The Science of Grading

To the editors:

The e-mail from Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis that Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield ’53 leaked to the Boston Globe (News, “Lewis-Mansfield Dispute Goes Public,” Oct. 11) confirmed what everyone knows but no one will openly discuss: that grade inflation is primarily an affliction of the humanities.

Science has right and wrong answers, and in order to practice it the knowledge imparted by a university degree is indispensible. But what is the purpose of a degree in the humanities? It used to be to learn many facts, read many books, and practice discussing them eloquently. This was never as much work as solving partial differential equations or synthesizing organic compounds, but it was work. Maybe, like some students and professors now believe, it’s not work worth doing, but then why come to college to study the humanities?

To the extent that college is not about work, it’s merely a social club. If this is what humanities departments want to turn into, let them say so fortrightly. Mansfield’s leaking of a private communication is personally indefensible, but if it leads to an honest discussion of this question, it might end up having a positive effect.

Alejandro Jenkins ’01

Pasadena, Calif.

Oct. 13, 2001