The Emory Wheel Since 1919
Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper
Volume 106, Issue 9
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Printed every other Wednesday
‘A for All:’ Emory College faculty grapple with grade inflation By Spencer Friedland Editor-In-Chief This spring, when the Class of 2025 walked across the commencement stage, over 72% of them had a GPA over 3.5. 20 years ago, only 41.5% of the class of 2005 had a GPA of over 3.5, and this percentage stayed below 50% through the class of 2017. Additionally, the Class of 2025 had an average GPA of 3.68, higher than any average GPA in the last 20 years. In the last five years, the average ECAS graduate’s cumulative GPA has risen from 3.48 to 3.68. This increase is double the average GPA increase from 2005 to 2019, during which GPAs rose from an average of 3.33 to 3.43. Former Emory University School of Medicine Professor Dr. Michael Lubin, a critic of grade inflation for over a decade, criticized the increasing concentration of grades above a 3.5 and called into question what Emory students’ grades actually mean. “Grades don’t mean anything,” Lubin said. While students may view receiving higher grades than students from previous years positively, Associate Professor of Political Science and former Emory College Faculty Senate President B. Pablo Montagnes said that grade inflation
can result in worse outcomes for students. “You end up in a bad equilibrium of low effort, high grades, and that’s ultimately bad for students, because they’re going to learn less, particularly in classes where repeated hard work is necessary to consolidate the skills,” Montagnes said.
Senate’s Curriculum, Assessment and Educational Policy Committee, pointed out that graduating students’ career opportunities may be hurt, as employers may not value a high GPA from Emory due to grade inflation.
Montagnes likened the practice of giving out higher grades to having “dessert for dinner,” where students may be pleased with their grades, but [what is harmed] is hurt in the long run by not being pushed to work harder. Additionally, Associate Teaching Professor of Physics Tom Bing, who chairs the ECAS Faculty
“What does it even mean to graduate from Emory with a good GPA?” Bing said. “If everybody out there in the medical schools and the law schools, and even the working community, sees a great Emory GPA, and it doesn’t mean anything like, ‘Oh well, everybody from Emory has a great GPA.’ That dilutes the value of it.”
5 years of leadership: Recap of Fenves’ time as president Trustees convened via teleconference this morning in a specially called meeting to elect, by unanimous vote, Gregory L. Fenves as the 21st president of Emory,” Goddard wrote. Fenves assumed his position at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Tori Mooney SGA Desk From leading Emory University through the end of COVID-19 to presiding over campus turbulence during the April 2024 proPalestine protests, after five years, Gregory Fenves left his position as Emory University president on Sept. 1 and transitioned to the role of chancellor. In the wake of this change, The Emory Wheel compiled a recap of our past coverage of Fenves’ five years as president.
Fenves discusses racial justice at Emory, fall contingency plans In his first interview with the Wheel in August 2020, Fenves discussed calls for change from the Coalition of Black Organizations and Clubs (CBOC) in response to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. Fenves outlined his plans to address CBOC’s concerns, including renaming buildings that were named after slave owners, renovating affinity spaces and working with the Washington, D.C. firm Justice and Sustainability Associates to facilitate community discussions regarding policies in the Emory Police Department (EPD). “I don’t anticipate defunding and replacing [EPD] because safety is important, and it’s a question of how we define that,” Fenves told
The University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves to become next president of Emory Before assuming his position as president of Emory, Fenves served as president of The University of Texas at Austin for five years. After former University President Claire Sterk announced that she would retire in August 2020, the Board of Trustees formed a Presidential Selection Committee. In March 2020, Board of Trustees Chairman Robert C. Goddard III announced that Fenves would become the next president of Emory in a University-wide email. “The Emory University Board of
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the Wheel. “How do we have it so all members of the community feel safe and have trust in officers that we hold responsible for providing safety?” Fenves also spoke about what he anticipated to be an $84 million financial loss for the University within the fiscal year due to pandemic-related costs. To address the loss, Fenves implemented cost-saving measures, including a four-month 5% salary reduction for faculty and staff making $75,000 or more a year and a temporary suspension of capital projects. In 2022, Emory renamed multiple buildings and Yerkes National Primate Research Center after a committee convened by Fenves made its recommendations regarding “contested historic names.” Fenves releases second statement on second day of protests On April 25, 2024, protestors assembled on the University Quadrangle to display support for Palestine. After Deputy Chief of the EPD Timothy Powers told protesters they had 10 minutes to disperse, EPD, the Atlanta Police Department (APD), Georgia State
See RECAPPING, Page 2
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Barbara Krauthamer could not unilaterally implement changes to college grading practices. Montagnes said that changes in According to Montagnes, ECAS the grading policy would have to faculty members could create a pol icy similar to that of the Goizueta Business School, establishing a standard grade distribution where grades are based on a distribution curve rather than a system where professors can assign students any grade, regardless of their perfor mance relative to the class. Despite being concerned by the rise in GPAs at Emory, Professor of English James Morey said that he would not be in favor of instituting a mandated curve, saying that grades “cannot be legislated.” “No one tells me what grades to assign,” Morey said. “That is a faculty privilege, one of the few things faculty can still do and control.” Krauthamer wrote in a statement to The Emory Wheel that she is confident that faculty are responsible when grading students. Olivia Piri/Contributing Illustrator “Our faculty enjoy the academic come from an agreement by freedom to fairly assess student the ECAS faculty. The Emory work and progress in their classes,” College Faculty Senate can propose Krauthamer wrote. “I’m confident curriculum policies that ECAS facthat the faculty in Emory College ulty can vote on for approval. take that responsibility seriously.” Previously, the body introLike Morey, Bing said he is not duced new General Education a fan of a mandated grade distriRequirements before the ECAS bution curve and would prefer if faculty voted to approve them. ECAS leadership gave professors Montagnes added that ECAS Dean See FACULTY, Page 3 Possibilities for policy changes
Emory community members protest against DEI policy changes
Ellie Fivas/Editor-in-Chief
Students and faculty demand change at Asbury Circle after the closing of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.
By Siya Kumar and Jacob Muscolino
News Editors
Asbury Circle, at the center of Emory University’s Atlanta campus, was host to students and faculty protesting in the name of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), immigrant rights and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Emory Students for Socialism (SFS) organized the protest, which was attended by around 30 Emory community members and began at 4 p.m. on Sept. 9. In their post for the event, SFS wrote that the purpose of the protest was to “Take a stand against Trump & the billion-
A&L
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aires’ attack on our rights!” The protest comes after Interim University President Leah Ward Sears (80L) announced in a Sept. 3 email that Emory would “discontinue” current DEI offices and programs. Protestors held signs in support and defense of various issues, such as “Shut down racism not DEI,” “Stand with Palestine, end the occupation now” and “ICE off our campuses now.” SFS Organizer Saharla Mohamoud (26C) began the protest by telling attendees that terminating DEI programs and offices would make Emory less equitable, less affordable and less
See STUDENTS, Page 2
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