Our
View: Honors for sale at CSULB
When
thinking of commencement ceremonies, one
usually pictures a ubiquitous display of
caps and gowns spread over a sprawling green
lawn. Interspersed conspicuously throughout
the herd are a select few graduates —
valedictorian, salutatorian, president’s
scholars — who are adorned in special
sashes, stoles and medallions that distinguish
them and provide a visual recognition of
their scholastic accomplishments.
But
when graduation is held two weeks from now,
it may be a forgivable mistake to assume
that the intellectual achievement of graduating
Forty-Niners has suddenly skyrocketed. It
may be, because the University Bookstore
has taken to selling the aforementioned
adornments to any and all who desire them.
So,
any student, from a person with a respectable
3.0 GPA to a mediocre graduate who took
10 years to graduate with a C average, can
simply purchase the spoils normally reserved
for the best and the brightest.
Clearly,
something is unfair about this. While those
who worked hard to get good grades probably
aren’t all that enthralled with the
little golden accolades they were given
to wear around their neck, the sale of the
special garb is nonetheless a disservice
to them and the university’s reputation
as an encourager of academic excellence.
We call on top university administrators
to halt this practice — these items
should not be available for purchase any
more than grades should be.
An
exception might be in order for magna cum
laude and summa cum laude graduates, who
by proving their GPA could be permitted
to buy a pin or a stole that identifies
them by their accomplishments.
But
as for any other members of the class of
2004 who have purchased one of these pieces
of apparel, we suggest they return them
and get their money back — that, at
least, is something they’ve earned.
|
