Students Demand College Abolishes Grades Below “C” Because It Hurts Their Self-Esteem

Alex Buscemi9 years ago

Students at Oberlin College are fed up with the oppressive, self esteem-corroding policies their superiors continue to thrust upon them — namely, handing out grades below a “C” and denying them a spoken alternative to written midterms.

From Reason:

Oberlin College’s activist community is ready to call it quits. Progressive students are dropping out of college, citing academic and emotional difficulties stemming from their mental health problems and overall disgust with the toxic culture on campus.

That’s according to a fascinating piece for The New Yorker by Nathan Heller, who interviewed a number of exhausted activists at Oberlin. They perceive that other students, faculty members, and the administration are completely against them, and have made it impossible for them to live on campus. Some are dropping out.

Of course, some of these students probably feel unsupported because their impractical demands were not realized. Two examples: activist students not only wanted to abolish all grades below a ‘C,’ they also thought faculty members should proactively offer them alternatives to taking a written, in-class midterm exam.

I agree 100 percent. Every time a teacher handed me a below average grade, it made me so upset I couldn’t even. I. Couldn’t. Even. I would just run back to my dorm room, throw the sheets over my head, and blast Simple Plan at max volume so no one could hear me scream.

Honestly, who do these out-of-touch “educators” think they are? What gives them the right to teach me stuff and then quiz me to see how well I’m learning the material? That’s not what college is about. College is about my experience. It’s about my growth as a global citizen.

Here’s my list of DEMANDS to reform the oppressive grading system.

A = Fire emoji

B = Smiley face emoji (eyes closed)

C = Smiley face emoji (eyes open)

Anything below a smiley face emoji (eyes open) and the teacher will be punished, not the student.

I’ll be in my safe space starving myself until these DEMANDS are met. If I die, the blood is on your hands, Oberlin..

[via Reason]

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