A former assistant professor from Spelman College, a prestigious historically Black college in Atlanta, has been reportedly fired after he took a stand against grade inflation. Kendrick Morales, a former faculty member in the Economics department, told Fox 5 Atlanta that the school terminated his contract following his refusal to make his course easier and raise student grades, against his academic judgment.
Morales contended that the college pressured him to adjust the grades, "They definitely applied some pressure on me to raise grades above what I thought was reasonable, which I thought was totally against what I was supposed to do," he noted during the interview. Despite this alleged interference, Morales' calculations still predicted that 44% of his class was failing. He reflected on a systemic issue, suggesting that students would complain and administrators might too quickly yield to those not putting in the necessary effort.
Questioning his future in academia, Morales expressed to RedState, "I thought, in terms of going for an academic position, that I would be able to have autonomy and not have administrators kind of meddle with grades and meddle with the incentive structure that I was trying to put in place." His concerns were met with advice from RedState advising him to leave his academic pursuits if the environment continued to be unsupportive of academic integrity.
The situation escalated when the Academic Freedom Alliance became involved, they had reportedly sent a letter to Spelman president Helene D. Gayle calling for Morales reinstatement. The letter, as presented by RedState, argued that, “Giving students grades that a competent instructor has concluded, using his or her professional judgment, are not merited is a form of intellectual fraud.” This stance reflects an undercurrent in the larger debate about grade inflation, academic rigor, and the value of a college degree.
In response to the firing, Spelman College commented to Fox 5 Atlanta, emphasizing their commitment to a "academically rigorous program" and maintaining that "The College, its administrators, and faculty exercise appropriate judgment in the delivery of our learning activities in order to maintain consistency across Spelman’s campus." The college, however, declined to comment further on Morales accusations or the circumstances of his termination.
