Yale’s Grading Proposal Postponed

After standing outside the Davies Auditorium on Thursday night protesting the proposed grading system changes, which included changing letter grades to a 100-point grading scale, the students were happy that the administration decided to postpone and reconsider their decision, but not completely satisfied. Scott Stern ’15, led “The 79%”, who are the students against the proposed changes, in chalking sidewalks throughout Yale’s campus on Wednesday night and organizing a final protest before the meeting on Thursday. Students handed flyers with a list of their feared outcomes to each professor as they walked into the meeting in order to try and sway their vote against the proposal. The student’s posters and chants expressed that a newly imposed letter grade system would diminish the unique collaborative climate of Yale and create a more competitive atmosphere, like that of Princeton. However the committee, chaired by Ray Fair, an economics professor, wants to alter the grading system to decrease the chances of grade inflation. The final decisions of the proposal are postponed until next November. In the meantime, Dean Mary Miller will be appointing student representatives to the committee for next fall so that student input will be more easily heard.