Nine juniors, 17 seniors and two faculty members were instated into the Cum Laude Society, an international honors organization for which only a small percentage of high school juniors and seniors are qualified, as a part of Upper School Chapel on Thursday. The students joined the six current seniors inducted in 2014 as juniors, as part of a longstanding tradition of academic honors that includes more than 300 St. Margaret’s inductees. Celebrating 29 years as a Cum Laude school, St. Margaret’s became a chapter school in 1986. The school is one of only 370 chapters throughout the world, and the only Cum Laude school in Orange County.

Head of School Will Moseley, Chapter President and Secretary Rocky Parker and Narrator and member of the Cum Laude Society Dallas Clemmons led the annual ceremony inducting the new members into the society.

Mr. Moseley introduced the ceremony’s Keynote Speaker Class of 2009 Alumnus and St. Margaret’s Lifer Rowley Rice. After attending St. Margaret's, Rowley attended Georgetown University, where he spent his junior year abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He graduated magna cum laude and received both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in government.

Rowley is currently enrolled at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law as the Frank Rothman Scholar, a full-tuition scholarship awarded to the top student in the incoming class. In his second-year, Rowley is ranked first in his class and is the incoming Executive Notes Editor of the Southern California Law Review. He also works as a law clerk to an entertainment law arbitrator and is the case manager for the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.

This summer, Rowley will work as a Summer Associate for two Los Angeles law firms. After graduation, he will serve as a law clerk to two federal judges in the Central District of California and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Speaking to the newest Cum Laude Society inductees, Rowley said, “One of the virtues of St. Margaret's is that it applauds hard work and academic success. But what's the point of this applause? Why do we put so much effort into celebrating the intelligent and hard-working, not just at St. Margaret's, but across the world? We celebrate these achievements because they are glimmers of the possibilities, the hopes that come with education. Education lays the foundation for us to make our mark on the world and it prepares us to change the world for the better.”

Throughout Rowley’s speech to those gathered, he empathized that “education is about a lot more than getting into college. Education is about preparing us for successful and effective service to others.”

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

Grade 12 Inductees:

• Zoey Hart
• Carly Jordan
• Gregory Justice
• Lance Lew
• Jonathan Martin
• Peighton McRobie
• Emily Miller
• Matthew Nicholas
• Taylor Perko
• Zhong Jun Rong
• Sabine Scott
• Trent Sorenson
• Quentin Talley
• Zack Venable
• David Weaver
• Blake Williams
• Wenqing Zhu

Grade 11 Inductees:

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

Two faculty members:

• Donna Jacobsen
• Kathleen Meloney

Six current seniors who were inducted into the Cum Laude society in 2014, as juniors:

• Sean Chang
• Ju Won Kang
• Annika Krafcik
• Liam McGregor
• Collin Price
• Benjamin Wang

Click here to view the Cum Laude Ceremony program.