Graduating with Latin Honors has always been a worthy goal for Conn students. The extra few words on the diploma signify achievement, success and dedication. In the past five years, the percentage of people graduating with Latin Honors has stayed between 46% and 52%. However, with the recently announced changes in the GPA needed to graduate with Latin Honors, this number is expected to decrease.
For students who matriculated starting in 2008, the GPA required to graduate with Latin Honors is changing. The old standards were 3.5 for cum laude, 3.67 for magna cum laude and 3.8 for summa cum laude. Presently, the standards fluctuate year to year, using what the administration is calling alpha, beta and gamma numbers. These numbers are averages based on statistics from the last four graduating classes. The alpha number is used for summa cum laude, the beta for magna cum laude and the gamma for cum laude. The new alpha number is 3.89, the beta is 3.78 and the gamma is 3.65.
The Dean’s Honors requirements are also changing. Where in the past, 3.3 was the standard for honors and 3.7 for high honors, the gamma number is now used for honors and the beta is used for high honors.
“I believe the changes support the idea of rigor and challenge that is fundamental to the value of a liberal arts education,” says Dean Theresa Ammariti. “Students who achieve Latin Honors have distinguished themselves as being truly outstanding. The previous standards were right for their time; the new standards are appropriate for the academic environment we live in now.”
While most seniors this year will not be affected by the new requirements, some will be. Transfer students, because they entered the school in or after 2008, will receive Latin Honors based on the new, higher numbers, while most of their fellow seniors will be held to the old, lower standards.
At the SGA meeting on Thursday, a resolution by senior Adam Sleeper was passed concerning the new requirements. “I’m not against the new standards,” said Sleeper, “I just want them to be implemented in an equitable fashion.”
The proposal does not ask to stop the new standards from being used, but it does call upon the administration to adjust the requirements for this year so that seniors will be treated equally and held to the same standards.
One possible solution Sleeper suggested stems from a typographical error in the information about Latin Honors posted by the Registrar’s Office. The typo states that the new standards will be implemented in the 2011-2012 school year, not the current 2010-2011 school year. If the implementation of the standards is put off for another year, more students would be held to the same standards. After next year, the new standards would apply to every graduating senior. This possible solution might make Latin Honors more equitable to all, while still keeping standards rigorous.
“Transfer students are students here too, and we should be held to the same standards,” claimed senior Adam Miller.
