Sad Story

I just read an article in the Columbia, S.C. paper about 2 college professors who were fired and are now suing the school (Benedictine College) and its President alleging all manner of discrimination and ill-treatment. It seems the President of this black school had decreed that the school had to do more to help student enrolled there to keep their financial aid. Too many simply weren't making the grade. So, he told the faculty to give students grades based on 60% effort and 40% on actual class performance. When these two professors declined to go back and change grades based on their effort, they were fired. The professors both stated that they were not able to make such a subjective judgement on student effort.
I have several immediate reactions to this story. The first is disappointment that there are only two professors who declined to participate in this idiocy. My second thought was that if I were presented with this situation, I might be inclined to go back and lower the grades of the whole class based on the contention that they all could have worked harder and none put in maximum effort. My third thought was I am really pleased that one of the two professors has a doctorate in Microbiology and the other was also a scientist.