special place, and I think we are trying to build a certain kind of community. And, for me, it’s much more than the Honors College. To me, the ultimate goal is a community where everybody matters, not just in the Honors College, but at UCA, in Conway, in our state, our nation and the world.”