Last week, the Committee on Instruction met to discuss removing the S/U option. This option is reserved for students with greater than freshman standing who would like to earn credit for a class outside their major without having the grade they receive in the class appear on their transcript.
We understand that this discussion was brought to the attention of the committee by members of the language department, who believe that their students would be more involved if they did not have the option to simply pass or fail their classes. While we can understand this reasoning, we think that enacting this policy would be a poor decision.
One of the benefits of attending a liberal arts institution is having the ability to explore several areas of study. We believe that removing the S/U option would prevent many students from doing so.
Students, in addition to being committed to a liberal education, want to be competitive in their lives after Lawrence. When faced with the decision of whether or not to take a challenging course outside one’s comfort zone, we fear that Lawrentians would increasingly choose to forego the class in the interest of their GPAs.
Lawrence’s requirements that students take courses outside of their respective majors and fulfill general education requirements reiterate the principles of a liberal arts education, and these requirements are one of the best aspects of our school. We sincerely hope that the freedom the S/U option gives students to explore several disciplines is not tampered with in the future.
Staff Editorial
