We have reached the crucial point in the semester: the second midterm. You've gotten the first one back, and maybe you didn't do so well. But you told yourself you'd make up for it the next time around. So now this second test, paper or weird existential photography project could be your saving grace - or it could be your downfall.
But what do we mean by downfall? At any another university, a "downfall" in academic performance might mean actual failure, or at least a C. But at Brown, what many students fear most is not a D (which doesn't exist) or an F (which doesn't appear on our transcripts), but a B grade. We believe this is an extremely unhealthy cultural phenomenon endemic to Brown, and urge the University to discuss some possible solutions to remedy it.
The Brunonian fear of B's is so strong that students will drop essential classes that have already taken up a lot of their time to avoid a sub-par grade. Last week, when discussing a midterm for a class in his concentration, Eddie Angus '14 shrugged and said, "Whatever. Might just drop it." When asked why, Angus answered, "Well, it's not like I can get an A, so why bother?" Angus had already spent half a semester doing the work, but he was willing to drop it if completing it means he will not get the best grade Brown has to offer. We commend Brown students for holding themselves to high standards - but this attitude, prevalent among too many, is ridiculous.
With Brown's academic culture already standing out due to its lack of core requirements, we believe the time has come for our administration to consider modifications to the grading policy that would help students to focus more on learning than grades and hopefully eradicate the stigma of the B.
Maybe this means instituting pluses or minuses, which could introduce greater nuance into the grading system and make the fall from an A less drastic. Perhaps this means expanding the use of Course Performance Reports, which give students the option of written evaluations rather than a grade. Maybe this means taking measures to combat growing grade inflation. After all, if there are fewer and fewer B's handed out, this puts greater pressure on students to get the A and greater pressure on professors not to give them out - a self-reinforcing cycle.
We are not trying to advocate any particular policy, and all of the above solutions have their fair share of problems. But the current system has problems of its own - problems that the University needs to confront to avoid a failure of its institutional mission. The New Curriculum aimed to foster an environment where students devise their educational philosophy solely for the sake of learning. The rapidity with which so many Brunonians flee from the B suggests that perhaps this noble goal is still being imperfectly realized.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
