We are called to solve, protect, and advocate. Therefore, we take it upon ourselves to assist and advocate for each and every fellow student at Loyola University Chicago in a stressful, historic time like this. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, Loyola University Chicago made the decision to hold all classes online for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester. We believe that this decision should be paralleled with a pass/fail option integrated into our grading system for the semester for a wide range of reasons.

 It is impossible to expect students to meet the same level of academic success without access to some crucial resources on campus, including face-to-face instruction, tutoring, library access, and study areas. Although professors and students are doing their best to manage Zoom, many are still struggling with the technology, impacting students’ abilities to perform as well as they normally could. Furthermore, our campus served as many students’ main, or even only, study area. Students were instructed to leave their dorms with a week’s notice, with some students having no other place to go, adding to an already stressful situation. Unfortunately, not all students have ideal home environments, making it especially difficult to keep up with the rigor of our courses. While some students are having difficulty adjusting to life at home, other students are dealing with the stress of being separated from their families during a global pandemic, especially our large international student body. Seniors also have to deal with the disappointment of not being able to properly celebrate the hard work they have put in for the past four years with almost all senior send-off events cancelled. Many people are losing their jobs and their only source of income; they need to reallocate a lot of their time and effort to manage their financial situations, understandably shifting their focus away from school. The climate that we are in, combined with the stress of drastic changes in our education and living situations, is hindering the mental health of many.

Due to the seriousness of the issue at hand, we expect Loyola to make the mental health of its students and staff the number one priority. The best way to ensure this is by implementing a pass/fail grading system so that students’ GPAs are not affected by the virus, a factor that us students cannot control. Finally, a pass/fail system will ensure fairness among Loyola students as it would help eliminate the temptation to act against the rules of academic honesty.

Please sign this petition to support Loyola University Chicago students’ learning efficiency, mental health, and academic parity during an unexpected and unfortunate global crisis.

With grace,

Heba Alsheikh

Natalia Henriksen

Thaer Mohamad

Midori Marshall

Safaa Karoumia