Honors Student Government Awarded $1500 Grant to Host AI Literacy Symposium

Honors Student Government (HSG) of Loyola’s Interdisciplinary Honors Program was one of three programs awarded the National Collegiate Honors Council’s Portz Grant for Classroom Innovation Dec. 5 to host a symposium on AI Literacy. 

The $1,500 grant will be matched by Honors for a total of $3,000 to be put toward the spring 2027 summit. This is the first time a student group has been chosen for this grant program, according to HSG president and founder Marco Alvarado.

Alvarado, a fourth-year majoring in psychology and political science, expressed enthusiasm over the opportunity to contribute to the increasingly relevant conversation about artificial intelligence in education. 

“This grant will really help us advance toward building AI literacy from an ethical standpoint,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado and Honors Program Assistant Nic Hamel, Ph.D., said they both envision a symposium that will aim to promote an understanding of AI which doesn’t advocate for or against its use. They said the symposium will incorporate several different aspects of the issue, including computer science, ethics and mental health.

“The idea was, ‘Let’s just make this about education and Jesuit values, and make this an experience where students can learn facts and learn what AI actually does,’” Hamel said.

The grant proposal incorporated takeaways from a survey conducted independently by HSG, which revealed nearly all students had used AI in some capacity, but understanding of how AI functions and how to utilize it effectively was limited, according to Hamel.

Although the honors program has previously undertaken a faculty-organized project through a Portz Grant in 2022 to plan a wellness fair, the symposium will be planned by HSG, which Hamel said has blossomed in the three years since its founding.

The student-led nature of the proposal caught the attention of Kerry Wynn, Ph.D., the Director of the University Honors Program at Washburn University and lead reviewer for the National Collegiate Honors Council’s Portz Grant, which she described as a project which recognizes honors programs across the country as centers for “innovation” and “collective stewardship.”

Wynn said the proposal stood out among the roughly 15 applications the NCHC received due to the prominent role of students and the relevance of the subject matter. 

“Something that stood to us about this proposal was that it was very topical and of the moment,” Wynn said. “I think we all realize that AI is something that is going to have an enormous impact on the world and on honors programs.”

A 2024 study found that 86% of college students utilize AI to help with coursework; its rapid spread is forcing academia to adapt to its use, according to PBS News. 

Wynn said another important aspect of the HSG proposal was its potential to benefit a large number of people. As AI reshapes the university landscape, research and scholarship on the topic are important to the way that Honors programs operate, she said. 

Under the Portz Grant, HSG is required to share its findings with the broader Honors community, usually through a presentation at a regional or national conference, Wynn said.

First-year honors student Leah Christman said she had reservations about the use of AI, citing ethical concerns like excessive water usage. Nonetheless, she said she supports the symposium’s goal because of the importance of understanding a technology that isn’t going away.

“Obviously we can’t get rid of AI, so I feel like it is a positive step toward embracing it, because we have to at this point,” said Christman, an advertising and public relations major.

Second-year honors student Cora Schroeder said she agreed informing students on the uses and effects of AI is important because many people don’t know how or when to use it appropriately.

Schroeder, a cognitive and behavioral neuroscience major, said there are strong ethical issues with using AI in most scenarios, and instances where AI should be used are few and far between. She feels that the honors program should be focusing its attention on other issues, such as expanding the diversity of the Honors 101 and 102 curriculums. 

Professor Steven Keith Platt said he believes HSG’s proposal reflects a comprehensive approach to promoting understanding of AI. 

Platt holds numerous roles at Loyola, including the Director of the Lab for Applied AI and the Executive Lecturer of Applied AI, a position that includes managing Quinlan’s minor in Applied AI.

Platt said the value of understanding AI’s mathematical and computational underpinnings — something he emphasizes in his classes — is often overlooked. 

“I often find that students come in and they’re using ChatGPT to do this and that, but they really don’t have any concept of why or how it works,” Platt said.

Platt said he appreciates how the HSG proposal’s plan for the symposium will feature the computer science perspective on artificial intelligence in conjunction with their other focuses. 

Hamel and Alvarado both expressed excitement about the symposium’s potential to build understanding about the topic and share important resources.

“It’s a learning experience for honors students, faculty and the broader community as a whole,” Alvarado said. “It’s really just about getting everyone on the page.”