DLSU should graduate from the “no-fail policy” for Latin honors

As I am now in my junior year, I can’t help but imagine myself soon marching in PICC with my toga draped over a green dress. I would have loved to end my academic journey with a Latin honor to my name, completing my decorated student streak from past graduations. However, this dream now feels like a distant mirage, shattered by the weight of a failing grade I got in my former program during my freshman year.

Most of us dream of graduating with flying colors, medals adorning our chests to mark the culmination of three to four years of grit to keep our Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) above 3.200. However, the biggest obstacle is found in Section 12.4.4 of the 2021-2025 Student Handbook: the infamous “no-fail policy,” which disqualifies a student from earning Latin honors as soon as they receive a failing grade of 0.0—regardless of whether their CGPA still meets the requirement.

After every Grade Consultation Day, students come forward to deliver their grievances about the no-fail policy, sharing that their relentless efforts to claim a laude seem ultimately invalidated over a single failing grade. They bare their aspirations of making their family or themselves proud or worry about their scholarships or familial pressure.

This hurts even more for the students who were able to bounce back, especially those who pulled their CGPA back to the Latin honor range. They are robbed of a merit they worked hard for because of a single slip-up, yet the current policy overlooks these redemptive achievements when they are actually the core of what learning is.

Aspirations for a laude—regardless of reasons like familial pressure, scholarships, or personal ambition—are valid, just like any other dream. Sure, people say that a “badge is just a badge.” Awards are a simple bonus or that the “real world” focuses on character over awards. But for most others, they represent a meaningful acknowledgment of their perseverance to learn for their future. As we commend students who execute perfect streaks of 3.5s or 4.0s, those who overcame a 0.0 also deserve the same recognition and merit.

Overcoming failure takes more grit than many people realize. While often hailed as a powerful teacher, the transformative nature of failure is frequently underestimated. It can serve as a catalyst for self-discovery, provide invaluable life lessons, or simply redirect us in our paths. This was a hard-hitting lesson that I learned when I shifted to my current program. Failures should not entirely define a student.

While results come from our actions, there are times when they don’t show the full picture, especially given the state of our education system. Lasallians share their struggles of dealing with fortuitous personal events that affect their academics, overcoming continuous sickness to pursue their education, and meeting expectations of professors who sometimes, unintentionally or not, provide inadequate instruction. Yet through all of this, they pulled through with little support—just the sheer determination to learn and achieve. 

The University prides itself on being “inclusive” and “learner-centered,” but perhaps they should reconsider those claims. Although institutional excellence through its students is an exceptional goal to live by, this should never sacrifice the essence of learning. Even higher-ranking universities like the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University do not enforce a no-fail policy. A true educational institution acknowledges and celebrates the diverse milestones of its students. Academic consistency can be a valuable way to measure merit, but it does not always represent academic success.

DLSU should reconsider this “no-fail policy.” By doing so, they honor the heartbreaking trials—and the unseen triumphs—that students go through as they make the most out of their education. At the end of the day, we are continuously learning—and the hard way is one of them.