"Our mission statement claims to welcome change. But we were so caught up in trying to preserve our grading system that we were unable to think of creative solutions to this problem."
Just as the administration seemed to have made a final decision to enforce an opt-in Pass/D/Fail system, faculty motioned for the college to adopt mandatory credit/no-credit grading for this semester.
"Stripping students of grades raises serious concerns about Middlebury’s commitment to academic freedom, a principle outlined in the college’s handbook. Even off campus, we know the product we signed up for. Honor that."
"We recognize that this debate has been a contentious one, with arguments on both sides meriting careful consideration. That said, we find the sheer amount of waffling — on the part of both administration and faculty — unsettling."
"We started out this remote experiment thinking about how to adapt the structure of lecture halls to our laptops, but we should also be envisioning ways to bring the intimacy of our Zoom screens back to our classrooms."
"What drives the pushback against universal pass/fail is the unwillingness of privileged Middlebury students to forego the unmerited benefits they receive from said privilege."
