General (Latin) Honors

The regulations of the following three paragraphs apply to the awarding on graduation of the degree of Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude:

A student with final average exactly matching or exceeding the final cumulative average of the lowest standing of the past three academic years' top 5% of graduates will be awarded the degree summa cum laude.

A student with lower standing but with final average exactly matching or exceeding the final cumulative average of the lowest standing of the past three academic years' top 15% of graduates will be awarded the degree magna cum laude.

A student with lower standing but with final average exactly matching or exceeding the final cumulative average of the lowest standing of the past three academic years' top 35% of graduates will be awarded the degree cum laude.

The lowest averages for these three groups of graduates in the three academic years 2021-2023 were, in descending order 3.96, 3.90, 3.79. Accordingly, these values govern the awarding of the corresponding honors in 2023-2024.

A Senior Fellow may be eligible for these honors by application of the regulations already given, provided that the Committee on Senior Fellowships certifies that the level of the student's work during the fellowship year justifies the awarding of the honor.

The students who attain the first and second highest standings in each graduating class shall be given respectively valedictory and salutatory honors (which shall not necessarily consist of appointments as commencement speakers). No student shall be eligible for salutatory or valedictory honors who has not been for at least three years a student at Dartmouth College.

The following selection process was established in 2014 for determining the Valedictory speaker:
• The Registrar determines in mid-May the possible Valedictory candidates based on the highest GPA in the graduating class, and informs the Dean of the College and the Dean of Faculty of those candidates.
• Students in this group are asked by the Dean of the College whether they are interested in speaking at Commencement if they attain Valedictory rank and, if they are, that they inform the Dean of the College of this.
• The candidates interested in speaking are considered by a Committee consisting of the Dean of Faculty, two of the Associate Deans of Faculty, the Dean of the College, and two of the Associate Deans of the College.
This committee will devise and articulate a set of criteria and make a recommendation directly to the President.
• The President makes the final decision about who will speak at Commencement. The students are informed of the decision by the Dean of the College or designate.
• If, in a particular year, none of the Valedictory candidates wishes to speak, the Salutatorian candidates will be invited to be considered. The same process should be used as the one for selecting the Valedictory Speaker.