Thirteen RPCS Students Inducted into Cum Laude Society

Thirteen RPCS Students Inducted into Cum Laude Society
Thirteen RPCS Students Inducted into Cum Laude Society
Caroline Blatti, Head of Roland Park Country School, is pleased to announce that 13 students in the senior and junior classes were inducted into the school’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society on May 13, 2024, marking the 61st anniversary of Cum Laude at RPCS. Cum Laude member and RPCS alumna, Dr. Tala Al-Talib, 2001, delivered the Margareta A. Faissler Lecture at the induction ceremony.
 

Dr. Tala Al-Talib, 2001

“As you embark on the next chapter of your academic journey, remember that education is not merely a means to an end, but a lifelong pursuit,” Dr. Al-Talib told the inductees. “A journey of self-discovery, growth and enlightenment. Embrace every opportunity to expand your mind. Challenge your assumptions and engage with perspectives that differ from your own. Get uncomfortable with viewpoints that are different from yours. Call out passiveness and complacency and be an ally to someone who may have a completely different experience than yours. Seek out mentors who will inspire and challenge you and never underestimate the power of collaboration and collective action.”
 
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.
 
“We are here today to celebrate intellectual curiosity, a desire to seek out rigorous academic challenges, and a lifelong love of learning,” Mrs. Blatti told the inductees. “We are also here to celebrate the integrity, honor and responsibility that each of you demonstrate in all aspects of your school life. As students at RPCS, you look within and beyond yourselves to contribute to and serve as stewards and leaders of your community and we celebrate that today as well.”
 
The following seniors were inducted into the RPCS chapter of the Cum Laude Society:
 
Class of 2024
  • Lorelei Brooke Barganski
  • Monica Katharine Boyd 
  • Elizabeth Annelise Iwashyna 
  • Maya Nicole Schreiber
  • Phoebe Ife Taylor
  • Lucy Kyle Waldron
  • Maria Zaporozhski

Class of 2024 Cum Laude Inductees

The following juniors were inducted:

 
Class of 2025
  • Elizabeth Eugenia Cottle 
  • Krisha Bhatt Gandhi
  • Lily Maya High
  • Caroline Maxwell Lawrence 
  • Nina Principe Tobin
  • Violet Frances Walsh

Class of 2025 Cum Laude Inductees

 
These seniors were inducted last year as juniors:
 
Class of 2024
  • Ava Sarah Burman
  • Skylar Montgomery Carr
  • Laila Shaunise Carroll
  • Jane Kirby Fox
  • Reena Rajesh Jari
  • Molly Skye Jethwa
  • Rebecca Isaura Showalter
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 2024 ceremony.

 
 
*deceased