On March 12, 2020, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota cancelled all in-person classes on all campuses until April 13 in response to the growing dangers of COVID-19. On March 18, the university amended this decision, continuing all classes, including finals, through online delivery for the remainder of the semester and until further notice. 

The university acted quickly responding to the dangers posed by COVID-19, and we humbly thank you. The university prioritized the safety of its students, faculty, and staff, and we humbly thank you. The university practiced care and consideration in the difficult and sudden shift to distance education, and we humbly thank you. 

But we are still struggling. We still need your help. 

This is an extremely trying time for each and every student and for their families; for each and every staff member now rendered unable to work; for each and every faculty member having to adapt quickly to these online platforms. No words can express the emotional and spiritual toll this new reality wrought by the global pandemic has taken on all of us. 

However, despite these adversities, we, the students of this Lasallian Catholic university, propose to define our success on our best terms. We refuse to be defined by complications. We, enriched in St. John Baptist de la Salle’s educational heritage, choose to help awaken, nurture, and empower our learning community with the following proposal:

To combat the challenges the global COVID-19 pandemic has presented to our higher education, we propose the pass/fail grading system be granted as an option to all students this semester — concurrent with present letter-grade systems, and applicable to all courses towards degree completion regardless of major or minor. 

This proposal is made in the spirit of similar actions made by other colleges across the country: Harvard University, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown University, and the University of Minnesota, to name a few. 

Allowing the students and faculty the option to utilize the pass/fail option for the courses will help alleviate the higher stress wrought by this situation. In these desperately uncertain times, we must prioritize keeping our physical, mental, and spiritual wellness in check. Giving our university’s students options to excel will enable all of us to surpass these hardships together. 

Having the option for a course to be assessed on a pass/fail basis will help relieve the stress that many of us are currently experiencing in light of this pandemic. Having this option will help even the playing field for those of us who cannot commit to our studies fully within this situation due to a myriad of circumstances beyond our control. Having this as an option and not a total shift will keep us from discrediting the hard work many of our peers have already put into this semester who deserve a letter grade for their achievement. Regardless of personal preference, the nature of these academic preferences can be rightly explored and mitigate further stressors on our academic performance. 

Each student’s current situation is unique, but each student is having to drastically adapt to their new learning environment regardless. Many students may not have realized just how difficult this transition to distance education would be until they settled into these new environments given the time frame. The quality of a university education is not the same without the face-to-face, physical resources granted on college campuses through various avenues like office hours, classroom time, group study, infrastructure, and scholarly research texts. Kitchens are not laboratories; basements are not classrooms; bedrooms are not library study lounges. The resources afforded to us on campus cannot be stuffed into a home.  

The most vulnerable and afflicted among us must find ways to work academically within the confines of this new reality on top of the needs for survival already in place at home. The emotional welfare of many students is at risk if we continue with the semester online without options put in place to aid in our collective success. Not all students who attend our university have the same academic or emotional outlets on campus as they do at home. A number of students do not have reliable internet access, or any access whatsoever, in their home environments. Many students are now tasked with additional home responsibilities on top of their 18-credit course load. Some students do not have families or homes to return to due to circumstances out of their control and are now navigating these untraveled waters without their Saint Mary’s family. Our beloved seniors now face the real world head-on without a solemn farewell from our university and must now complete their college education isolated and alone. 

Yet, against all these odds, we still work, study, and learn in solidarity with our professors and each other. These previous weeks have shown the strength, faith, and versatility of our university. Our education has been severely tested, but we will not give up. Even in the face of this adversity, we choose to stand united in our Lasallian Catholic heritage, engaged in honor and respect in the name of our God-given right to succeed academically. 

We graciously ask that you carefully consider our proposal in light of the growing hardships presented by the global pandemic. We remain firm in recognizing a preferential option for the most vulnerable among us through the addition of a pass/fail grading system this semester so that we may all succeed. We hope that this petition will continue to shed light on every student’s individual experience while dealing with the hardships wrought by COVID-19. We want you to help us, so we can continue to help each other. 

By signing this petition, you are pledging your support to the continued success of the students of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, despite these unprecedented circumstances, through the integration of a pass/fail grading option for all classes this semester. 

Saint John Baptist de la Salle, pray for us. Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.