On March 8, Wellesley’s Grading Department intends to make changes regarding the college’s grade deflation policy. This decision was made with careful consideration after recent discussions about student well-being on campus.
“We want to make a change to better suit the Wellesley community,” said Director of Grading Sciences Barbara Smith. “The students hear ‘grade deflation’ and it makes them stressed. We wanted to think of ways to alleviate that stress. So, after careful consideration, we have decided to change the name of this policy from ‘grade deflation’ to ‘grade subduing’ in order to take away some of the stress associated with the policy.”
Starting in April, the new grade subduing policy will be in full effect. The official announcement released by the Grading Department reveals that there are no actual changes to the policy. However, Smith and her colleagues are hopeful that this name change will help the mental wellness across campus regarding grading.
When interviewed, many students questioned the change that Smith was planning to make.
“What is the purpose of changing the name? We said that we were stressed because our grades are being deflated. Changing the name but doing the exact same thing doesn’t help anything. It’s honestly stupid,” Wanda Greene ’20 said. After our interview, Wanda proceeded to light her textbooks on fire in frustration. She then quickly tried to extinguish the fire as she realized she needed them to pass her classes.
Despite negative reactions, Smith is confident that this change will help the Wellesley community.
“We understand that since grade deflation causes students stress, we needed to make a change. However, we also feel that suffering in order to get a B+ is an integral part of the Wellesley culture. If a student has never cried about being graded unfairly, do they really go to Wellesley? So, we believe that changing the name of the program without actually doing anything is the best way to keep this going,” she commented.