Opinion

We should have fewer As on our transcripts

By Hady Hewidy ’17

Wouldn’t it be nice to have 100 trillion dollars? That would not just make you the wealthiest person in the world; it would let you purchase the entire world economy and have a decent amount left to maybe purchase Mars. Hold on! What if that money is in Zimbabwean dollars? Oops, but due to inflation, you can only spend your entire wealth on a Big Mac.

Last Monday, Oct. 27, a lunch event was held to discuss grades and grading at Hamilton, both over time and across departments. Only three students (including myself) awkwardly attended the professor-dominated talk. The one-hour discussion covered many aspects of grading, including the criteria and even the purpose of grading. It was very interesting to watch different professors argue over the purpose of grades, and how these grades should be awarded. 

Statistically, grade inflation does exist at Hamilton, like most other higher education institutions in the United States. Professor of Economics Stephen Wu mentioned that while some departments have sustained the same grade level over the last 15 years, others had experienced an average increase of about 0.4 grade point average points. Has the intellectual quality of the student body really improved that much over the last 15 years here at Hamilton? I could safely say no; it is hard to believe that the students taking courses in specific departments have improved that much, unless mega-accelerated evolution is a thing (and only affecting the students of those particular departments).

That observation leads us to an important question: what does each grade  mean? It should be pretty simple: C stands for ‘average’, B stands for ‘above average’ and the beloved A stands for ‘excellent’. With that being said, most of Hamilton’s student should fall into the C grade average, but this is not the case. Inflation has made a trillion Zimbabwean dollars as worthless as a Hamilton email. Inflation is also swaying our grades, and decreasing their value.

Similar to money, grades are meaningless in themselves, as they gain value from the collective recognition we assign them. Furthermore, excellence should be, by its very definition, rare. However, in our continuous pursuit of individual recognition, we might have lowered the bar more than we have tried to seek recognition. Humans love accolades, but if everyone could easily receive them, they became worthless.

Hamilton should be a national leader in curbing grade inflation. Hamilton should be a place where an A represents true and genuine achievement and talent. Let us please start before our transcripts become as valueless as a Zimbabwean dollar.

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