On April 12, twenty-one Hathaway Brown seniors were inducted into the Cum Laude Society, an organization established to recognize academic achievement in secondary schools for the purpose of promoting excellence, justice, and honor.
Amy Saltzman Porter '01, MD, PhD, a pediatric palliative care physician at the Cleveland Clinic, delivered the ceremony's keynote address. She described her path from Hathaway Brown to where she is today, highlighting the times she "pivoted" from the expected course, only to have her life experiences enriched. There is much to be learned from diverging from the path and allowing yourself to see things in a new way, she said. An HB "lifer," Dr. Porter also encouraged the 9th- through 12th-grade students gathered for the assembly to understand and appreciate that having the benefit of an HB education arms you with confidence, knowledge, and outstanding opportunities —she credits the school's Science Research & Engineering Program with making her the person she is today. But don't forget, she cautioned the girls, that luck factors heavily into the equation as well. She was lucky to grow up at a school such as HB, she said, and she reminded the students that they are lucky to have the benefits of this type of empowering all-girls education as well.
The 2018 Cum Laude Society inductees are Katerina Aris, Brice Bai, Regina Egan, Archer Frodyma, Molly Gleydura, Katherine Halloran, Sukhmani Kaur, Anne Lewandowski, Coralin Li, Lekha Medarametla, Roxana Moazami, Danica Murthy, Cristina Rackley, Anika Rede, Sophie Sacks, Leonela Serrano, Alexandra von Zedlitz, Erin Xu, Ying Ying Yang, Evangeline Yeh, and Michelle Yin.
Families of the inductees joined us for the assembly as well, and after the ceremony the newly inducted Cum Laude Society members gathered for a celebratory reception.
