Hannemann: I Graduated Cum Laude Twice
Gubernatorial candidate Mufi Hannemann has made a point of emphasizing his education credentials in his campaign.
He declared his candidacy for governor at Fern Elementary in Kalihi, where he used to go to school. Later he said he was the only candidate to go to public schools — though his campaign clarified he meant public school in Hawaii.
Last week, his campaign sent out a controversial campaign mailer to voters stating that he graduated “cum laude” from Harvard and Iolani, contrasting those schools against Democratic rival Neil Abercrombie‘s alma maters. To some, this may be manini. But because Hannemann made his cum laude honors into a campaign issue, Civil Beat wants to know if it’s true.
Cum Laude is Latin and translates literally as “with praise.” It’s often used as an honor for collegiate graduates who have done above average work in earning their degrees. Some schools also offer additional honors in the form of Magna Cum Laude, literally “with great praise,” and Summa Cum Laude, “with highest praise.”
Harvard is no stranger to Latin. Its coat of arms has three books that together read veritas, which translates as “truth.”
Harvard’s “Veritas” crest is seen on three banners in this Flickr photo.
Hannemann was born in 1954 and graduated from Harvard in 1976. It was then and remains today among the nation’s finest schools. In fact, just by U.S. News and World Report as the in America for 2011.
So we called Harvard’s Office of the Registrar and had to give them Hannemann’s first and last names, the year he graduated, the degree he obtained and his date of birth. Harvard then confirmed that Hannemann earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in government, graduating cum laude on June 17, 1976.
A few months before heading to Harvard, he graduated from one of Hawaii’s top private schools, Iolani School. An Iolani spokeswoman confirmed that Hannemann did graduate cum laude in 1972 as one of the top students in his class.
In conclusion, Hannemann did indeed earn academic honors. Hannemann went out of his way to point this out, so we went out of our way to fact check it. We think that says something about him — and us.
