A Proud (and Smart) House of Hummingbirds

As the first official week of classes has nearly come and gone, Lawrentians, new and old, are acclimating to the swing of things inside the classroom and beyond. With House Olympics and other orientation activities in the past, Lawrentians celebrated the beginning of a new year by gathering for Convocation. During Convocation, Interim Dean of Students Blake Eldrige ’96 H ’12 P ’25 presented a number of House awards. These awards  include the House Cup, given to the House with the most House spirit, the Green Cup, awarded to the House with the highest improvement in GPA, the Adams Cup, presented to the House with the largest impact in community service. Out of all of the awards, the most celebrated cup is arguably the Chivers Cup, given to the House with the highest GPA in the previous academic year.

The Chivers Cup for the 2022-23 school year was presented to the Carter House. The Chivers Cup has been historically known as the most desired award among students.

New Carter students were inspired and motivated by their House’s winning of the Chivers Cup. III Former Whitney Anttila ’26 felt optimistic for the academic year after winning the Cup, explaining how winning the Chivers Cup gave her “a good read on what type of community Carter is,” emphasizing how the House “care[s] about academics, but also care[s] about putting housemates first to achieve the same goal.”

With new girls excited about their victory, even past generations of Carter birds are celebrating. Former Carter resident Alexis Tarumianz ’22 was not surprised that Carter won the coveted title of the Chivers Cup, stating that, “as a Carter House alum [it gave her] so much joy to know the girls of Carter continue to shine everyday.” She currently attends Southern Methodist University, but notes how her House’s “winning of the Chivers Cup inspires [her] to give college [her] all.” 

Other new students of the Carter House felt triumphant during convocation, including Paige Gogolak ’26. Gogolak explains how, “even though the current IV and V Formers put in the effort to win the Cup, I still felt proud of my House and all of our hard work, inspiring us to follow their path.” 

Former president of the Carter House, Cassie Dillard ’24 jokingly shared how “this award proves once again that Carter is the best House on campus!” Dillard especially felt proud considering the challenging nature of Lawrenceville academics in the past school year. Another Carter alum, Keira Lehmann ’24, was “not surprised that [they] won, as [they] all worked so hard last year with academics, and [she] feel[s] accomplished with all of the hard work [they] did, as it was not easy.” 

While Carter holds this dignifying trophy, it will not be easy for the House to keep their cup. With all this being said, it may be hard to win the Chivers Cup again this school year, but if Carter keeps on doing what they’re doing, it should not be a problem.