Three new inductees to the Cum Laude Society were announced by Anne Allwood, the new faculty head of the Cum Laude Society. She first thanked Dr. John Van Atta, the immediate past head and then announced the names of the new members: Jack Barrett ’08, Adam Polak ’08 and Preston Han ’09. They join current seniors who were inducted last year: Chris Bayliss, Greg Berger, Jamie Biondi, Jon Bubar, Alex Dickson and Chris Gaffhari The Cum Laude Society was founded in 1906 to recognize scholastic achievement. The motto of the society is Arete, Dike, Time - Excellence, Justice, Honor. The meaning of the word Arete includes the moral sense and is not limited to the idea of superiority in scholarship. Dike includes suitability and appropriateness, not merely justice and Time’s definition incorporates the concept of dignity and truth with honor. Mrs. Allwood closed by saying that the Cum Laude Society is a fellowship of scholars promoting excellence in academic work and it is the hope that Brunswick Cum Laude members will accept the responsibility of membership by making a contribution to the on-going search for understanding in the world.
The highlight of the Cum Laude assembly is always the address by a faculty member to the UpperSchool boys. John Pendergast, Chair of the Dept of Religion and Philosophy was this year’s Cum Laude speaker.
Mr. Pendergast started by proposing an idea that has been promoted by some of the greatest minds of all time, that Faith and Reason not only complement one another, but, for much of intellectual history, were considered inseparable. That idea is in start contrast to a recent story about a teacher who challenged his class to define the word “faith.” One student responded, “Faith is when you believe something which you know ain’t true!” Sounds like a character in a Mark Twain novel, and, in fact, it has been attributed to this great writer.
Mr. P then listed some of the world’s great thinkers noting that they have made remarkable contributions to our understanding of the world and our place in it. In addition, they ALL found their tireless pursuit of knowledge to be quite compatible, even complementary, with their religious belief. Mr. P then started with Galileo Galilei and Issac Newton. The former is noted for having said, “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” Mr. P went on to discuss Newton indicating that what many don’t know about this great scientist is that he was also often described as a “religious fanatic” who wanted nothing more than that his science would convince people of the existence of God. One of his most famous remarks sums up his position on the relationship between Faith & Reason - “The most beautiful system (the universe) could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful being.”
The next pair, J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis were literary contemporaries who discussed literature and God and agreed that faith in God was a reasonable position, i.e. the merger of reason and faith. Lewis expressed this thought to exemplify that message, "if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
Mr. P’s last pairing and perhaps the least well known but most contemporary is Mary Ann Glendon, an international law professor recently appointed to be Ambassador to the Vatican and Francis Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project. Both of these people, a leading legal thinker and a scientist, are deeply religious and believe that intellectual and scientific discoveries enhance faith. Mary Ann Glendon recently challenged religious and cultural leaders to motivate, "their followers to meet others on the plane of reason and mutual respect, while remaining true to themselves and their own beliefs." Likewise Francis Collins is quoted as saying in response to a challenge that Darwin’s theories and faith are incompatible, “being outside of nature, God is also outside of space and time. Hence, at the moment of the creation of the universe, God could also have activated evolution, with full knowledge of how it would turn out, perhaps even including our having this conversation. The idea that he could both foresee the future and also give us spirit and free will to carry out our own desires becomes entirely acceptable.”
It is rare that the boys at Brunswick are exposed to discussions of religion and faith. Mr. P concluded his remarks encouraging the student to explore these concepts whether they have been part of their early education or not. Mr. P suggested that as they progress academically the boys question their beliefs and pursue knowledge in the area of religion, be it purely academic or in response to their religious upbringing. All of these are heady thoughts for a weekday afternoon and a stimulating speech for the celebration of intellectual excellence as represented by the Cum Laude Society.