{"id":24164,"date":"2026-01-27T12:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T17:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/?p=24164"},"modified":"2026-01-27T17:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T22:04:22","slug":"apply-for-2026-valedictorian-and-kappa-gamma-pi-honors-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/2026\/01\/27\/apply-for-2026-valedictorian-and-kappa-gamma-pi-honors-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Apply for 2026 Valedictorian and Kappa Gamma Pi honors society"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-24165 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2026\/01\/valedictorian-2025-e1768228095125-300x229.jpg?resize=300%2C229&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Student speaker at 2025 UDM Commencement at the podium on stage with colorful flowers in the foreground\" width=\"300\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2026\/01\/valedictorian-2025-e1768228095125.jpg?resize=300%2C229&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2026\/01\/valedictorian-2025-e1768228095125.jpg?resize=768%2C587&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2026\/01\/valedictorian-2025-e1768228095125.jpg?resize=720%2C550&amp;ssl=1 720w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2026\/01\/valedictorian-2025-e1768228095125.jpg?w=810&amp;ssl=1 810w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>Students who are December 2025 graduates or preparing to graduate in May or August 2026 with a minimum GPA 3.80 may apply to be selected as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.udmercy.edu\/current-students\/commencement\/valedictorian.php\">Detroit Mercy 2026 Valedictorian<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While the tradition of valedictorians calls for academic excellence (<strong>a minimum of 3.80 GPA<\/strong>) and instructional involvement, the role also calls for a graduate who has a meaningful message.\u00a0Other important characteristics of Detroit Mercy\u2019s Valedictorian:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Well-rounded<\/li>\n<li>Strong leadership skills<\/li>\n<li>Organized<\/li>\n<li>Team player<\/li>\n<li>Excellent writing and speaking skills<\/li>\n<li>Flexible<\/li>\n<li>Versatile<\/li>\n<li>Sensitive towards others<\/li>\n<li>Able to accept constructive criticism<\/li>\n<li>Able to meet deadlines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The deadline for submitting your application and nomination(s) is Monday, March 2.\u00a0 There will be no exceptions to the submission date.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.udmercy.edu\/current-students\/commencement\/valedictorian.php\">Access additional information, including application and nomination form here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you are a December 2025 graduate or have applied for graduation in May\/August 2026 and have a <strong>minimum GPA of 3.30<\/strong>, you may be interested in membership in Kappa Gamma Pi, a national Catholic graduate honor society.<\/p>\n<p>A Detroit Mercy nominee must be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>completing sufficient coursework to have attained a point-standing required for graduation with honors.<\/li>\n<li>a leader in extracurricular on-campus or off-campus groups and activities; a volunteer for college, community or faith-based service projects.<\/li>\n<li>one of not more than 15% of the students being graduated from your institution during the current academic year.<\/li>\n<li>willing to accept membership, knowing the responsibility for continued individual leadership in faith-based, civic and Kappa-sponsored activity that membership implies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you meet the above criteria and are interested in membership, complete the online <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=2MKkyGi9ukC4tnUivppxcZzzjRyYR_lOtsZwCrPhDXFUOTNDNjdSQlZZMklPMktMVk1ERUk0STRSUS4u\">Kappa Gamma Pi Application Form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your application and $75 fee must be received NO LATER than Friday, Feb. 13.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Once you are a member of KGP, you will be eligible to apply for the 2026 Kappa Gamma Pi Cornaro Pi Scholarship for Graduate Studies.\u00a0 Two recipients will receive $3,500 each to be applied as needed for graduate expenses at any accredited college or university. This is a non-renewable grant.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.udmercy.edu\/current-students\/commencement\/kappa-gamma-pi.php\">Learn more about Kappa Gamma Pi organization here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Detroit Mercy students prepared for graduation in December 2025, May or August 2026, with a minimum GPA of 3.8 may apply to be selected as the Detroit Mercy 2026 Valedictorian. Those with a minimum GPA of 3.3 may also be interested in applying for membership in Kappa Gamma Pi, a national Catholic graduate honor society!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":677,"featured_media":24165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4404],"tags":[7217,4544,1009,179,2382,6269,352,1333,2381],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2026\/01\/valedictorian-2025-e1768228095125.jpg?fit=810%2C619&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbwnTV-6hK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24164"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24285,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24164\/revisions\/24285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}