Saint Louis University might not have been a hard sell for most
students, but apparently, academic responsibility just might
be.

Two weeks ago, students in the College of Arts and Science
responded to an e-mail sent by their senators requesting student
input concerning the implementation of a plus/minus grading scale.
The results favored rejection of the proposed system, but those
opposed to grandfathering in the system need to take a second look
at the utter necessity of a plus/minus grading scale.

The harsh reality of the current system is that students are
creating a disadvantage for themselves and losing in the long run
to students who have minus grades recorded on their transcripts.
Take me, for example. This summer, I realized that I was losing to
my friend Jes�s, a senior at Duke University.

Jes�s and I shared an office together at our summer
internship in Washington, D.C. Jes�s and I had equally
competitive work experiences on our r�sum�s, and our
transcripts appeared very similar–except Jes�s’ transcript
was dotted with minuses. When I told him SLU did not report minus
grades, Jes�s said he felt he had somehow been cheated and I
had an unfair advantage, since his GPA was slightly lower due to
the minus grades. I thought so too, like I got something for
nothing.

But as I thought about it, I realized I was the one who had been
cheated: I will enter the graduate world with one strike against
me.

SLU is a high-caliber institution, and I have received an
amazing education. But now, as I wait to hear back from grad
schools, I’m truly scared that admissions committees won’t
recognize the rigors I’ve been through over the past four
years.

Believe it or not, graduate schools, medical schools, law
schools and even some employers are familiar with SLU’s current
grading system, or to put it bluntly, our grade inflation. That’s
the strike already against me and everyone else entering the world
with a SLU degree.

While some might argue that the Duke name carries phenomenal
clout that creates Jes�s’ advantage, I would argue that the
premise of Duke’s clout is legitimate; that is, Duke (and any other
reputable school) has clout because of its academics, not just
because of basketball. I highly doubt that Jes�s’ classes at
Duke are phenomenally more difficult than classes at SLU, but as
long as the current system remains, a Duke degree will mean more
than a SLU degree.

Many students have voiced concern that their GPA would drop with
the implementation of a minus system, to which I have a simple
response: too bad. Work harder and don’t earn borderline
grades.

I chose SLU because I knew it was academically challenging. I
didn’t come here for an easy ride, and I have little tolerance for
those who did. Students who are fearful of a lower GPA because of
minus grades should be as fearful, if not more fearful of the harsh
reality they will face after graduation. If SLU’s practice of grade
inflation becomes common knowledge, prospective graduate schools
and employers could automatically assume that a student’s grades
have been inflated based on SLU’s reputation as an institution with
inflated grades, regardless of whether the student’s grades
actually were bolstered.

When the admissions committee of my first-choice graduate school
looks at my transcript, I want them to know that I earned my A’s
legitimately. I don’t want them to have to wonder whether my grade
would have been lower according to a different grading system.

Allowing the current system to remain in place augments an
already serious disadvantage–ambiguity in the authenticity of our
grades.

This isn’t an issue I thought about as a freshman. Now it’s
something I wish I realized was a problem three years ago, because
I feel like I might have had an opportunity to do something about
it. Ultimately, the decision to implement a plus/minus system will
be largely decided by the Faculty Senate, but students should not
remain passive and simply wait for a decision to be handed down.
Instead, students ought to demand the grading system be
changed.

We pay a tremendous amount of money for our SLU degrees, and I
don’t know of many people who want that degree to be devalued in a
few years because SLU’s academic reputation has been tarnished; I
want my degree to mean as much to me five or 10 years from now as
it will on graduation day.

I laud and wholeheartedly agree with a comment made by Student
Government Association Academic Vice President-elect Jessica Cusick
in the executive board debates: “I want people to be intimidated by
my SLU degree.”

As students, it is our responsibility to demand the
implementation of a grading scale that keeps us truly competitive
with other first-class universities instead of simply settling for
the status quo and a system that only gives us the superficial
appearance of being competitive.

Sharon Turlek is a senior studying political science.