HUA Urges Students to Lobby Professors Ahead of Vote on A-Grade Cap

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is anticipated to vote on a proposal to cap A grades on April 7 — and the Harvard Undergraduate Association is urging students to use the six weeks leading up to the vote to directly engage with professors about the measure.

The proposal is set to be formally introduced at the FAS’ next meeting on Tuesday, March 3, marking the start of the deliberations ahead of the April vote.

“The best way to actually advocate for this is to email professors individually who have the right to vote and tell them, ‘Hey, I’m your student, and this policy will affect me,’” HUA Academic Officer Hyunsoo Lee ’28 said at a general meeting on Sunday. “I think that’s the most powerful method.”

Lee, who announced the anticipated timeline at the meeting, encouraged students to go beyond emails by raising the issue during office hours and attending upcoming town hall meetings. He argued that outreach is warranted regardless of how faculty members are currently thinking about the proposal.

“No matter if the faculty agrees or disagrees with whatever the student says, I think students have the right to email their professors about academic policy,” he said in an interview after the meeting. “There are many professors out there who are unsure about their vote on this policy, and perhaps a student opinion on the issue will change their minds a little bit.”

Student opposition to the grading overhaul remains widespread. An HUA survey on the proposal has now drawn more than 1,500 responses, with 85.2 percent of respondents saying they would “definitely not” support the new policy, according to Lee. The proposal would cap A grades at roughly 20 percent per course and supplement GPA with an internal, percentile-based ranking system for honors determinations.

“The survey has spoken, and the survey has said students do not want to pass this policy,” Lee said. “Since the student body is clearly against this policy, myself, as the HUA academic officer representing students, is ready to go after and advocate to not pass this policy.”

Still, Lee acknowledged the limits of student influence in what is ultimately a faculty decision.

“Obviously, this is a vote by the faculty, which makes myself very limited in what I can do, even though I’m an elected official,” he said.

Lee said he presented the survey results and common student concerns at a Feb. 18 meeting of the Committee on Undergraduate Education, a student-faculty group that includes members of the Faculty Council.

“I’ve been trying to let Claybaugh hear about the most common students’ arguments against the policy and what concerns they have, such as increased competition, mental health issues and employment opportunities, as well as grad school opportunities,” Lee said. “She listened to me.”

The academic team also compiled a three-page overview of the survey data and student arguments, which Lee said he has been distributing to around 200 to 300 students who expressed interest in advocating on the issue. Select members of the HUA executive board, including Lee, have been invited to observe the faculty vote.

But Lee said students must take up the cause directly to make a difference.

“It can’t just be me doing it — it has to be a lot of students together,” he said. “I think students’ accounts should be taken more into the process.”

At the meeting, HUA co-treasurer Daniel Zhao ’28 said the HUA is on track to distribute grants to student organizations on time for the spring semester. Last fall, dozens of student organizations experienced delays in receiving HUA grants.

“We’re just finishing them tonight — basically just a few more — and we should have them out in accordance with the published timeline,” Zhao said.

—Staff writer Alma T. Barak can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at almabk.54. Follow her on X @almabk_.

—Staff writer Theresa F. Bartelme can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at theresabartelme.15. Follow her on X @theresabartelme.