If you just read the headline, this sounds like a victory for the forces of sanity against
the delicate dispositions of the snowflake brigade:
Oberlin College has refused to suspend failing grades this semester despite requests for relief from students who skipped classes and missed study time to protest recent deaths at the hands of police across the nation.
A student petition, signed by more than 1,300, called for the college to institute a "no-fail mercy period" that would eliminate all failing grades and make a C the lowest possible grade a student could receive, the student newspaper reported.
President Marvin Krislov responded with an email to students on Sunday, saying he and the college's deans opted not to grant the reprieve after giving the request serious consideration.
Then you read the next sentence:
"We are in firm agreement that suspending grading protocols is not the way to achieve our shared goal of ensuring that students have every opportunity and resource to succeed," he wrote.
I would prefer something along the lines of "Choices have consequences. Put on your big kid undies and face the day." But no:
"To reiterate: we are firmly committed to supporting students in their
health, well- being, and academic success," Krislov wrote.
Too squishy for me.
3 comments:
Well that's a surprise for Oberline college. I know the culture and ideology there is pretty liberal, so I would expect the opposite to happen.
Perhaps they realized that doing so would affect the bottom line, and they can't afford to take the financial hit or the loss in reputation.
Or, just maybe, they really believe this!
I'd love for other universities to begin hardening their expectations.
When my daughter was an RA, a number of students who fit this squishy liberal profile, seldom attended classes and often disrupted those classes they did attend. Both of my kids were frustrated by this, but when they approached authorities to seek some help were met with shrugged shoulders. Either these students should be in class or they should forfit any scholarships or grants they received. There are plenty of other deserving students who would gladly welcome a chance to attend schools like Oberlin. It is time to return to being a meritocracy where the best and brightest are promoted because they are the BEST, not because of their gender, their religion, their race or their political views.
As I posted on JJacobs, an acquaintance told me this morning that he had read that a bill has been introduced in th Iowa legislature that would forbid the use of public funds for play-doh, coloring books, puppies, safe spaces etc for kids at Iowa public colleges. It is being called the "suck it up, buttercup bill".
I was in HS when Pres. Kennedy was assassinated; moment of silence, only. My freshman year, my college decided to break for Thanksgiving Day only; I had a chem exam on Friday and an unannounced in-class French essay on Saturday - and this was typical of most serious classes - and the non-academic classes of today did not exist then. The kids who took off the whole weekend got zeros. No discussion. During 60s protests - which involved a tiny fraction of students, plus outside agitators - we went to class and to work. I have no sympathy for these snowflakes, of whom too little is required, and neither do my kids.
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