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ERIN WHITE Managing Editor ekwhite@michigandaily.com SAYALI AMIN and LEAH GRAHAM Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com Senior News Editors: Barbara Collins, Claire Hao, Alex Harring, Ben Rosenfeld, Emma Stein, Liat Weinstein Investigative Editor: Zayna Syed Assistant News Editors: Iulia Dobrin, Julia Forrest, Jasmin Lee, Calder Lewis, Angelina Little, Hannah Mackay, Sarah Payne, Emma Ruberg, Julia Rubin, Jenna Siteman, Varsha Vedapudi, Kristina Zheng EMILY CONSIDINE and BRITTANY BOWMAN Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com Senior Opinion Editors: Elizabeth Cook, Zack Blumberg, Krystal Hur, Min Soo Kim, Joel Weiner JOHN DECKER and JULIANNA MORANO Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com ALLISON ENGKVIST and ANNIE KLUSENDORF Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com Deputy Editors: Andie Horowitz, Marisa Wright MADISON GAGNE and SADIA JIBAN Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com Senior Copy Editors: Olivia Bradish, Sophie Kephart, Silas Lee, Olivia Sedlacek, Ellie Scott PARTH DHYANI and SIMRAN PUJJI Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com Senior Web Developers: Abha Panda, Rohan Prashant, Jonathan Liu ALEC COHEN and ELI SIDER Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Zoha Bharwani, Lora Faraj, Ayomide Okunade, Gabrijela Skoko Senior Sports Editors: Daniel Dash, Lily Friedman, Connor Brennan, Brendan Roose, Kent Schwartz, Lane Kizziah, Rian Ratnavale Assistant Sports Editors: Jared Greenspan, Nick Stoll, Drew Cox, Aidan Woutas, Abby Snyder, Jack Kingsley Senior Video Editor: Iulia Dobrin Senior Social Media Editors: Kristina Zheng, Ria Dubey, Ryan Postman, Haley Johnson, Atticus Raasch, Asha Lewis Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com ARTS SECTION arts@michigandaily.com SPORTS SECTION sports@michigandaily.com NEWS TIPS news@michigandaily.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR tothedaily@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL PAGE opinion@michigandaily.com ANITA MICHAUD Business Manager ammichau@michigandaily.com ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Editor in Chief esla@michigandaily.com PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION photo@michigandaily.com NEWSROOM 734-418-4115 opt.3 CORRECTIONS corrections@michigandaily.com THEO MACKIE and ETHAN SEARS Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com Senior Arts Editors: Jo Chang, Elise Godfryd, Zoe Phillips, Jonah Mendelson, Ally Owens Arts Beat Editors: Samantha Cantie, Dana Pierangeli, Andrew Pluta, Cassandra Mansuetti, Anish Tamhaney, Sophia Yoon CHRISTINE JEGARL and LIZZY RUEPPEL Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com Senior Design Editor: Hibah Mirza MAYA MOKH and DEVAK NANUA Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com JOHN GRIEVE and BEN KORN Managing Social Media Editors Editorial Staff Business Staff Senior Photo Editors: Madeline Hinkley, Asha Lewis, Miles Macklin Assistant Photo Editors: Julia Schachinger, Ryan Little, Emma Mati, Sophia Afendoulis, Becca Mahon MOLLY WU Creative Director SAMANTHA SMALL and SONYA VOGEL Managing Podcast Editors RYAN KELLY Sales Manager During the COVID-19 pandemic, and after a graduate student strike and a contested presidential election, University of Michigan undergraduates are still applying to graduate schools. And for grad school applications, grades matter. Though the University unveiled a new grading policy for the 2020-21 school year, allowing students to display “Pass” on their transcript for grades above C- and “No Record Covid” for those D- and below, students applying to graduate schools said they are worried schools will assume the worst if they see masked grades on their transcripts. The University released its new policy after months of student advocacy for a revised grading policy. Central Student Government, the largest representative assembly at the University, passed a resolution demanding the implementation of the winter 2020 grading policy for the 2020-21 school year. LSA senior Cameron Roehm started a petition advocating for the University to apply P/NRC grading to the fall semester. CSG President Amanda Kaplan, a Public Policy senior, spoke on the widespread support from the student body for an adjusted grading policy at the Nov. 2 CSG meeting. “This is a crazy semester,” Kaplan said. “Over 10% of the student body has officially signed on in support (of the resolution). The overwhelming amount of support demonstrates that students really feel like they need this.” LSA senior Timmy Li, who will be applying to medical school next year, said despite the pandemic, the expectation to do well still remains. “I haven’t been severely affected (by COVID-19), and I haven’t had any major family issues or health issues of my own. And so, because of that, I feel like I still have the pressure to impress the schools and show to them that I can still get a good grade,” Li said. LSA senior Jessica Baker, who applied to medical schools last semester, echoed Li’s concerns. Baker also said she feels most at ease when graduate schools acknowledge challenges that come with online learning in their application processes. “I think as a pre-med student, you basically had to reveal your grades, because if you left them Pass/No Record (Covid) … it shows to the medical schools that there’s a reason why you’re hiding the grade, and so it kind of forces you to expose them,” Baker said. LSA senior Claire Hubbell said she will be applying to physician assistant programs this year. Hubbell said she would like to use the new grading policies, but feels that she needs to show programs she excelled in a course. “I would love to use P/NRC on (pre-requisite courses), but I really can’t, because I need them to show up to show that I got an A for these grad schools,” Hubbell said. She said she felt the new grading policies are beneficial to undergrads who aren’t planning on attending grad school, but not so much to those who are. “Pass/NRC is really great for a lot of people that maybe aren’t (applying to graduate school), but for pre-health kids — for kids that are really set on going to grad school right after undergrad — it really is not much of a help, because you can’t really use it,” Hubbell said. Public Policy senior Mariana Perez is applying to law schools this semester and said she feels if she uses the P/NRC option, law schools will assume a low grade. “It feels like a lose-lose situation,” Perez said. “If I put it as a pass, I feel like law schools are just going to assume that it was a C+.” Paul Robinson, interim vice provost for enrollment management and associate vice provost, wrote in an email to