Cum Laude Society Inducts New Members

Thursday, April 28 marked the 2011 Cum Laude Induction ceremony, where current members of The Cum Laude Society from the Class of 2011 welcomed 20 additional juniors and seniors to join the ranks while classmates, faculty, and family gathered in the Kennedy Auditorium looked on. The 2011 inductees honored in the ceremony were Alec Aldrich ’11, Elizabeth Aronoff ’12, Gavin Buck ’12, Julia Costantini ’12, Anirudh Dasarathy ’12, Madeline Gabor ’11, Wesley Herts ’12, Kyle Hoffman ’11, Jana Jaffe ’11, Alexandra Karas ’12, Hannah Meropol ’12, Abigail Moeller ’11, Madeline Pesec ’12, Moriah Rahamim ’11, Sanjay Rao ’12, Elissa Rosner ’11, Set Shill ’11, Aden Wexberg ’12, Eric Xiao ’12, And Julie Zeilinger ’11.

Special guest Dr. Sean Decatur, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin College and member of Hawken’s Class of 1986, offered the Cum Laude Address. During the address, he spoke about the most important qualities his Hawken education nurtured and instilled: a deep-seeded curiosity and love of learning; an appreciation of rigor and high standards of excellence; a deep respect for the accomplishments of others; the importance of integrity and fair play; and the belief that with privilege comes an obligation to serve others. A biophysical chemist, Dr. Decatur then used the protein folding problem to illustrate various approaches to problem solving: the random search method, which is the most inefficient approach; the pathway or framework method, which is an approach that can work but is extremely limited, and the landscape method, which is the preferred method of problem solving because of it supports the processing, analysis, and reassessment of information. Professor Decatur noted that too often when we face problems of great complexity in today’s world – whether environmental, social, or political – we try to solve it using the random approach, which rarely works. “To solve complex problems, we need to navigate a rough landscape,” Decatur explained, noting that a Hawken education prepares students to do just that. “It’s the ability to solve these problems that give me a great deal of hope for the future.”

Other highlights of the ceremony included a musical interlude, Fauré’s “The Palms,” performed by the Hawken Chamber Players, and remarks by Head of School Scott Looney, Director of the Upper School Ross Peters, and Associate Director of the Upper School Doug Smith.

Following the singing of the Hawken Alma Mater, inductees and guests were invited to the White House for a reception.