General Discussion

MineralMan

(150,605 posts)

48. Being valedictorian or co-valedictorian is a great honor.

Mon Jul 3, 2017, 10:21 AM

Jul 2017

I don't know whether the two people in the story were truly tied or not. It sounds like that's disputed. My point is that, in the case of a tie, having co-valedictorians is the most common solution.

It sound like both students earned that distinction. That was my only point. If there is a dispute that can't be resolved, solve it by honoring both students equally.

How the two co-valedictorians deal with that shared honor is not the issue. My friend and I found an answer that worked for us. I'm not saying that's how it should be done, but naming co-valedictorians is how such ties are generally handled. Both deserve recognition. It should be a time to celebrate their achievements, not a time to argue about those achievements.

That's my opinion. In the end, it's a passing sort of honor anyhow, and one that has little relevance in life. It should be enjoyed by both students, who both apparently excelled. Sometimes, there is a tie.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

158 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Black Mississippi student forced to share valedictorian title with white student who had lower GPA [View all] RandySF Jul 2017 OP

for all the complaints about welfare queens from the racists. they get more angry at seeing black JI7 Jul 2017 #1

Yep. dalton99a Jul 2017 #11

Yes. This. Thank you! NurseJackie Jul 2017 #27

Tht's why they despised Barack Obama so much. Foamfollower Jul 2017 #29

BOOM! Sometimes the simplest things like a Black man being everything racists says he should be Blue_true Jul 2017 #32

+ a zillion lunasun Jul 2017 #59

But we really don't know that's true. All we know is that there is a mother who claims pnwmom Jul 2017 #82

+1,000!!! Exactly!!! AgadorSparticus Jul 2017 #89

I went into the FB page the mother set up and I'm not so sure. pnwmom Jul 2017 #2

I wonder if the mother knows about weighted / AP classes, too. X_Digger Jul 2017 #3

That thought occurred to me, too. And how humiliating this must be to her daughter. nt pnwmom Jul 2017 #4

Every single class my child takes is weighted. xmas74 Jul 2017 #6

That's why abolishing GPA is discussed BadgerKid Jul 2017 #20

Absolutely. xmas74 Jul 2017 #131

If you have a kid who is running a 3.95 GPA, why complain. Blue_true Jul 2017 #38

Her problem is that there are some xmas74 Jul 2017 #130

Lucky kid. Why don't you have her look for scholarships that target her major. Blue_true Jul 2017 #142

Her planned major is public relations, xmas74 Jul 2017 #145

Seems like she has a plan. nt Blue_true Jul 2017 #146

Yep. xmas74 Jul 2017 #149

Good job of parenting. I had both of my parents to adulthood and beyond. Blue_true Jul 2017 #151

I'll be happy when xmas74 Jul 2017 #154

Back in the day, it wasn't like that so they may not "get" it. sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #8

My daughters' high school did not weigh classes exboyfil Jul 2017 #10

Is engineering university IaState? bobbieinok Jul 2017 #102

Yes exboyfil Jul 2017 #112

And a beautiful campus! bobbieinok Jul 2017 #137

really?.... bluecollar2 Jul 2017 #113

"she appears to be fighting the school district on many different fronts" left-of-center2012 Jul 2017 #28

As a kid who had to fight a school district on several fronts, I have sympathy. politicat Jul 2017 #143

This can be solved by simply releasing the GPAs. It's raises doubt that that hasn't been done. brush Jul 2017 #45

And yet, DU sides w/ the authority and starts to drag the mother/student. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #53

No, I'm siding with sanity. The idea that this mother was scrutinizing every grade this other girl pnwmom Jul 2017 #71

WOW, a scholarly equal to the Texas cheerleader mom...sans the murder. angstlessk Jul 2017 #77

Your experiences don't fucking matter. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #80

People are saying this happens in small schools. In that case my experience is relevant pnwmom Jul 2017 #84

I went to a small school as well and yes, those of us aiming for the top spot SaschaHM Jul 2017 #85

When was that? Baconator Jul 2017 #135

Yup. We had IB (6.0) and AP (5.0) courses that were weighted more. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #138

I will use this as an example of what might not xmas74 Jul 2017 #139

As far as I know, schools aren't allowed to release GPAs of their students because of privacy laws. LisaL Jul 2017 #101

Certainly the problem can be solved privately to determine the valedictorian brush Jul 2017 #107

So disappointed with so many on DU siding with a school district that as recently... brush Jul 2017 #115

My issue with it is we really don't know xmas74 Jul 2017 #132

Which is my point, but so many here just automatically assume the black student... brush Jul 2017 #136

