Fourteen RPCS Students Inducted into Cum Laude Society
Caroline Blatti, Head of Roland Park Country School, is pleased to announce that 14 students in the senior and junior classes were inducted into the school’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society on April 4, 2023, marking the 60th anniversary of Cum Laude at RPCS. Cum Laude member and RPCS alumna, Brady Beale, VMD, 1993, delivered the Margareta A. Faissler Lecture at the induction ceremony.
“You have proven to yourselves that you are resilient and that you have what it takes to learn from adversity. My hope is that you take a moment to be proud of yourselves for all that you’ve already done,” Dr. Beale told the inductees. “Then in the next year or in 10 years when you are facing a hardship, remind yourself that you have the tools within you and the community around you to get through another challenge.”
Dr. Abram W. Harris, Director of the Tome School in Port Deposit, Maryland, founded the Cum Laude Society in 1906 to honor scholastic achievement in secondary schools. Since Dr. Harris and his associates believed that chapters should be established only in schools of superior academic quality, the group moved slowly in granting new chapters. In 1963, Roland Park Country School became the first girls’ school in Maryland to establish a chapter of the Cum Laude Society.
The motto of the Society stresses excellence, justice and honor in the broadest sense and students who are elected have demonstrated good character, honor and integrity in all aspects of their school life. In addition to students’ academic achievement, other factors for membership include rigorous academic progress, intellectual curiosity, love of learning and the desire to seek academic challenge.
“You have pursued complex topics and challenged yourselves in and outside of the classroom. You have celebrated the process of deep thinking and you have also achieved outstanding academic records here at RPCS,” Mrs. Blatti told the inductees. “You have worked hard, and you have shown incredible grit and determination in your approach to academic scholarship. We are also here to celebrate the integrity, honor and responsibility that each of you demonstrate in all aspects of your school life.”
The following seniors were inducted into the RPCS chapter of the Cum Laude Society:
Class of 2023
- Shapard Croft
- Grace Daniels
- Louisa Drake
- Suzannah Figler
- Samiyah Norris
- Alayna Nwadike
- Natalie O’Neill
The following juniors were inducted:
Class of 2024
- Ava Burman
- Skylar Carr
- Laila Carroll
- Jane Fox
- Reena Jari
- Molly Jethwal
- Rebecca Showalter
These seniors were inducted last year as juniors:
Class of 2023
- Alison Ferraro
- Katherine Guerrerio
- Erin Hoskins
- Aylin Metzel
- Katherine Schnee
- Ellen West
Charter Members
- Margaret Amig*
- Gilberte Darmon*
- Anne Healy, HA*
- Jane Marbury Keggi, 1954
- Marguerite Kelley, HA
- Adrienne Rich, 1947*
Honorary Members
- Dr. Celeste Woodward Applefeld, 1964
- Jean Waller Brune, 1960
- Holliday C. Heine, 1962*
- Josephine Jacobsen, 1926*
- J. Sydney King*
- Courtney Jones McKeldin, 1958
- Nancy Norris-Kniffin, 1957*
- Dr. Hiltgunt Zassenhaus*
View photos from the 2023 ceremony.
*deceased