Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval welcomed 50 high-achieving high school graduates from throughout California to campus on Aug. 13 as the 27th cohort of President’s Honors Scholars in the Smittcamp Family Honors College.
The freshmen were selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants, said Dr. Saeed Attar, director of the Smittcamp Family Honors College. High school seniors must meet one of the following two criteria in order to be eligible to apply: they must have a minimum 3.8 GPA in grades 9 to 11, or be in the upper 10% of their graduating class.
Each scholar receives a President’s Honors Scholarship, up to a maximum of eight semesters, for their undergraduate degree program. Each scholarship, valued at $6,000 per academic year, also covers an optional credit for a standard room in university housing should a scholar choose to live on campus.
The honors college was established in 1998 with a $1 million gift from the late Earl and Muriel Smittcamp and continues to receive support from the Smittcamp family, the Fresno community and Smittcamp Family Honors College alumni.
The Smittcamp Family Honors College is unique in the California State University system because President’s Scholars are admitted as a cohort, take a series of specially designed honors courses, participate in a weekly colloquium with guest speakers and discussions, and interact in educational, scholarly and social activities.
In addition, President’s Scholars are required to volunteer a minimum of 70 hours of community service during their four-year stay. During the 2024-25 academic year, scholars performed a total of 3,939 hours of community service to 50 organizations on and off campus.
To remain a member of the honors college in good standing, a scholar must enroll in at least 12 units each semester and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 in first year, 3.35 in the second year, and 3.5 in third and fourth years. Over 90% of the scholars graduate in four years, mostly with the highest distinction (summa cum laude, 3.9 to 4.0 GPA).
Visit the Smittcamp Family Honors College website for more information.
The 2025 President’s Scholars are:
- Emily Addis (Buchanan High)
- Isabel Aguilar (Harmony Magnet Academy)
- Daphne Avila (Tulare Union High)
- Madison Avila (Dinuba High)
- Anali Benavides (Woodlake High)
- Trevor Berry (Sanger High)
- Jana Boqueo (Justin Garza High)
- Savanna Brar (Kerman High)
- Olivia Britter (El Diamante High)
- Kelsey Buena (Garces Memorial High)
- Heriberto Campos-Melchor (Clovis North High)
- Amrit Chahal (Fowler High)
- Tisyaketu (Tisu) Chokshi (Clovis North High)
- Marileigh Coon (Redwood High)
- Rhea Del Mando (University High)
- Shelby DeYoung (Buchanan High)
- Mila Lynn Doctolero (Clovis North High)
- Sarah Donan (University High)
- Isabel Downer (University High)
- Sean Enriquez (University High)
- Sajan Gill (Clovis North High)
- Shayan Gohar (Clovis North High)
- Maya Gonzales (Clovis North High)
- Faith Gutierrez (Fowler High)
- Gohar Hakimipour (Clovis North High)
- Rasleen Kaur (University High)
- Roma Kundu (Clovis North High)
- Kevin Larios (Farmersville High)
- Ayrin Lodge (Clovis North High)
- Genevieve Lopez (Sierra Pacific High)
- Laci Marbry (Dr. TJ Owens Early College Academy)
- Levon Melkonyan (Career Technical Education Charter High)
- Pedro “Angel” Ornelas (Golden West High)
- Vianh Pham (Clovis North High)
- Dilnoor Riar (Buchanan High)
- Yossra Saad (Selma High)
- Seth Salabor (Turlock High)
- Harveet Sandhu (Fowler High)
- Markus Sevilla (Clovis High)
- Addyson Shoaf (Buchanan High)
- Shivdeep Singh (Kerman High)
- Audrey Steele (Clovis North High)
- Jose Tiscareno (Buhach Colony High)
- Dominic Valenzuela (Woodlake High)
- Denny Viloria III (Minarets Charter High)
- Deanna Vu (James C. Enochs High)
- Andrew Warren (University High)
- Calvin Watkins (Buchanan High)
- Grace Yates (El Diamante High)
- Bella Zografos (Bullard High)
