“Razor-sharp sense of intellectual curiosity.” “Inspires her classmates to think deeper and work harder.” “Master wordsmith.” “As detail-oriented as the graph paper she takes her notes on.”

That’s a small sample of the public praise on the morning of April 10 at Thies Auditorium, when current members of the Edward J. Fox Chapter of the Cum Laude Society inducted 28 new members from the Charlotte Latin School Class of ’24 and Class of ’25 in front of their fellow students, their parents, and their teachers. Each induction was prefaced by a personal tribute to a student from a peer who knew them well, speaking not just of their stellar academic achievements but also their character and their values.

That befits the philosophy of the Cum Laude Society, which honors not only a high GPA but the ideals exemplified by the Greek words Areté (excellence), Diké (justice), and Timé (honor). The prestigious organization was founded in 1906; the Charlotte Latin chapter was chartered in 1976 when the school was only six years old. Latin was then, and continues to be, the youngest school ever so recognized. (Latin has a tradition of leadership in the Cum Laude Society: from 1996 to 2012, former Headmaster Dr. Fox was one of eight national regents, while Head of Upper School Lawrence Wall has served as a national regent since 2013.)

“It’s a tribute to the school’s long-standing regard for academic excellence,” said Chuck Baldecchi, Head of School, at the ceremony.

Fourteen members of the Class of ’25 were inducted: Alison Archibald, Camille Becker, Rossi Bellavia, Andrew Chen, Grace Finn, Nishanth Gaddam, Natalie Gaslin, Cordelia Kim, Ryan Kim, Alessandra Martin, Joe McGirt, Adam Stone, David Tian, and Logan Yee.

In addition, another 14 were inducted from the Class of ’24: Tommy Beason, Lydia Berens, Kelly Budzichowski, Luke Coppage, Calvin Ehrenberg, Lulu Gorelick, Hope Gottschling, Noah Guggenheimer, Caroline Howley, Serena Hu, Mack Hutcheson, Jaya Iyer, Neesa Phadke, and Sloan Wooster.

They joined the 14 members of the class of ‘24 who became members of the Cum Laude Society last year: Meghan DuPuy, Alicia Edwards, Ardyn Henry, Cameron Hutchinson, Andrew Jiang, Kadence Kosanovich Johnson, Cooper Kasimov, Elizabeth Lewis, Evan Li, Alexa Marcus, Evie McMahan, Olivia Morgan, Ryan Samii, and Jasmine Zheng.

Upper School math teacher Jeff Knull concluded the assembly with a speech about the values his father passed on to him: “Your attitude and your effort — get those right and most everything else will turn out the way it should.” 

On a day that celebrated the high achievements of the members of the Cum Laude Society, Knull reminded them that they too were sharing their values: “All of us benefit by the example you set,” he told them.