LAST FRIDAY while I sat in University Hall for Fall Convocation, I couldn't help but wonder: why am I here? What exactly did I do that is worthy of an "intermediate honor?" I felt awkward being congratulated afterward, and it wasn't until later that night that I concluded that Intermediate Honors is both an arbitrary and an unnecessary event.According to the Office of Major Events, the Convocation ceremony began "in the earliest days of the University" and now has to purposes: to recognize students with Intermediate Honors and to award a member of the faculty with the Thomas Jefferson Award, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a faculty, administration or staff member at the University. The programs handed out to students say that certificates are given "to the top 20 percent of those students who have earned at least 60 credits of course work at the University by the end of their first two years of study."
While this definition has a prima facie appeal, it is, upon closer examination, both arbitrary and over-simplified. It places unequivocal emphasis on having a high GPA (top 20 percent) but only among a pool of students with an average course load (15 credits/semester). In doing so, it neglects other factors such as the difficulty of the classes, each student's extracurricular load or how many AP credits they had coming into the University.
For example, take imaginary student A: he has taken 60 credits, none of which were above the 200 level, participates in no extra-curricular activities and has a GPA of a 3.7. Now compare student A with imaginary student B: she has taken 57 credits, has finished her major and is almost done with a second, participates in several charities and sports with a GPA of a 3.97. While it seems intuitive that student B is just as good a student as student A if not better, Intermediate Honors are reserved for student A, merely because they find an average workload to be paramount to other factors.
Furthermore, student A would still be a recipient of Intermediate Honors if 12 of his 60 credits were pass/fail, and thus only 48 of his credits made up his GPA. On the other hand, even if all 57 of student B's credits went to her GPA, she would still be barred from receiving an Intermediate Honor.The system by which recipients of Intermediate Honors are chosen seems appealing because it is simple. However, it is foolish and unjust to substitute fair methods with simple ones. If the school finds it absolutely necessary to give pieces of paper and resumé material to 20 percent of its students, it would do well to better define who is deserving of what President Casteen referenced as the "highest honor that the University gives to third years."
However, I couldn't help but question why Intermediate Honors even needs to exist. While the speaker (English Prof. Mark Edmunson) was absolutely wonderful, the ceremony in general was stilted and arguably unnecessary. For example, all the students dressed in cap and gown. If nothing else, this was, as the student next to me commented, "a bit much."
More importantly, surely someone smart enough to have a 3.7 does not need a piece of paper to tell him that a 3.7 is a decent GPA. Maybe, a proponent of the ceremony will reply, the students are rewarded by having an honor they can list on their resumé. But again, the honor need not exist as the 3.7 on the resume will speak for itself. Ultimately, the best argument in favor of Intermediate Honors is that it will give utility to well-performing students. On the other hand, it alienates the other 80 perecent of the students as inferior or inadequate, when in reality many of them are much more deserving of honors but were stiffed by a system that values simplicity over a more just distribution.
Hopefully the University will soon revamp its system of selecting students deserving of Intermediate Honors, especially so that taking 60 credits is not a prerequisite to being an excellent student. However, it should also question the distribution of such honors and examine its effect on creating a community of inclusion. In interest of such solidarity and inclusion, it seems more humble and more virtuous that students sacrifice the small and superfluous utility that comes from receiving Intermediate Honors in favor of not excluding 80 percent of the student body.
Sina Kian's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at skian@cavalierdaily.com.
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