March 21st, 2020
Dear professors,
We hope you are doing well in this time of crisis. We are writing to you in light of the College’s recent decision to institute an optional Credit / No Credit grading policy this semester. While a CR/NC policy is a positive step away from normal policies in this situation, we firmly believe that this policy is not the most equitable way to ensure that no vulnerable student is denied the opportunity to succeed academically in these outrageous circumstances. Under our proposal, all students would receive a grade of “P,” along with a notation that explains the context of the COVID-19 pandemic for the semester.
The impact of remote learning is being felt the most by low-income, first generation, and international students. Being on Swarthmore’s campus ensures that all students have access to shelter, free internet, hot meals multiple times a day, on-campus jobs, and other resources that many students do not have at home. Additionally, due to COVID-19, many parents are losing their jobs or receiving pay cuts. We believe this “Universal Pass” (UP) policy equalizes the playing field and communicates the extraordinary circumstances under which students are currently operating.
We were in communication with administration long before the College released their decision. We raised several issues and concerns surrounding a CR/NC policy. We asked them to seriously consider a Universal Pass policy similar to that of schools like Yale, MIT, and Columbia, and even started a petition to show them the significant amount of support this policy had on behalf of the student body –– so far, this has received over 1,000 signatures in the short time since it was created. While we appreciate the intention behind a CR/NC policy, it falls short of students’ needs.
We are now reaching out to you to ask for your support in getting faculty behind our movement. We have attached a PDF with Universal Pass FAQs, and are open to discuss and flesh out what faculty support could look like through Zoom, Skype, or whatever other means work best. We realize that you all have children and family members to care for, as well as many other things you must tend to. We would not be asking for your involvement if we didn’t deem it absolutely vital to our movement’s success. We look forward to your response.
Swarthmore for Universal Pass (S.UP)
Email Template and FAQ Document
