The Corona Virus has recently caused mass chaos throughout our world. People are being quarantined inside their homes with hopes that somehow their lives may be spared by this horrific disease. All Arkansas State students, except for those that have nowhere else to turn, have been forced out of residence halls for the remainder of the semester, and all classes have been instantaneously transferred to online. In a matter of days, classes that were never meant to be online in the first place, have been forcibly placed there anyway. And to make matters worse on March 29th, Jonesboro was absolutely devastated by a massive tornado that ripped through homes, storms, and people’s lives. Hundreds have been displaced, and everyone is at a loss. To say we are all a little anxious is a tremendous understatement, we are all astoundingly overwhelmed. 

Online classes, Life threatening illnesses, A devastating tornado, make for a horrific combination all on their own. But adding in the stress of maintaining a perfect GPA on top of all that is almost impossible even for the most scholarly of students. And that is why I propose that we switch over to a pass or fail system of learning. Surviving this semester is an accomplishment all on its own, there is no need to tack on the extra stress of maintaining a perfect gpa with all that is currently occurring in our city and our world. Students should solely be focused on enduring through these trying times, instead of fretting over whether or not they are on track for the A’s that they need for the classes they’re taking. But the issue of pass or fail goes deeper than anxiety and stress alone, for many students this time has the potential to be detrimental to their scholarships, which in turn will be detrimental to the university because students that lose their scholarships will be unable to afford the university, thus in turn astronomically increasing the number of dropouts the university has. Which will negatively impact the students and their future, and the university and its future. Both futures are intricately connected to students academic achievement at the moment, but for this time we could change it. To make learning achievable for everyone, and to ensure the financial stability of Arkansas State. 

All this to say we believe that the best course of action would be to temporarily transfer our universities grading system to pass or fail, if you agree with this statement above please sign your name below. Achieving this will not be easy, but if we join together we can fight for a fair grading system.