We Urge Compassion: An Open Letter to Dean of the University of Colorado Law School Jim Anaya

Dear Dean Anaya,

We represent individuals and CU Law organizations made up of students of color, queer students, students with disabilities, and our allies. We urge you to move our school to a mandatory pass/fail system.

Maintaining any form of lettered grading relies on certain assumptions that disproportionately impact underrepresented students. Assumptions of equitable access to safe study spaces, family support and understanding, and financial resources are harmful to our communities. Some students may have the physical and mental space to succeed in a grading system, but many of us do not. First and foremost, we are concerned with the well-being of our families; we’re concerned about parents who may be laid off and loved ones especially vulnerable to the virus. We’re anxious about limited access to food and other necessities. Some of us may be HIV positive or otherwise immunocompromised and experiencing paralyzing fear. Beyond physical health, financial barriers will disproportionately affect certain students’ ability to succeed. Remote learning assumes that all students have access at home to high-quality internet or quiet, private spaces to study. Furthermore, many of our family members have been abruptly laid-off, pushing us into the gig-economy to make ends meet. Lacking a full day to dedicate to school reflects our socio-economic status, not our merit or dedication.

We do not support a traditional grading system, the University of Michigan’s opt-in/opt-out approach, nor any hybrid option. We believe these approaches all create the same issues for our communities, as keeping any graded system demands resources and mental space many of us may lack. Allowing a lettered grade or a “Pass” will lead to disparate treatment by key decision makers and creates an “illusory” choice for students within our communities. Employers and scholarship committees may assume students did poorly if they opt out of grades. Moreover, evaluators may assume a “Pass” indicates a grade lower than what was earned or force students to reveal what their “real” grade was behind closed doors. Most importantly, neither the University of Michigan approach nor any hybrid system addresses our core concerns with equity and wellness. In fact, they do just the opposite, allowing more privileged students with the ability to focus on academics to boost their GPAs, while punishing those of us who do not have the financial, mental, or physical capacity to succeed because of factors outside of our control.

In these unprecedented times, there’s no reliable indicator for how the crisis will impact students. Moving to a mandatory pass/fail system — with protections in place to ensure all students can readily achieve a passing grade — demonstrates the community and compassion our school prides itself in. We urge you to provide students with the certainty that our law school careers will not be negatively impacted by this devastating global crisis. We urge you to move our school to a mandatory pass/fail system.

In solidarity,

[Redacted for privacy: 150-plus, and growing, student signatures. The Dean received a private letter with the names of students.]