Publix Sees Profanity, Censors ‘Summa Cum Laude’ On Grad's Cake

WEST ASHLEY, SC — When summa cum laude diplomas are handed out, they’re not censored because of someone’s dirty mind. But that’s what happened when a South Carolina mom ordered a cake to celebrate her son’s graduation from a Christian-based homeschool program with a 4.89 grade point average, high enough to qualify him for the lofty praise.

The algorithm in the online ordering system at a local Publix store detected profanity in the Latin preposition “cum” in the phrase "summa cum laude,” which translates to “with the highest distinction.” So the decorators substituted the preposition on 18-year-old Jacob Koscinski’s $70 celebratory cake with three hyphens, much like publications do with obscenities.

“Publix refused to write the words summa cum laude because I was using profanity,” Jacob’s mother, Cara Koscinski, wrote on Facebook, calling the decision “utterly ridiculous” and something she “seriously couldn’t make up.”

“Shame on you Publix for turning an innocent Latin phrase into a total embarrassment,” she wrote, adding she had to explain to both her son and 70-year-old mother the slang word that prompted the cake kerfuffle.

Koscinski ordered the cake for her son’s party on Saturday using Publix’s online ordering system. After the system detected profanity, Koscinski got a return message saying “profane/special characters not allowed.”

So Koscinski placed the order again. She told The Washington Post that she explained the meaning of the phrase in a box for “special instructions” and included a link to a website that would back her up. She figured that would take care of it and went on with the party preparations.

Koscinski sent her husband and sister to Publix to pick up the cake Saturday, and they didn’t know what she had asked to be written on it. When everyone gathered around for the cake unveiling, they were stunned. It read:

“Congrats Jacob! Summa - - - Laude Class of 2018.”

“The cake experience was kind of frustrating and humiliating because I had to explain to my friends and family like what that meant,” Jacob Koscinski told television station WCIV. “And they were giggling uncontrollably. At least my friends were.”

Koscinski complained the next day to the Publix assistant manager, who offered to remake the cake. She declined, telling the assistant manager, “You only graduate once.”

“I can’t believe I’m the first one to ever write ‘summa cum laude’ on a cake,” she told The Post.

The store did did refund the $70 she had paid for the cake and gave her a gift certificate.

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