Dump 'Honors-Only'

WHILE WE AGREE with the majority sentiment in favor of toughening honors requirements, we do not see how this end can be accomplished fairly without eliminating "honors-only" majors. If the Faculty were to strengthen the College's honors requirements, either more students in honors-only concentrations would be forced to graduate outside their major or, through inflation of course and thesis grades, those who study in these elite curricula would effectively get to bypass the tougher requirements.

In the first case, we think it unfair for students in a few select majors not to be allowed to graduate in their concentration simply because they do not meet the presumably high standards for honors. Undergraduates should be allowed to graduate in the field in which they have truly concentrated rather than forced into a backup major at the last minute or into the nether world of general studies.

In the second case, it would be absurd to exempt a section of the student body--from the drive to return meaning to the words "with honor."

We ask the Faculty not only to strengthen its honors standards but also to eliminate the irrational classification of honors-only majors.