Dear MCASOM Administration,

We, the graduating class of 2024 (if we get everyone to sign), understand that our esteemed colleague Paige Cummings has made a truly regrettable mistake and now may not be able to attend graduation. Out of a profound respect for Paige and the institution of MCASOM, we are writing to express our full support for Paige despite her recent mistake. As we understand, Paige recently missed one day of Internship Bootcamp for an unexcused reason. This is regrettable, and we can understand your concern given the high standard of professionalism we are held to as MCASOM soon-to-be graduates. We can also appreciate your commitment to being fair to us, the students who completed all of internship bootcamp. We understand that Paige has taken full responsibility for her mistake in writing and in-person, and has offered several alternative punishments such as writing essays related to internship bootcamp, walking without getting a diploma, helping set up and take down simulations, helping to create simulations for future classes, and even hosting a meeting with the M1s, M2s, and M3s disclosing her error to help others learn from her mistake. Her courage and commitment to fixing her mistake demonstrates the integrity and respect that Paige exemplifies, which are only a few of the reasons that Paige has served so successfully as our elected class representative for the past four years. We humbly offer the opinion that these punishments are more than enough to remedy her mistake, particularly given the exemplary integrity and professionalism she has demonstrated over four years and in over one hundred professionalism evaluations. Moreover, given our excitement to celebrate with our own families, we do not want Paige’s mistake to harm her parents whose dream of seeing their daughter graduate would be shattered.

Our class had an extremely challenging start to medical school during the height of the pandemic, and Paige as the class representative helped us bond as a class despite the isolation of a virtual curriculum. Given our joint accomplishment of completing medical school, especially in the setting of extraordinarily challenging circumstances, we look towards graduation with great excitement. We would very much like to celebrate with Paige not only as our elected class representative, but also as our friend, classmate, and future colleague. Not allowing Paige to participate in the graduation ceremony would not just punish Paige, but also significantly impact our ability as a class to fully celebrate our accomplishment. If at all possible, we would greatly appreciate if you would substitute the punishment to not mar our joint celebration. Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your support over the last four years.

Sincerely,

The undersigned/the class of 2024