A letter to MSU-IIT

H. Marcos Mordeno .

EARLY last night (June 7), her mother texted me to call Alexandria, our youngest child. “Important,” she said. I dialed Alexandria’s number but she wouldn’t pick up her phone. It’s never her style to ignore my call, so I knew something was wrong.

This morning, after doing my usual weekend run, I again tried to call her, still to no avail. Her phone went dead when I dialed the second time.

So I asked her elder sister, Athena, what had happened. Her reply explained everything: Alexandria and her classmates (I don’t know how many) could not graduate because the grades in one of their subjects were submitted late, and there was no more time for a removal exam. Did they get an INC (incomplete) or a failing mark? Again, I still have to know from Alexandria.

Alexandria and her classmates only learned about it when they went they to the rehearsal yesterday.

All I could do was sulk in a seat and shed tears for my daughter who I know was excited to receive her diploma in Political Science from your school. She was eyeing either a scholarship abroad or to enroll in a Law school. She has big dreams for herself. Thus I can only imagine how hurt she is. As a father, I’m hurt, too.

Maybe my daughter and her classmates deserved an INC or a failing mark. Or maybe they didn’t. But the bigger issue – if the school cares to look at it – is the sheer insensitivity and inefficiency of the instructor, if not the system itself. Surely, he/she knows these are (or were) expectant graduates.. Therefore, the least he/she could have done was advise them about their academic standing and submit their grades early to enable them to undergo remedial measures, if any, days or weeks before the submission of the final list of graduates.

How many graduation hopefuls of MSU-IIT have had suffered because of delayed submission of grades?

I’m writing this not only for my daughter and her classmates but for all other students of the institute who may have had experienced the same ordeal. This should not be allowed to happen again and again and again. Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine the humiliation of coming to the rehearsal only to be told in front of other candidates for graduation that you’re not one of them. It’s an insult to the nth degree.

No, I’m not badmouthing MSU-IIT as a whole. It’s a fine school with quality graduates. In fact, Alexandria’s elder sister, now a registered chemist, is also an alumna of the institute. But maybe, just maybe, some of its faculty members need to reflect on this habit, if it has become a habit for them.