New bylaws increasing the minimum grade point average (GPA) requirements for membership in the National Honor Society (NHS) will take effect this year.

High School Principal Juan David and the NHS faculty council approved the new bylaws. According to Juliana Sarmiento, NHS advisor, they were changed to “increase the level of rigor” and “generate compromise in possible members.”

“I think that for many, the changes where a surprise. And for many, they were something strange. But let’s look at it this way, it is human nature that for any change there will be resistance,” Sarmiento said.

This year the GPA requirements to receive an NHS invitation will be raised to a 3.75 cumulative GPA for grade 10 students and 3.5 for grades 11 and 12.  

“I was thankful I got in last year because I didn’t have to go through what all students right now need to do to get in,” Maria Isabel Tavera, NHS member, said.

NHS members and applicants are divided over the new bylaws as some applicants found the changes appropriate while others disagreed.

“Making grade standards so high might stress students out even more and not let them do other activities that NHS also requires,” Tavera said.

According to Sarmiento, the number of NHS invitations this year dropped from 120 to 78. A lower number of applications was expected, but there are still more eligible applicants than expected.

“I think they realized that it had to be an honor to be in NHS, if you are accepted into NHS you should feel that you really earned it.” Emiliana Villegas, NHS Vice-president, said.

Sarmiento said two or three students talked directly to an NHS representative about the changes. She also said they understood and agreed with the new bylaws after receiving an explanation.

“I think that the minimum GPA should be kept at 3.5 because NHS is not only about your grades, it is also about the things you do outside school. About your charity work, and about the person you are,” Tavera said.

The 2023 – 2024 chapter GPA requirements will be a 3.75 (cumulative) GPA for grade 11 and a 3.65 GPA for seniors. In the 2024 – 2025 chapter, all GPA requirements will be a 3.75 (cumulative) GPA.

“We don’t want to change the rules abruptly because we don’t want to change the rules unfairly,” Sarmiento said.

Work Cited

NHS National constitution. NHS. (2021, October 18). Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.nhs.us/about/constitution-governance/nhs-national-constitution/

Google. (n.d.). TCS NHS bylaws 2022-2023. Google Docs. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://docs.google.com/document/d/110_SsbOm-xHCpfyA1g9LjNVx_UlEVwTbgV7eKgToKA4/edit