The Michigan Daily that students’ decisions to convert a letter grade to a “Pass” or an “NRC” to a letter grade should depend on the programs where they plan to apply and the importance of the individual class in a student’s application. “Many graduate programs want to see a letter grade and the associated GPA. So, there will be cases where a letter grade is needed,” Robinson said. “On the other hand, there may be courses where converting the letter grade to a ‘Pass’ is advantageous - especially in the case where a student’s GPA might be negatively affected.” Though students said the University’s new grading policy has taken a little pressure off, they said the best support would be leniency from professors and clear communication from graduate schools. Hubbell said she feels there are other actions the University could take to help students, like talking to professors about leniency with deadlines. “The P/F option is definitely really good for a big handful of students, but I also feel like what would most help all students, regardless of what your post-grad plans are, is just having professors that care and are willing to work with you,” Hubbell said. She said some of her professors do not understand why students are finding this semester more challenging but hopes they begin to prioritize learning over strictly sticking to syllabi and deadlines. “I know a lot of professors are worried about grade inflation and stuff like that with the online format, but I think professors and administrators (should) just keep in mind that the best thing for our students right now is making sure that we’re learning,” Hubbell said. Daily Staff Reporter Julia Rubin can be reached at julrubin@ umich.edu. Daily Contributor Madeleine Bauer can be reached at madbauer@umich.edu. Grad school hopefuls feel pressure to reveal grades despite P/NRC ‘You really can’t use it’: Students choose to opt out of using new policy to improve apps The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com News 2 — Wednesday, December 2, 2020 Design by Maggie Wiebe ADVERTISING WMG-contact@umich.edu More than 2,300 students began the application process for the scholarship this year, according to the Rhodes Trust. As a woman of color, Girgis said she is also coming to terms with the complicated legacy of the Rhodes Scholarship. The grant was originally founded in 1902 by Cecil Rhodes, a vocal supporter of British imperialism and the eugenics movement. “I’m both celebrating & mourning the fact that the title ‘Rhodes Scholar’ next to the name of an Iranian-Egyptian-American woman has Cecil Rhodes turning over in his grave,” Girgis wrote in a tweet following the announcement that she had won. Though unsure what she wants to do in the long run, Girgis said she is excited to take advantage of the opportunities the scholarship presents and help create a more equitable future for people of all backgrounds. “At the same time, the Rhodes Trust has for a very long time now been really doing incredible work, and selecting incredible scholars and contributing to a more just world,” Girgis said. “But to me, that tension still exists between those two truths. And I look forward to working with other Rhodes Scholars and Rhodes alumni to keep working for reconciliation and reparations.” Henry Dyson, director of the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships at the University, worked closely with Girgis during the application process for both the Rhodes Scholarship and the Truman Scholarship. Though Girgis did not win the Truman Scholarship during her junior year, Dyson said her candidacy set her up to eventually become a Rhodes Scholar-elect this year. He said he admires Girgis’s resilience and determination. “I think one big takeaway that I have with Amytess is that it takes perseverance on these things,” Dyson said. “In the case of Amytess, she is phenomenal, but even phenomenal students don’t always get selected for these things.” Additionally, Dyson said he believes Girgis makes a great recipient because of her dedication to many different commitments outside of academics at the University. Girgis is heavily involved in various organizing efforts with the Lecturers’ Employee Organization and the One University campaign. “I think Amytess is just emblematic of what the contemporary Rhodes Scholarship is trying to do, which is to identify future leaders who are going to work for greater justice, for greater equity and for greater inclusion,” Dyson said. “That’s been the heart of all of Amytess’s work. … She wants to really identify the stories of those who have been marginalized in our economic and political systems and to raise up their voices.” LSA lecturer and president of LEO Ian Robinson said he has worked with Girgis in the past on LEO initiatives and the 1U campaign and is grateful for the impact she has helped make in the surrounding community. Last year, LEO and 1U led a campaign calling for the University’s Board of Regents to provide better funding and further access to resources at the U-M Flint and Dearborn campuses to encourage equity between the University’s three campuses. Robinson said Girgis was one of the activists who was instrumental in extending the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion funds to the Flint and Dearborn campuses. “Amytess played a critical role in informing and organizing her Ann Arbor peers to support the extension of DEI principles to students on the Flint and Dearborn campuses,” Robinson said. “Amytess’s many contributions to the 1U campaign have undoubtedly moved us further and faster towards our goals than we would have been able to do without her.” Abdul El-Sayed, a 2018 Michigan gubernatorial candidate and University alum, also received the Rhodes Scholarship as part of the 2009 cohort. El-Sayed served on the Truman Scholarship and the Rhodes Scholarship naming committees and worked with Girgis personally during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. “So incredibly proud today. The best part of growing up is watching the ones who come next grow & emerge,” El-Sayed wrote in a tweet. Girgis advised other aspiring students at the University to not get caught up with the competitive nature of college and to instead pursue their passions. “The absolute most important thing I would ask anyone to do is to really ground themselves in the beauty of the community,” Girgis said. “Focus on who they are and what it is that they hope to accomplish, and also towards what end? Who are they helping? Why? I think if we can all ground ourselves in those facts, we’ll be okay.” Daily Staff Reporter Lily Gooding can be reached at goodingl@umich. edu. SCHOLAR From Page 1 JULIA RUBIN & MADELEINE BAUER Daily Staff Reporter & For The Daily