The claim is that the GPA is the same sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #5

The complaining family seems way too obsessed with the other girl's grades, it seems to me. pnwmom Jul 2017 #15

It sounds like they were friends sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #56

I had 35 in my graduating class. We didn't do that. pnwmom Jul 2017 #70

My high school counted up until the second to last semester to determine honors. Blue_true Jul 2017 #40

Ok, but what does that have to do with the case of who is valedictorian? brush Jul 2017 #46

The kid did well in high school. That only means so much. Blue_true Jul 2017 #57

Ok, but the black student feels she was cheated out of being sole valedictorian brush Jul 2017 #62

You view on this clearly isn't the same as mine. Blue_true Jul 2017 #65

Why doesn't the school prove it was a tie? That's easy to do. brush Jul 2017 #69

But the idea that this mother has been keeping track of another girl's EVERY grade since middle pnwmom Jul 2017 #87

the white girl could have got a B in the last semester sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #58

Or either one of the girls might have fudged the truth at some point along the way pnwmom Jul 2017 #72

The school district claims they were tied exboyfil Jul 2017 #7

My district only took GPA back three decimal points. Blue_true Jul 2017 #43

Hard to be proud when you feel discriminated against. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #49

Where is the discrimination? MichMan Jul 2017 #63

Is this a serious question? SaschaHM Jul 2017 #66

Should the other student have it taken away after over a year has passed? MichMan Jul 2017 #99

You don't get to co-opt awards because they are given to black people. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #108

There is no evidence that this happened -- just the mother's suspicions based on other pnwmom Jul 2017 #117

"only"? That's kind of ridiculous when most non-math grades are so subjective. n/t pnwmom Jul 2017 #116

My old school did the same. xmas74 Jul 2017 #140

I get where the mom is coming from. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #9

It still wouldn't be clear because you wouldn't know what all her grades were in every class. pnwmom Jul 2017 #16

Never share grades with others? Seriously? n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #22

Seriously. My oldest had a number of ways of dodging the question, pnwmom Jul 2017 #24

Yes, seriously. NCTraveler Jul 2017 #34

My god is this hilarious. n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #35

Laughter is one of the best things in the world. NCTraveler Jul 2017 #39

No doubt, you'll explain what this sentiment is predicated on LanternWaste Jul 2017 #44

Yes! I hadn't thought of it that way, but it is similar. There is no upside to sharing grades, pnwmom Jul 2017 #90

"But then you have to also accept public failures." NCTraveler Jul 2017 #114

It's never too early to teach your kids to have boundaries and enforce them. It's no one else's bettyellen Jul 2017 #61

I was taught never to share that information. xmas74 Jul 2017 #133

You don't need to know all her grades though if her daugher is a straight A student ... SaschaHM Jul 2017 #25

Not all districts weight grades and the mom didn't mention anything about that. It seems that she pnwmom Jul 2017 #118

Also in MS -- the Sgent Jul 2017 #12

Nooo, cons aren't racist .. WTF? Hieronymus Jul 2017 #13

The takeaway really depends on who you believe. Igel Jul 2017 #14

This mother claims to know every grade the other girl has ever received in high school. pnwmom Jul 2017 #17

She doesn't claim to know that. She claims to know the schedule. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #26

If that is the case, then it should have been in the filing exboyfil Jul 2017 #54

Not all schools use weighting in determining GPA, and the mom didn't mention that. nt pnwmom Jul 2017 #120

IF the young woman was the kindest...she would have told the malaise Jul 2017 #18

Top of the Class is a major honor, regardless of whether it is shared. nt Blue_true Jul 2017 #47

How would she know? exboyfil Jul 2017 #55

Why should she have if their GPA's were the same? As the district says. n/t pnwmom Jul 2017 #121

I'm sceptical that she knows the other girls grades enough to fully calculate the GPA Lee-Lee Jul 2017 #19

She'd have been pestering her daughter to pester her friend about her grades pnwmom Jul 2017 #119

Deja vu Not Ruth Jul 2017 #21

Valedictorian is just another silly "contest" that is way overrated. n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #23

Complete and utter falsehood. Foamfollower Jul 2017 #30

There is a LOT more that goes into it. Read more. n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #33

There are MANY more advantages to being valedictorian than college admissions Foamfollower Jul 2017 #42

Such advantages are short-lived, transitory things. MineralMan Jul 2017 #83

BALONEY! Foamfollower Jul 2017 #105

But Princeton doesn't accept people based on GPA alone. They OFTEN accept people pnwmom Jul 2017 #122

