The presence of a Cum Laude chapter at a secondary school is
an indication that superior scholastic achievement is honored.
From an induction ceremony, which can range from a formal,
separate event to a segment of an awards day, to service projects,
scholarly writing or other scholastic activities, individual
chapters of Cum Laude create programs appropriate for their own
campus that benefit the larger community as well. In several
schools younger students are commended by Cum Laude, encouraging
them in their scholastic pursuits, while in others visiting
scholars are presented by the chapter membership for the
edification of all.
Operations
The affairs of the Cum Laude Society are conducted by the
Officers and Regents. The Officers are: President General,
Deputy President General, Secretary General, Registrar General,
and eight District Regents. All are elected for three year terms
at the time of the Triennial Convention. In addition there are
Regents-at-Large, who are former Presidents General and who serve
open-ended terms.
The daily affairs of the Society are conducted at the central
office in Bonita Springs, Florida under the supervision of the
Registrar General. There all records and materials of the
Society are kept; financial affairs are handled; correspondence is
sent to the chapters; reports are collected; complete files of Cum
Laude members, past and present, are maintained; and questions of
operation and procedure are answered or directed to the proper
Officer or Regent.
For administrative purposes, each chapter is assigned to one
of the eight geographical districts, and each district is under
the supervision of a District Regent. Although the districts are
quite uneven in geographical size, each has approximately 40
chapters.
The Executive Committee, composed of the President
General, the Deputy President General, the Secretary General, and
the Registrar General, reviews the current business and problems
of the Society, previews membership applications, and plans agenda
for the Regents' meetings. Any three Officers, in consultation,
are empowered to act on financial and investment matters between
annual meetings.
Each chapter may decide whether or not to be an "active"
chapter or merely to hold annual ceremonies for the induction of
members. Active chapters sponsor lecture series, tutoring
programs, or seminars on scholarly subjects, or produce special
literary publications.
The degree to which a chapter is active in promoting the
intellectual life of the school depends to some extent upon the
time of year it holds its elections and the number and types of
other organizations and groups already functioning in the school.
If a chapter wishes, it may include in its activities students who
are not yet members, but whose academic records and scholarly
concerns meet the standards of the Society.
The Chapter Secretary, a faculty member, is asked to be
responsible for carrying out two important functions. Before July
1, the Secretary prepares and submits the Annual Report
which gives important statistics on the elections of that year,
the chapter's activities, and the names of officers for the next
year. Also, the Secretary files the order for the pins and
certificates the chapter will need in its elections of the next
school year. A Manual for Chapter Secretaries is published and
distributed after each Triennial Convention.
Ten Year Chapter Review
Once every decade, each chapter is asked to file a Ten-Year
Chapter Review, the purpose of which is to insure the Regents
that the school is maintaining the same high academic standards
that made it eligible for a charter in the Society originally. The
Regents study these reports with great care.
Student Membership
Each Chapter may elect up to 20% of the members of the Senior
Class in the college preparatory curriculum who have an honor
record. Half may be elected at the end of the junior year or at
any time during the Senior year and the remainder at the end of
the Senior year. The 20% limit is not to be construed as a
requirement to elect the full number permitted every year. If for
some reason the chapter feels that in a particular year more than
the 20% should be elected, they should seek permission to do so
from the District Regent before the elections are held. Because
classes do vary in academic quality from year to year, especially
in smaller schools, it has been a judgment in many schools that
the election of a smaller percentage will on occasion better serve
the purposes and goals of the Society, and in such cases the
school is urged to restrict the number of students honored by
election into the Cum Laude Society. The definition of what
constitutes an academic honor record and the determination of how
to select members are left to the discretion of the individual
chapter. Chapters shall be free to elect members who have
demonstrated academic excellence in accordance with the philosophy
and policies governing their individual schools. In the broadest
sense, the Regents assume chapters will elect to membership only
students who have demonstrated good character, honor, and
integrity in all aspects of their school life. Since there are
other agencies for the rewarding of achievement in areas such as
social services, extracurricular activities, citizenship and
athletics, Cum Laude elections should be based on academic
excellence, in keeping with the original purpose of the
Society.
Chapter Leadership
The operation of a local chapter of Cum Laude is entrusted to
a few faculty members and administrators at each member school.
Faculty members are usually drawn from those who are members of
Phi Beta Kappa and others judged to have suitable qualification.
Each chapter may decide whether or not to be an "active" chapter
or merely to hold annual ceremonies for the induction of members.
Active chapters sponsor lecture series, tutoring programs, or
seminars on scholarly subjects, or produce special literary
publications.
The Chapter Secretary, a faculty member, is asked to be
responsible for carrying out chapter functions. The Secretary
prepares and submits an "Annual Report" that gives important
statistics on the elections of that year, the chapter's
activities, and the names of officers. Also, the Secretary orders
brochures, pins and certificates the chapter will need for
induction ceremonies.
Administration
The administration of the Society Cum Laude is directed by a
board of four officers, nine regents and one staff person, listed
on the inside front cover of this publication. The daily affairs
of the Society are conducted at the central office in
Indianapolis, Indiana under the supervision of the Registrar
General. There all records and materials of the Society are kept;
financial affairs are handled; correspondence is sent to the
chapters; reports are collected; complete files of Cum Laude
members, past and present, are maintained; and questions of
operation and procedure are answered or directed to the proper
Officer or Regent.
Cum Laude
The Society, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) educational organization,
has financed its operations and constant growth solely by its
modest fees. From 1963 to 1987, the Central Office was located at
the headquarters of the National Association of Independent
Schools (NAIS) in Boston. In 1987, it was moved to the campus of
Tilton School in Tilton, New Hampshire. In 1993, the Central
Office was re-located to Park Tudor School in Indianapolis,
Indiana, and then to Florida under the same leadership. In 2008
the Society consists of 370 chapters, approximately two dozen of
which are located in public schools and the rest in independent
schools in the United States, theb Philippines, Puerto Rico,
Canada, England, France and Spain. Some 4,000 new student members
are inducted annually.
As one studies the new chapter applications and the Annual
Chapter Reports, it becomes evident that more than eight decades
later, Dr. Harris's dream of giving scholastic achievement in the
secondary school the honor and recognition it deserves has been
realized.
