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The Student News Site of Laguna Blanca School

The Fourth Estate

The Student News Site of Laguna Blanca School

The Fourth Estate

Students inducted into the Cum Laude Society

Students+inducted+into+the+Cum+Laude+Society

When students arrived at school, everyone was dressed up. Why? Because they had been told beforehand to dress nicely for the day’s assembly during which their peers were to be inducted into the Cum Laude Society.
Students inducted into the Cum Laude Society have demonstrated academic excellence in a college preparatory curriculum as well as good character, honor and integrity in all aspects of both their school and outside life. The society, dedicated to honoring scholastic achievement in secondary schools, was founded in 1906 and has grown to contain 382 chapters.
Cum Laude students clearly exemplify the society’s motto containing the three Greek words: Areté, for excellence, Diké, for justice, and Timé, for honor.
Laguna is one of two schools (along with The Cate School) in the Santa Barbara area that share the honor of the Cum Laude Society.
To be eligible for induction, a student must be in the top 10 percent of his or her junior class or the top 20 percent of his or her senior class.
To start the ceremony, Head of School Rob Hereford presented information on the history and background of Cum Laude and introduced the speaker, Ryan Emmons ‘08.
Speaking about the difference a Laguna education makes, Emmons explained that the best part of his experience was the sense of community stemming from the relationships he formed with fellow classmates and faculty members.
Following his speech, Upper School Head Lolli Lucas introduced the seniors from the Class of 2016 who were inducted last year as juniors: Armon Ghodoussi, Phoebe Madsen, Cameron Morello and Pierce O’Donnell.
Each of the students went on to introduce and induct the new members, but students in the audience had mixed feelings about the introductions being read by fellow students.
“I didn’t like it because it felt unprofessional,” said senior Gabby Campbell.
On the other hand, senior Sarah Dillemuth said, “it was really personalized, and I think it’s uplifting to hear the comments coming from other students.”
When asked how she felt being inducted into the society, senior Dani Abrams said, “I definitely felt honored to be inducted, but I feel like there are a ton of people in our class qualified for it as well. There are so many genuine and hardworking kids in our senior class, and while I’m excited to graduate with the Cum Laude induction, I see our class as a whole as representative of the ideals of Cum Laude.”
Henry Farrell, Grace MacNeil, Mikey Hawker, Travis Fristoe, Phillip Hicks and Dani Abrams were all inducted and as each one finished hearing their introductions, they heard the words: “Welcome to the Society.”

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Students inducted into the Cum Laude Society