Should NH high schools eliminate the valedictorian and salutatorian distinctions?

Throughout New Hampshire and the rest of the country during June, high schools celebrated their graduations with speeches from the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked students in the senior class -- the valedictorian and salutatorian.

But in many American high schools, the valedictorian and salutatorian are becoming a thing of the past. Learn more here.

The term valedictorian -- a long held distinction given to the member of the graduating class with the highest grade point average (GPA) -- is derived from the Latin vale dicere ("to say farewell"), rooted in the valedictorian's traditional role as the final speaker at the graduation ceremony before the students receive their diplomas.

The salutatorian -- the graduating senior with the second highest GPA -- is typically the first speaker at a graduation ceremony, delivering the salutation or greeting.

The move to eliminate these distinctions in some schools has grown out of the controversies linked to GPAs and class rank, because the top students in the senior class are sometimes separated by tenths - even hundredths -- of a point. There is no such movement in New Hampshire to eliminate class rank.

About half of schools no longer report class rank, according to the National Association of Secondary School Principals, because administrators worry about the college prospects of students separated by large differences in class rank despite small differences in their GPAs.

The rankings in these schools are being replaced by what’s called the “Latin honors” of magna cum laude and summa cum laude, distinctions historically used in colleges and universities. Magna cum laude is with great praise or distinction; summa cum laude is with highest honor. The student-presented graduation speech in these cases often falls then to the senior class president or someone voted upon by the senior class.

Proponents of the elimination of the valedictorian, salutatorian, and individual class ranking argue that the Latin honors are more fair and a better way of spreading academic distinction across the graduating class.

Opponents say the students who are No. 1 and No. 2 in class rank worked hard to attain their status and deserve the graduation recognition of valedictorian and salutatorian. And they say the Latin honors for high school seem too much like participation trophies to avoid hurt feelings.

Should New Hampshire high schools replace valedictorian and salutatorian honors with the Latin honors of magna cum laude and summa cum laude? Let us know in the comments section below.