Cum Laude Society Welcomes Fall Inductees

The Northfield Mount Hermon chapter of the Cum Laude Society announced its cohort of new members to begin the 2025-26 school year. The announcement, made on Monday at the all-school morning meeting in Memorial Chapel, recognized 16 seniors for their scholastic achievements and welcomed them into the ranks of Cum Laude.

The fall inductees are:

• Gerard (Porter) Beaule
• Allen Chen
• Joseph (Mac) Hargrove
• Spencer Hirschey
• Grace Huang
• Anna Kalynchuk
• Sopriye (Sopi) Koko
• Anna Lazorina
• Lang (Miller) Ming
• Tianxin (Aurora) Song
• Yuhan (Emily) Sun
• Minxian (Michelle) Tang
• Serafina Wilson
• Siri (Liv) Wooten-Forman
• Se Ryoung (Olivia) Yim
• Jichu (Selina) Zha

Cum Laude is the independent school national honor society, often considered the secondary school equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa. New members are chosen by NMH faculty each semester.

Nominees must show academic achievement and integrity consistent with the society’s principles of moral excellence (areté), justice (diké), and honor (timé) throughout their academic career.

“The NMH community is proud to recognize those members of our Class of 2026, who through their hard work and determination, embody the Cum Laude Society logo: ‘areté, diké, timé,’” said Joe Latimer, the director of college counseling. “As these students embark on their senior year, we look forward to their continued contributions and positive impact inside and outside of the classroom."

Aurora Song said she was “shocked” to be among the latest appointees and appreciated that NMH honors holistic academic achievement beyond grade point averages.

“I learned a lot more in class with discussions and engaging with teachers than through tests and stuff,” Song said. “I don't know if that has always been reflected in my grades, but I'm really glad that the things I consider important and my valid contributions to classes and to people around me did reflect in what others think.”

The fall appointees represent the top 10% of the senior class, based on their GPA. They will be formally inducted into the society at  an awards ceremony in the spring, provided they maintain their academic standing through the year.

Additional students may be named to Cum Laude in the spring semester if their final fall grades and spring midterms meet the requirements. The final inductees will represent the top 20% of the graduating class.

Members receive a certificate and pin during the May induction ceremony, and their names are added to a list stretching back to 1929, when the NMH chapter of the Cum Laude Society was established.

“I just feel very honored, because I know admission to Cum Laude is very hard to achieve,” Miller Ming said. He views the distinction as validation of the effort he has put into academics since arriving at NMH. “I kept on challenging myself through the hardest courses I could take. I think that's all worth it — I’ve gained a lot through my NMH experience.”

Ming credited his acceptance in large part to the guidance of his teachers.

“I definitely grew a lot in terms of how I interact with the teachers and the course material,” he said. “Having different kinds of teachers every year — these kinds of interactions all built up where I am today. I felt very honored just to get to know all the academic faculty around here.”

— Max Hunt

Photo by Max Hunt. Not pictured: Aurora Song and Miller Ming.