Dissent: A Battle Worth Fighting

Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield ’53 should not only be able to carry out his grading policy for the Government 97a tutorial, but he should be commended for his effort to curb rampant grade inflation at the College.

The staff considers Mansfield’s grading policy to be “controversial” only because it works against the cushy status quo. The current standard promotes padded grades and, in doing so, discourages students from challenging themselves in the classroom.

The government tutorial grading standards should not be considered an inconvenience. All the students in the class will be graded against the same scale and will have equal opportunities to impress their teaching fellows. The central aim of an education should be to facilitate learning; awarding high grades for mediocre performance does not meet this goal. Mansfield is using his class as an example that other professors would do well to follow, rather than to ignore.

Of course the College’s grading system will not change overnight—grade inflation is rampant throughout the Ivy League and beyond. However, as a leader in higher education, Harvard College has a duty to oppose such a patently inane standard where mediocrity is rewarded, and scholarship neglected.

—Anthony S.A. Freinberg ’04, Jordana R. Lewis ’02

and Jason L. Steorts ’03