Cum Laude Inducts 32 New Members
Family and friends filled the Ball Theater as Penn Charter's chapter of the Cum Laude Society inducted 32 members of the junior and senior classes on April 18. A national honor society established in 1908, Cum Laude celebrates Arete, Dike and Time – Excellence, Justice and Honor.
Head of School Darryl J. Ford; math teacher Jen Ketler, secretary of Penn Charter's chapter; and Travis Larrabee, director of Upper School, presented and introduced each inductee to the audience.
The following seniors were inducted: Gwenyth A. Davis, Harrison M. Drebin, Zachary L. Jokelson, Jennifer L. Locke, Ellen I. O’Malley, Owen E. Peters, Noah M. Schwartz, Anurithi Senthil, John M. Sibson, Adam M. Weil.
The following juniors were inducted: Hadley I. Ball, Rohan Bhambhani, Sarah Elizabeth Clarke, Amelia Lee Dogan, Alexis E. Kaiser, Brinlea Elizabeth LaBarge, Max Lubowitz, Annika Lee Murray, Elizabeth May Ominsky, Emily Page Proctor, Elisabeth L. Ross.
These students were inducted last year as juniors and recognized again on April 18: Marker James Angelakis, Lilia Juhl Carpenter, Giovanna Christina DeMarco, Brian Samuel Isztwan, Justin Ko (not pictured), Lucia Rose Lavelle, Catherine Ann McInerney, Anna Pogrebivsky, Benjamin Swanson, Jeremy Noah Weiss, Evan Michael Wilson.
Amy Gadsden, a PC overseer and executive director for Penn Global, served as keynote speaker. In her role at the University of Pennsylvania, Gadsden works with Penn’s schools and centers to develop and implement strategies to increase Penn’s global engagement both on campus and overseas. Before Penn, Gadsden spent more than a decade working in the foreign policy field with a focus on China, including as a special advisor for China at the United States Department of State. She holds a B.A. from Yale College and a Ph.D. in Chinese legal history from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the mother of three Penn Charter students.
Gadsden reflected on discovering what she wanted to do—would it be pre-med? economics? English and history?—and eventually forging her own career path. "If you are lucky," she said, "your professional path will not be a straight line. It will have many twists and detours."
"As the Chinese say, you will cross the river by feeling the stones. Take one step and then another and see where they lead. My first stone was a summer internship in China."
"You may find the first stone in college," Gadsden continued. "You may find it after. But as you cross the river, as you pursue your path, don’t forget these three lessons:
1. Don’t be afraid of the test, it is the only way that you will master your subject.
2. Don’t be afraid to refine and clarify your goals.
3. Pursue something not because it is expected of you but because you expect it of yourself."
Congratulations to the 2018 inductees of the Cum Laude Society. See more photos.