Silly contest that can get the student xmas74 Jul 2017 #134

No college would NOT give an award to one of two valedictorians that would be awarded pnwmom Jul 2017 #153

Exactly. xmas74 Jul 2017 #155

Valedictorian title isn't a fucking peewee T-ball game. DK504 Jul 2017 #31

Way back in 1963, at my high school, which had a senior MineralMan Jul 2017 #36

It's hard to laugh something off when you feel you are being denied because you are a black woman. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #41

Being valedictorian or co-valedictorian is a great honor. MineralMan Jul 2017 #48

A claim for which they have presented exactly zero evidence. mythology Jul 2017 #51

Well, that's fine for you. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #52

Grades aren't public so the mother has no real evidence to rely on. Just her daughter's reports pnwmom Jul 2017 #74

And you both knew that being a co-valedictorian was just as special -- or not -- as being pnwmom Jul 2017 #73

I'm sure my parents thought it was an honor. MineralMan Jul 2017 #78

This girl graduated a year ago and her mother is still obsessing. Poor girl. n/t pnwmom Jul 2017 #79

Well, yes. I went to that facebook page, and saw MineralMan Jul 2017 #86

Right. It's supposedly her daughter's page, but it's all about the mother. pnwmom Jul 2017 #88

Well, five years from now, nobody's going to give a damn, MineralMan Jul 2017 #94

Right. And even college grades don't matter much, unless you are applying to grad school. pnwmom Jul 2017 #98

This sounds strange all the way around. NCTraveler Jul 2017 #37

My daughter was set to be valedictorian at her HS graduation. (class of 500) panader0 Jul 2017 #50

The school says the GPA was identical for both. Which is correct? Honeycombe8 Jul 2017 #60

I guess that's what the lawsuit is supposed to determine. MineralMan Jul 2017 #64

I will be interested to see what the facts are once they come out. I am inclined to believe the stevenleser Jul 2017 #67

Did you look at the web page the mom set up? It made me disinclined. pnwmom Jul 2017 #75

I hear you. The fact that the school (or district?) lost civil rights rulings swung it the other way stevenleser Jul 2017 #76

It blows my mind that folks here are quick to say that the mother is lying... SaschaHM Jul 2017 #81

I'm not saying she is lying. I'm saying she may be misinformed -- that it would be very unlikely pnwmom Jul 2017 #92

As more facts come out, we'll see, mountain grammy Jul 2017 #96

Headline is a lie oberliner Jul 2017 #68

You don't know if it's frivolous. You only know that the school district which fought... brush Jul 2017 #123

True - that part was just my opinion oberliner Jul 2017 #125

I was initially sympathetic to the mother. pnwmom Jul 2017 #144

You seem to be siding with the district. A district with a history of racial discrimination. brush Jul 2017 #147

Because I don't think the mother is credible. If the district was in the wrong, I think pnwmom Jul 2017 #148

I just don't get why you're favoring a racist district. Your dislike of the mother... brush Jul 2017 #150

I don't like narcissistic parents, and this mother appears to fall into that category. pnwmom Jul 2017 #152

Why do you care? It would matter to me if I was cheated out of that honor. brush Jul 2017 #156

Why do you care? pnwmom Jul 2017 #157

I care because I'm AA and don't like to see our accomplishments diminished brush Jul 2017 #158

Not so much a lie as CLICKBAIT. Dr. Strange Jul 2017 #128

Yep oberliner Jul 2017 #129

This was dirty pool. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #91

You think it's likely that this mother actually knows every grade the other girl has gotten pnwmom Jul 2017 #93

They have a lawsuit in play, so that might become relevant information that Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #95

What first made me wonder about this mother was looking at the website the mother set up pnwmom Jul 2017 #97

Breaking down walls is a task that is not for everyone. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #100

Is that what you call grade-stalking another student since middle school? That really doesn't seem pnwmom Jul 2017 #103

You assume that grades were not shared as a common exchange in conversation? Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #104

Of course I didn't assume that. I knew they were, and I didn't think that was helpful. pnwmom Jul 2017 #106

And I think that's great parenting. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #109

Right -- slips can happen, even if someone is trying to be circumspect. pnwmom Jul 2017 #110

I wouldn't be surprised. We live in a very competitive world. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #111

Probably but xmas74 Jul 2017 #141

I knew the headline was too good to be true. ileus Jul 2017 #124

Living in the south, I am not surprised by this Gothmog Jul 2017 #126

But digging deeper it turns out the mother is providing no evidence for her suspicions pnwmom Jul 2017 #127