Pass by catastrophe
Encyclopedia
Pass by catastrophe refers to any number of popular urban legends in academia
claiming that if some particular catastrophic event occurs, students whose performance could have been affected by the event are automatically awarded passing grades on the grounds that there would then be no way to assess them fairly and they cannot be penalized for the catastrophe.
Since such events are very rare, there is little in the way of evidence to suggest the truth or falsity of these statements. The BBC
investigated the truth of the first of these statements with regard to school exams; most stated that, if an exam does have to be halted due to a disaster of some kind, all students are awarded their predicted grades, possibly with a small bonus. Similarly, after the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre
, traumatized students were given the option of taking their current grades as an alternative to returning to class for the remaining three weeks of the semester.
, as the roommate of one of the main characters was killed in her dorm room.
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
claiming that if some particular catastrophic event occurs, students whose performance could have been affected by the event are automatically awarded passing grades on the grounds that there would then be no way to assess them fairly and they cannot be penalized for the catastrophe.
Overview
Typical instances of this legend include:- If someone dies during an exam, all the other students present pass.
- If a UniversityUniversityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
(or, in some versions, a University's libraryLibraryIn a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
) burns down or is otherwise destroyed, all current students immediately graduate with upper second class honours. - If a student commits suicide, their roommate(s) automatically receive A's for all their classes that semester.
Since such events are very rare, there is little in the way of evidence to suggest the truth or falsity of these statements. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
investigated the truth of the first of these statements with regard to school exams; most stated that, if an exam does have to be halted due to a disaster of some kind, all students are awarded their predicted grades, possibly with a small bonus. Similarly, after the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre
Virginia Tech massacre
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people...
, traumatized students were given the option of taking their current grades as an alternative to returning to class for the remaining three weeks of the semester.
Media appearances
The urban legend was the basis for two 1998 movies - Dead Man on Campus, a dark comedy, and The Curve (a.k.a. Dead Man's Curve), a thriller. It was also referenced in the 1998 thriller Urban LegendUrban Legend (film)
Urban Legend is a 1998 horror film starring Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Jared Leto, Michael Rosenbaum, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Loretta Devine, Robert Englund, John Neville, Joshua Jackson, Regina King, and Tara Reid...
, as the roommate of one of the main characters was killed in her dorm room.