In a celebratory ceremony recognizing academic excellence, St. Margaret’s inducted 12 juniors, 13 seniors and two faculty members into the Cum Laude Society, an international honors organization for which only a small percentage of high school juniors and seniors are qualified, during Thursday’s Upper School Chapel.

These students joined the nine current seniors inducted in 2015 as juniors, as part of a longstanding tradition of academic honors that includes more than 350 St. Margaret’s inductees. Celebrating 30 years as a Cum Laude school, St. Margaret’s became a chapter school in 1986. The school is one of only 382 chapters throughout the world, and the only Cum Laude school in Orange County.

The Cum Laude Society identifies academic achievement through its motto: Areté (excellence), Diké (justice), Timé (honor), and according to Mr. Parker, “was founded in 1906 as an interscholastic academic fraternity modeled on Phi Beta Kappa which would encourage and recognize true academic scholarship. The founders believed that chapters should be established only in schools of superior academic quality, and during its century of existence, there has been no deviation from this original vision.”

Head of School Will Moseley, Chapter President Rocky Parker and narrator Dallas Clemmons, all members of the Cum Laude Society, led the annual ceremony inducting the new members. Upper School visual arts teacher and member of the Cum Laude Society since its inception in 1986, Barbara Nelson, who will retire at the end of this school year, was recognized by Mr. Parker for her, “years of service, sound advice and longtime contributions to the society.”

Mr. Moseley introduced the ceremony’s Keynote Speaker Class of 2001 Alumnus and Cum Laude Society member Erik Hallenbeck, who joined St. Margaret’s in the first grade. Mr. Moseley said, “While attending St. Margaret’s, he was a junior inductee into the Cum Laude Society, a National Honor Society member and an AP Scholar with Distinction. Erik also served on the Honor Committee and was a tri-sport athlete playing football, soccer and golf for the Tartans and was a two-time Athlete of the Year.

“After graduating from St. Margaret's, Erik attended the University of Pennsylvania. As an NCAA scholar athlete, Erik played on Penn’s varsity soccer team where he was a captain his junior and senior years and was First-Team All-Ivy League for three consecutive years. For four years while attending college, Erik served as a big brother for the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of West Philadelphia. Erik graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics with concentrations in finance and management.”

Erik currently resides in Laguna Beach with his wife Sarah and eight-month-old son, and is an account executive for West Coast Metals, a metal trading company located in San Juan Capistrano.

Speaking to the newest Cum Laude Society inductees and those gathered in the Chapel, Erik said, “Today, I want to speak to you students about how change will be a defining factor and influence in the near future of your lives, and that there are two guiding principles that you should embrace and abide by as you confront that change; intellectual curiosity and service.

Erik, who recognized St. Margaret's as "one of the best secondary schools not only in California, but the entire country," concluded his speech on intellectual curiosity and service with these poignant words: “The Cum Laude Society recognizes academic achievement for the purpose of promoting excellence, justice and honor. As you progress through St. Margaret’s and college, begin to channel some of your hunger for high achievement in academics into the cultivation of your intellectual curiosity. You will one day leave campus and the structures of formal education behind, and the world will become your classroom. Your continued, lifelong education will be in your hands. Let your budding intellectual curiosity and service be your guides, and you are sure to be heading down the path of a just, honorable, and excellent start to life.”

Click here to read Erik’s speech in its entirety.

Congratulations to the newest St. Margaret’s Cum Laude Society inductees!

Grade 12 Inductees:

• Matene Alikhani
• Dunay Bach
• Elizabeth Barbaresi
• Andrew Cameron
• Kevin Cox
• Sarah Grace Engel
• Erin Fitzpatrick
• Alyssa Maita
• McKinley McQuaide
• Olivia Miller
• Sarah Reeves
• Zachary Shor
• Alexandra Vollero

Grade 11 Inductees:

• Katherine Adelman
• Tyler Ashman
• Luke Gitter
• Thomas Kwa
• Rose McCarver
• Emma Paddon
• Kate Parks
• Jana Phillips
• William Rosenthal
• Charles Smith
• Emily Van Duinen
• Ryan Wilson

Two faculty members:

• Theresa Bouchard
• Nathan Wheeler

Nine current seniors who were inducted into the Cum Laude society in 2015, as juniors:

• Michael Bauer
• Noah Choi
• Charlotte Duran
• Frederick Hudoff
• David Larsen
• William Miyamoto
• Megan Phansalkar
• Collin Rogers
• Sasha Yousefi

Click here to view the Cum Laude Ceremony program.