Staff sponsors of the National Honor Society mistakenly sent out acceptance and denial emails to 350 juniors Monday, April 14. The messages were received by both students who had applied to the society and those who did not. Shortly after, a follow-up email was sent acknowledging the error and instructing students to disregard the previous letter.

National Honor Society is a prestigious nationwide organization, and a committee of teachers evaluate students who have applied at the end of their junior year based on their leadership, character, service and scholarship.  Once admitted, member students participate in an induction ceremony and hold service projects during their senior year. The sponsors of West’s National Honor Society are guidance counselors Dan Gin and Stephanie Lau. 

The admission emails were mapped to an incorrect spreadsheet of juniors rather than the list of students who actually applied to NHS. As a result, some students who were denied were later sent the correct acceptance letter. Of the 350 students contacted, only 40 were ultimately accepted into NHS when the official admissions were released.

Junior George Hurducas initially received an email saying he was denied and then received an acceptance email.

“I was denied because of ‘not enough faculty points.’ I felt kind of surprised because I didn’t even consider the faculty points to be a possible reason for being denied. I was also very confused because then I got an email saying I was accepted and I had already come to terms with the reason that I got denied,” Hurducas said.

Some students who had never applied to NHS were taken aback after receiving unexpected admission decisions.

“I was really confused on why I got the email because I never applied for NHS. When the follow-up email was sent, I kind of understood that there was a problem, but still was questioning why I got sent an acceptance letter,” junior Emily Kim said.

Although Gin sent a clarification email, many students were unsure if they had been accepted or not. The first NHS meeting, held during homeroom on Thursday, April 14, required students to check in by name. However, due to the mix-up, some students’ names were missing from the list, and they were turned away.

“The admission letter really meant a lot to me… I got confused because there was a mix-up, so I thought the first email was the mix-up and the second email saying I got accepted was the correct one, and I was really happy… but then I was told I was rejected at the meeting,” a junior said. The NWN agreed to withhold their name.

Immediately after the emails were sent, Gin realized the mistake and recognized the impacts of the miscommunication.

“I know it caused a lot of confusion, so I apologize for my actions that caused some stress and anxiety,” Gin said.