Just as I was about to go to sleep, someone tagged me in the class group chat: “Mr. White, why did I only get a 61 in Physics? I want to see my exam paper!” It was Chloe, a student from the Electronic Technology major. I immediately pulled up her exam to double-check. Her raw score was 37. Take the square root of 37, multiply by 10, and you get 61. 【Chloe, 61 is your final, adjusted score.】 【You purposely tanked my grade and now you’re acting all high and mighty? We’re college students, don’t play these games with us! I’m going straight to the academic affairs office to file a complaint!】 1 To make the final physics grades look less disastrous, I used the “saving formula” invented by the legendary physicist Qian Xuesen: take the square root of the raw score and multiply by 10. This ensures the majority of the class doesn't fail. Chloe’s 61 came from exactly that. 【Chloe, if you have questions about your grade, you can come talk to me privately.】 【Talk privately? Mr. White, what do you have to say that you can’t say in front of everyone? Are you feeling guilty? Do you really think you can treat us students like this just because you have a little bit of power?】 I was getting annoyed and didn’t want to keep arguing with her, but she seemed relentless. 【A male teacher wanting to 'talk privately' with a female student late at night? Are you hinting at something, Mr. White?】 That accusation made me panic a bit. Several universities had major scandals regarding sexual harassment this year, causing massive public outrage. Being associated with something like that was social suicide. 【Chloe, please don't misinterpret my words. I meant that if you have questions, you can come to my office tomorrow to discuss them.】 【Sorry, too late. Since you don't want to explain, I'll see you at the academic affairs office!】 Boosting students’ grades to help them pass is a common practice among professors, but it’s certainly not something you can broadcast publicly. The professors know it, the administration knows it, and there’s an unspoken agreement. But now that Chloe was demanding a formal review, this was definitely going to blow up. I worried about the unnecessary trouble it would cause, so I sent her a private message. 【Chloe, your grade was actually curved up. Don't go asking for a review, or it's going to look bad for everyone.】 The moment I sent it, Chloe took a screenshot of my message and posted it in the class group, tagging me again. 【Mr. White, are you threatening me? What do you mean it’s going to 'look bad'?】 I was doomed. The more I tried to explain, the worse it looked. Thankfully, Mia, the class representative for physics, chimed in to help me out. 【The physics exam was pretty hard this time, so Mr. White gave everyone a reasonable curve. Let's not make a big deal out of it.】 Seeing that I wasn't replying but someone else was defending me, Chloe immediately aimed her fire at Mia. 【You got a 90, of course you’re taking his side because he gave you a huge curve! He lowered our grades just to make sure you guys got the 'Excellent' marks, didn't he?】 Generally, universities have a rule capping the "Excellent" grade rate at 30%. Having all "Excellent" grades significantly boosts a student's chances of getting a recommendation for graduate school. This was likely the real reason Chloe was so upset about her 61. Mia, probably speechless, fired back: 【I’m just stating the facts!】 【Stating the facts? Then tell me, what were you doing bringing a huge bag of stuff to Mr. White's office a few days ago?】 That single sentence made the group chat explode. Students who failed or scored in the low 60s started getting restless, sending passive-aggressive emojis. 2 Seeing the group chat teetering on the edge of chaos, I immediately called the academic counselor and asked her to talk to a few of the students so we could sort it out in my office tomorrow. Meanwhile, Chloe was still riling everyone up in the chat. 【Looks like I got a 61 because I didn't 'show my appreciation' to the teacher. Look at what a 90 gets you!】 Several students who scored in the 60s started joining the mob. 【Yeah, there's obviously a reason she gets to be the class rep.】 【Thanks for speaking up, Chloe! I support an exam review!】 Soon, many others started a chain message showing their support. Mia was probably crying from the stress. She came from a poor, mountainous region, and her parents were farmers. When I found out they had some local produce they didn't know how to sell, a few other professors and I pitched in to buy it to help her out. But this was something I couldn't easily explain. Mia was a prideful girl, fiercely independent with top grades. I didn't want to announce to the whole class that I was doing it to help a student from a low-income family. Just then, Chloe tagged me again: 【Mr. White, instead of fixing the problem, you're trying to use the administration to silence us?】 【What's going on?】 The chat immediately went into gossip mode. 【I just got a call from the counselor telling me to stop making a fuss. Am I the one making a fuss? I'm the victim here! But whatever, I recorded the call. See you all online!】 Crap. My intention was to keep the situation contained, but now I had dragged the counselor into the crossfire. Shortly after, Chloe posted a link to her social media account. 【Everyone, please like and share this to blow this up! Otherwise, certain teachers are just going to keep doing whatever they want!】 Watching Chloe's actions, my head started pounding. 【Mr. White, this isn't over. I'm filing a formal complaint tomorrow!】 According to university policy, a student just needs the administration's approval to review their exam paper. Chloe could have completely resolved this by simply submitting a request. But she clearly wanted to make a huge scene and went straight to writing a formal whistleblower complaint. The next day, right after my morning classes, the administration called me in and handed me a document. 【To the Esteemed Leadership of Academic Affairs: My name is Chloe, a student in Electronic Technology Class 1702. I am officially reporting Professor Liam White for severe and intentional grade suppression on the recent Advanced Physics final exam. There is a massive discrepancy between my actual exam score and the final grade posted. Professor White refused to explain this discrepancy. Furthermore, late at night, he hinted that as a female student, I should 'communicate privately' with him. When I sternly refused, he resorted to personal threats. To uphold fairness and justice, I demand the following: First, the immediate public release of my original exam paper and the detailed grading rubric; Second, the formation of an independent third-party committee by the university to regrade ALL exam papers; Third, the termination of Professor Liam White!】 