Summa Cum Laude Denied on a Technicality
Courtesy of William Paterson University
April 15, 2019
The month prior to graduation is one of the most stressful times of a college student’s life. A goal that one has been working towards for four years is just slightly out of reach. However, William Paterson University recently put a damper on my excitement and sense of accomplishment by denying me my rightfully earned summa cum laude cords.
During the “Pioneer Salute” ceremony, I was told that due to the number of credits I have taken at other universities, I do not have enough WPU-based credits to qualify for summa cum laude, regardless of my 3.957 GPA. The summa cum laude recognition will be depicted on my transcript and diploma, but the lack of recognition nullifies the point of graduation for me.
During my senior year of high school, I had the amazing opportunity to take three classes (6 credits) at Fairleigh Dickinson University and obviously took advantage of the opportunity. I was excited to jump start my college career at 17 years old.
I subsequently attended County College of Morris after high school and earned my associate degree. I transferred to WPU to complete my bachelor’s in communication.
My two years at WPU have been some of the most fulfilling times of life. I have been Editor-in-Chief of the school’s newspaper, The Beacon, and an inducted member of Phi Sigma Tau- Iota Chapter, the international honor society in philosophy. Thanks to my outstanding professors in the communication and philosophy departments, I feel wholly prepared to start the next phase in my life as a professional journalist.
However, this disheartening situation is one of my final interactions with this university, and it has left such a bad taste in my mouth. I cannot grasp why someone would penalize a top student for being more advanced than his or her peers and taking college-level classes in high school.
While my arguments against this decision seem to have fallen on deaf ears with president Richard Helldobler and provost Sandy De Young, I will continue my strife in appealing this unnecessary policy for myself and future transfer students who will be equally as disappointed. I have decided to not attend graduation on May 15 as it is senseless to be a part of a ceremony that is not celebrating my accomplishments.
AP • May 10, 2021 at 4:16 pm
This is me. In my case it was due to one unit. I was short one unit of the 40 needed. One freaking unit. So I know EXACTLY what you are feeling. After all the hard work I put on my grades, most of the excitement is just gone. Don’t listen to people that tells you that this is not important. IT IS!!! Please, validate your feelings. They are real.
XOXO
Myrna Munoz • May 4, 2021 at 11:28 pm
I agree with you. This is exactly what happened to me, according to my GPA I deserve the Summa Cum Laude honors, but my school decided I needed more credits in their institution. Same as you, I took credits in high school and college. I am very dissapointed because honors are supposed to represent your perseverence in achieving academic excellence, not how many classes you completed or for better wording, how much you paid to the school.
Michael Bol • Mar 29, 2021 at 7:35 pm
I’ll print out a cert for you, all legit, from my business, “Summa Cum Laude – Your name here”
Tiffany • Jan 16, 2021 at 11:28 am
He didn’t go to his graduation because he and his accomplishments weren’t going to be specifically noted in public in front of everyone. If you look at this from a Christian standpoint, this person is not humble, he needs all the recognition or nothing.
Yea, I get it, it sucks, but his pride is getting in the way and he may end up regretting his decision later on.
Also if this is narcissism, he will do more like this and complain about this to other people.
This is also one of those things about “reading the contract”. I checked the requirements and paperwork prior to graduation to figure out what is and what isn’t going to happen, I also worked several months to get things that were removed back on my transfer transcripts. If it was about credits, he should have talked to his advisor to see what could be done to get the credits, even taking classes over again if the transfer credits needed to be removed in this case.
I hope this is just a maturity thing. I graduated a bit older, still the first in my extended family to finish college. With Summa Cum Laude on my transcripts and my B.S. of Mathematics, I didn’t attend my graduation because I just didn’t see at as important. My effort was dedicated to seeing my niece graduate from high school, which to me, was the important thing… Also, working and not having massive debt is also more important than a graduation ceremony.
Richard Nixon • Dec 14, 2020 at 12:48 pm
The person that said, “You really need to get over it. You still have the achievements. Just because you weren’t public praised doesn’t warrant your whining” is an idiot. People like this cannot fathom the amount of hard work and dedication you put into your academics. These people will never be as successful as you and will live the rest of their life in denial of your achievement. Not everyone is going to be successful but everyone is entitled to a chance. You took this chance and succeeded unlike the rest of your class who were too scared to even think about jumping at an opportunity like this. You earned the praise you were denied of having. You worked harder than 99% of your institution to graduate in the top 1% of your class.
Congratulations on your achievement! I wish you the best in your career.
Harry Cooper • Nov 17, 2020 at 5:54 pm
These folks who brush it off as whining have never worked as hard as you (or been as bright as you) to set yourself apart from the crowd. You absolutely deserved the accolades and that was a travesty.
My daughter was denied a full scholarship due to her school’s miscalculation of her GPA. She had a 3.79 according to her high school, but the college figured it to a 3.42 and she needed 3.5. Talk about deaf ears… we gave them a letter from the high school itself saying her GPA was 3.79 (the error was due to the fact that the college didn’t correct for her advanced placement courses) and they refused to accept it. Still she got the second best scholarship they offer and graduated magna cum laude. She is now a physician’s assistant, and still paying down her mountain of debt.
Julia chistious • Jul 12, 2020 at 6:42 pm
You really need to get over it. You still have the achievements. Just because you weren’t public praised doesn’t warrant your whining.
Daniel • Jan 7, 2020 at 10:25 am
My two years at WPU have been some of the most fulfilling times of life.
^I hope you attended your graduation for this reason alone. A graduation ceremony is still a celebration for you, and I would have view this as a good learning experience in dealing with mild disappointments in life.
Lenora Morris-Felder • Dec 8, 2019 at 12:03 am
Were you able to fix this problem for other graduates?