Sixteen RPCS Students Inducted into Cum Laude Society

Caroline Blatti, Head of Roland Park Country School, is pleased to announce that 16 students in the senior and junior classes were inducted into the school’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society on May 10, 2021, marking the 58th anniversary of Cum Laude at RPCS. Cum Laude member and RPCS alumna, Alli Harper, 1997, delivered the Margareta A. Faissler Lecture via a pre-recorded video message at the induction ceremony.

 

“You are brilliant and special each in your own way,” Alli told the inductees. “I hope you’ll stay in close touch with who you are seeking to become and the disconnects around you. I hope you’ll grow in awareness of how the world is shaping you and that you’ll commit to also shaping the world to help us advance toward the kinder, gentler, more fair, just, colorful and vibrant world we all deserve. Mostly, after the year you’ve had, I wish for you that your hearts continue to break open, never to close again. And may that opening bring you joy and purpose.”

 

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.

 

“The honor of induction into Cum Laude not only recognizes your academic excellence, but also brings a responsibility for you to be the voices of inspiration as you continue into your adulthood,” Mrs. Blatti told the inductees. “It is to you that we look for transformational leadership and mentorship. As a member of The Cum Laude Society, you are the voice, the motivator and the leader our world needs.”

 

The following seniors were inducted into the RPCS chapter of the Cum Laude Society:

 

 

The following juniors were inducted:

 

 

These seniors were inducted last year as juniors:

View photos from the 2021 ceremony.