Graduating from college is an honor in itself. But for those students who have done exceptional work while in school they will be graduating with Latin Honors. They are defined as cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude. To achieve these honors, one’s cumulative grade point average (GPA) for all four years must be above a certain point. For cum laude the GPA has to be between 3.5 and 3.69, magna cum laude is 3.7 to 3.89 and summa cum laude is 3.9 to 4.0.
Those students who are awarded with these honors are identified prior to graduation. The registrar office contacts the students about their potential award. However, the honors are not definite until the students get their final grades. So once the students are notified about their potential honors they need to keep their GPA high enough to meet the standards. If they are awarded with this honor they will get a medal to wear at graduation.
For some seniors graduating with honors this has been a goal since they stepped foot on campus. Other students were so invested in their work that they did not realize about the award until they were notified by the register office.
This is true for Lilly Hatheway, a political science, American studies and history major, a senior who is in the running to be awarded magna cum laude at graduation.
Hatheway says she had no idea about this honor until her junior year. During graduation last year she learned about the honors and the requirements to get this achievement.
To be able have a cumulative GPA that is at least a 3.5, every semester counts. A few bad final grades could ruin the chance to get this honor. This can be especially challenging for students during their first semesters at college. This adjusting period is where some students can receive the lowest grades.
According to Hatheway, her freshman year is when she was challenged the most.
“I think the work load was heavier and I was taking a lot of basic requirements so it wasn’t classes that I was necessarily interested in therefore making it harder to stay on task,” said Hatheway.
But once she started taking her major classes is was easier for her to focus and this is when she stated to work harder.
“I worked hard and I am just happy to see that it paid off!” said Hatheway.
