All eight colleges reported strong disapproval of honor roll increase

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by Cathy Matusow

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The proposed expansion of the President's Honor Roll from the top 30 percent of students based on grade point average to the top 35 percent has been rejected by students from all eight colleges in cabinet meetings this week.

Student Association President Maryana Iskander reported the results of the cabinet meeting discussions in a letter to President Malcolm Gillis, who wanted student opinion on the issue before making a final decision. In the report, Iskander summarized the main reasons behind student opposition to the increase. Gillis could not be reached for comment; however, Iskander has indicated that he will not sign the proposal.

Each college council discussed the issue and recorded feedback. According to Iskander's letter, "At some of the colleges, opposition [to the plan] was unanimous."

Students expressed two major concerns with the proposal.

The first was that graduation honors had recently been expanded to match the President's Honor Roll. Increasing the number of students on the honor roll would again produce an imbalance.

Many students reasoned that if they consistently made the President's Honor Roll, they also deserved recognition at commencement. Jones College President Kalyan Lakshmanan reported that some students feared that increasing the honor roll "will be a perpetual cycle."

Lovett College President Kara Miller agreed. "A few years from now, students might want to raise graduation honors to meet this 35 percent, thus starting an upward spiral," Miller said.

Another common concern was that the honor roll would become less prestigious if more students were on it. Even when informed that the qualifying grade point average for the list has risen steadily over the past few years, students consistently opposed the change.

The increase was originally proposed to encourage student participation in extracurricular activities, but students were skeptical that the proposed increase would have any real effect on participation.

Hanszen College President Tara Miller said, "[Students at the Hanszen cabinet meeting] definitely did not think that it would raise student involvement. In fact, they laughed at the suggestion."

This item appeared in the News section of the April 19, 1996 issue.

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