FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Honors Program has selected a new group of mentors for its Honors Program. The mentor group, in its second year, was created to assist incoming freshman in acclimating to the U of A and the college's Honors Program.

Seven honors students have been chosen to serve as mentors next year: Sarah-Beth DeLay, a junior from San Antonio, Texas; Mersady Redding, a sophomore from Marshall; Hartley Allen, a freshman from Springdale; Shaina Denton, a freshman from Lincoln; Rhiannon De La Rosa, a freshman from Burlington, Iowa; Guillermo Tellez, a freshman from Fayetteville; and Clayton Parker, a freshman from Carlisle.

"Our mentor program is a collaboration with the Honors College," said Bumpers College Assistant Dean of Student Programs and head of the Honors Program Leslie Edgar. "Together, through an application and interview process, we select peer mentors who help incoming honors students become adjusted, acclimated and successful. In turn, mentors receive stipends. This is a critical program for our college because we have felt a more than 40 percent honors student increase in two years."

Delay and Redding will serve as lead mentors for the 2017-18 academic year. Redding is also the mentor liaison on the Honors Student Board.

"One of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences I have had at the University of Arkansas has been participating as a mentor for the Bumpers Honors Program last fall," said DeLay. "It was a great learning experience getting to work with honors students, and provide input and assistance for future improvements of the inaugural program."

Each mentor is assigned to honors freshmen and responsible for building relationships. Through this relationship, mentors are expected to provide guidance from a student perspective, clear up misconceptions and engage the students with activities both in and out of the classroom. The mentor is viewed as a support network for the students.

"The transition from high school to college is a difficult and tiring road trip," said Redding. "Speaking as the only girl from my high school to go to the University of Arkansas in the past five years, the large campus full of people can be quite lonely without someone you know beyond a name and a major."

The new team and each members experiences will help incoming freshmen better prepare for their first year.

"Mentors can change lives," said Redding. "They have the power to guide young people to happier, more fulfilling and successful lives."

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.