“Cum Laude is an extraordinary achievement,” noted Head of School Peter Becker ’95 in opening the annual October Cum Laude Society induction ceremony.  “I’ve always thought that what we recognize isn’t necessarily getting to this point—winning this prize, as it were—but all the effort that it takes to get there and what it signifies, not just about the students who are here on the stage, but the nature of academic pursuit and engagement at Taft more generally: a spirit of inquiry and a spirit of effort and determination in that pursuit that I hope is true of every student at this school.”

Noting that the Cum Laude Society’s Latin motto translates to ‘excellence, justice, and honor,’ Becker said, “I want us all to see these achievements not as getting to the destination, but as one milestone, the next step in a lifelong journey of learning, inquiry, and growth. There is always a next step toward excellence.”

Founded in 1908, the Cum Laude Society is the national scholarship society in secondary schools, corresponding to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi in colleges and scientific schools. A maximum of 20% of the Senior Class may be elected to membership in the Cum Laude Society. Based on their mid and upper mid academic records, 15 members (9%) of the Class of 2024 were inducted into the Cum Laude Society in October; a second group will be inducted at Commencement in June. Current inductees are:

Lachlan Abbott
Theresa Alves de Oliveira
Charlotte Blair
Noah Cinel
Finneas Gateley
Bryn Gavigan
Ivy Kargman
Nikas Lukyanov
Shane Mettler
Sabrina Moffa
Caiya Niewinski
Michael Ren
Trevor Stellmach
Maggie Zeng
Luke Zhang

Also recognized during the ceremony were those students earning commendations from the National Merit Scholarship Program. With a selection of index of 207 or above, these high performers have shown outstanding academic potential:

Lachlan Abbott
Vincent Chen
Finneas Gateley
Bryn Gavigan
Helen Liao
Nikas Lukyanov
Sabrina Moffa
Trevor Stellmach
Sara Takanabe
Isabel Yang
Maggie Zeng
Luke Zhang
Damian Zhu

Michael Ren was also named a semifinalist in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Competition for his outstanding performance last year on the PSAT, finishing in the top 1% of all test takers. He is now eligible to apply to be a National Merit Finalist to win scholarship dollars. Congratulations, Michael.

Finally, based on their unweighted averages at the conclusion of the 2022–23 academic year, the following students were named the ranking scholars in their classes:

Class of 2026: Allison Palmer, Hanna Xu
Class of 2025: Nataliia Shyika
Class of 2024: Lachlan Abbott