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Graduation,
What’s All That Latin About?

By Dianna Lee
Part 2 of a 2-Part Series – The series continues with the history and further explanation of the different honors. The first set of honors is Latin. Latin phrases are used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned.

• summa cum laude, “with the highest honor”, “with highest praise.”
• magna cum laude, “with great honor”; “ with great praise.”
• cum laude, “with honor”; “with praise.”    

A fourth honor, honoris causa, is used when a university bestows an honorary degree. These honors are awarded to those undergraduate and graduate students who have achieved academic distinction. Generally, a college or university degree regulations give clear rules for the minimum grades and academic achievement requirements to obtain specific honors. Each university sets it’s own standards.

Beyond the academic honors, there are National Honor Societies.  Academically distinguished undergraduates may be eligible for membership in a National Honor Society. The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society with the mission of “fostering and recognizing excellence” in undergraduate liberal arts and sciences. Founded at the College of William and Mary on December 5, 1776, it is the oldest such society in the United States. Membership is granted to approximately 1% of college graduates. Today, there are 270 chapters and over half a million living members. Since election to the Society occurs on a school-by-school basis, membership standards are not uniform.

Nevertheless, no member school may induct more than 10% of its graduating class. Most chapters invite a significantly smaller percentage to membership. Phi Beta Kappa is generally considered to be the most selective and prestigious of all college honor societies and election to membership is one of the highest honors available to undergraduate collegians.

Let’s talk about some of the history behind college honors and awards.  Harvard College first awarded final honors to its graduates in 1869. From 1872 to 1879, cum laude and summa cum laude were the two honors awarded to graduates. Beginning 1880, magna cum laude was also awarded. 

The Faculty then prepared regulations for recommending candidates for the Bachelor’s degree, either for an ordinary degree or for a degree with distinction, e.g., the grades of distinction are summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude. 

In 1894 Amherst College historian William Seymour Tyler tracked Amherst’s system of Latin honors to 1881, and attributed it to Amherst College President Julius Hawley Seelye. Instead of ranking every individual student, five grades of scholarship were established. If a student was in the first or lowest grade, he was not considered as a candidate for a degree. If he was in the second grade the degree of A or B was conferred upon him rite; if in the third, cum laude; if in the fourth, magna cum laude; if he reached the fifth grade he received the degree summa cum laude. This system of administration is so original that it is known as the Amherst System.

Hopefully, you enjoyed reading the article as much as I did completing the research.

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