Grade Reform, Law Schools, Texas

Law Students Sue School Over Being Graded on a Curve

Two students at Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law received crappy grades. Other people get bad grades and re-dedicate themselves to study, or (gasp) figure out something to do that they are actually good at. These kids, well, you can't say that millennials are ashamed of being whiny bitches....

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At least once a month, something happens that makes millennials seem insufferable. It’s like we’ve bred an entire generation of people who can’t take criticism. It’s an entire generation that hasn’t watched the Godfather and doesn’t understand the phrase “it’s business, not personal.” When they fail, they don’t redouble their efforts; instead, they get their feelings hurt, make excuses, and whine and complain to anyone who will listen.

So it is with some pathetic millennials from the Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Two students at the school received crappy grades. This is going to come as a huge shock to some of you out there, but it turns out that going to a lower ranked law school with the expectation that you’ll get a job if you finish in the top ten percent of the class doesn’t work out for 90% of the students.

Other people get bad grades and re-dedicate themselves to study, or (gasp) figure out something to do that they are actually good at. These kids, well, you can’t say that millennials are ashamed of being whiny bitches….

The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas Southern Law students Karla Ford and Jonathan Chan have decided to sue the law school after they received Ds in contracts and were dismissed from school. I know it sounds dumb to sue a school over giving you a bad grade. But actually, this lawsuit is way more stupid than that. Essentially, the students are alleging a conspiracy enacted by the faculty of Texas Southern:

In the lawsuit, Ford and Chan contend that the grades given by the instructor, Shelley Smith, were “not based upon their performance on the examinations, but in order to ‘curve them out’ of law school.”

Under law school policy, first-year students must maintain a 2.0 GPA, or C average, to stay in the program. Ford’s and Chan’s averages fell below that minimum after receiving the D in the contract law course taught by Smith, at the time a visiting professor.

The two students asked to see the graded exams and for an explanation of the final score, but the professor and the university refused to provide the information, said their attorney, Jason Bach…

Ford and Chan filed an appeal with the school’s Academic Standards Committee, which upheld the grade, saying they had not provided sufficient evidence to support their challenge, said Bach.

Dude, these kids got a D in contracts, maybe expecting them to understand “sufficient evidence” is a bridge too far.

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But seriously though, even if it’s a bit of scam to admit students who have no business being in law school only to fail them out after their first year, it’s still hard to feel all that bad for kids who can’t keep their GPA over a 2.0. It’s a C average, if you can’t maintain that, you stink at studying law. Sorry. It’s not the worst thing in the world. It doesn’t mean you can’t still be successful. I stink at spelling words, yet am a successful writer. We can’t all be good at everything.

But I’m not going to sue Webster’s for having rules. It’s amazing to me that these kids are suing the law school for having a curve. Of course law schools have curves, that’s what makes them hard. I’m sure that these kids were lied to or misled about a great many things before they matriculated to law school. But “law school is hard” should have been a message that came through loud and clear.

Ford and Chan recognize that they’ve taken an unusual step by suing the school, but say they hope a court decision will clear the way for them to return to law school.

“Your dream doesn’t stop because of something like this,” said Ford. “Is it a roadblock? Absolutely. But, in my heart, this is where I want to be, what I want to do.”

… Except dreams do die. Sometimes, dreams need to die. THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GROW UP. You couldn’t maintain a 2.0 GPA at Texas Southern. God knows the illogical abomination that was your LSAT score. Instead of ramming your head into the wall for the opportunity to take on more debt that you will struggle to pay back for the rest of your life, maybe you should do a self-assessment and figure out what you are really talented at? Perhaps you can paint. Or maybe you have a head for finance? Or social work? Or goddamn professional wrestling? I don’t know what these kids are good at, but studying law is clearly not it.

Suing a law school because it exposed their deficiency in being good law students is patently ridiculous.

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Former TSU law students take grade dispute to court [Houston Chronicle]

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