The manipulative phrasing sent a chill down my spine. Sitting across from the Director of Academic Affairs and the Vice President, I realized this situation was officially out of my control. "Professor White, what exactly is going on? This complaint didn't just come to us; Chloe posted it all over social media. There are tens of thousands of people following the story online." "Private late-night communication," "personal threats," plus a male teacher and a female student. In the current social climate, it was impossible for those buzzwords not to go viral. I had already seen her video the day before. Tens of thousands of comments were accusing me of abusing my power to exploit students. Some people had painted me as a corrupt, lecherous academic tyrant, when in reality, I was just a stressed-out junior faculty member. I didn't dare hide anything. I immediately gave them a completely honest account of how I curved the students' grades. The Director thought for a moment. "This method of curving grades to save students is something everyone uses, it's just never discussed openly. However, since a student has formally reported it, we have to handle it seriously." The Vice President nodded. "Right now, it's not just about the grades. The more pressing issue is managing the public fallout. Try to accommodate the student's demands as much as possible. Director Lee, arrange this and handle it quickly. I'll have the PR department contact you. Once we have a result, the university committee will discuss it and issue an official statement." As I was nearing the door, the Vice President called out one last instruction. "Of course, it would be best if you could resolve this with the student through mediation. After all, word getting out that we arbitrarily boost grades to ensure passing rates isn't exactly honorable. It's an academic incident and it damages the university's reputation." 3 The department quickly organized an internal mediation session. Chloe, seeing both the department heads and me present, remained incredibly arrogant. "Dean, my demands are simple. First, fire Professor White. Second, regrade the exams. Not just mine, but every single person's exam must be thoroughly reviewed!" "Chloe, let's put aside your first demand for now. If you have doubts about your own grade, the university is certainly willing to help you review it. But regarding other students' grades..." "No! The university limits the percentage of 'Excellent' grades. If you only check mine, even if I actually scored a 90, Mia could just be curved up to a 100!" The Dean frowned. Director Lee, sitting next to him, coughed. "Miss, regrading all the exams is an enormous amount of work. Furthermore, individual grades are the privacy of other students. Without sufficient justification, it's very difficult for us to do that." Chloe rolled her eyes, stood up, and pulled out her phone. "Justification? Are tens of thousands of eyes watching this online not enough justification? Is Professor White admitting to curving grades in WeChat not justification? If other people got a 50-point boost and I got nothing, what's the point of only checking my paper?" As Chloe got more worked up, Director Lee hastily stood up. "Okay, okay. Please don't get excited. The exam papers are all still here. If you insist on checking them, we can do that. As for your claims about Professor White threatening or harassing you, I've reviewed the WeChat logs and it appears to be normal communication..." "Normal communication? If the university refuses to handle this, I'm calling the police right now!" Before any of us could react, Chloe dialed 911. The Dean and the Director watched this unfold, visibly annoyed. She was calling the cops in the middle of an internal mediation. I wasn't going to say anything, but seeing Chloe's relentless, scorched-earth attitude, I couldn't hold back anymore. "Chloe, do you realize that if your regraded score is failing, you lose your eligibility for scholarships and honors this year? And you'll permanently lose your eligibility for a grad school recommendation..." "Professor White, stop trying to scare me with that! I just want fairness and justice! I can't let you teachers do whatever you want!" The absolute hard requirement for a grad school recommendation at our university is zero failed classes. Even if every other grade is an A, if you have one fail, you're out. If you don't fail, your extracurriculars, research, and competitions can boost your chances. But a single failure disqualifies you from recommendations, honors, and scholarships entirely. Chloe was currently under review for a scholarship this year. All this fighting was just to bump her ranking up slightly for the grad school recommendation list. If her actual grade was published, both her grad school hopes and this year's scholarship would vanish. You can't save someone who's determined to jump off a cliff. I decided to keep my mouth shut. 4 Before long, a police cruiser pulled up outside the academic building. A crowd of students gathered, and rumors immediately started flying that someone was going to jump off the building because they failed a class, drawing an even larger crowd. The police officers looked at the "evidence" Chloe provided with a mix of exasperation and disbelief. "We can't handle the grading review; that's an internal university matter. As for the harassment and threats... we've looked at the chat logs, and it constitutes normal communication." "Telling me to 'communicate privately' in the middle of the night isn't harassment? Telling a female student to secretly meet a male teacher late at night, isn't that disgusting?" "Miss, you have to look at the context. You asked a question, and the teacher gave a single reply regarding your question. Furthermore, he didn't tell you to come find him in the middle of the night!" "Fine. Then what did he mean when he privately messaged me saying it's going to 'look bad for everyone'? Is he saying he's going to make me look bad if I ask for a review? If that's not a threat, what is?" I was so angry I stood up to explain, but the officer waved me off. "The teacher said the grades were adjusted. If this is made public, everyone will be embarrassed. 'Look bad' means exactly that—it's an embarrassment. It doesn't mean he's going to attack you! I'm an outsider and I understand that perfectly. Are you telling me a college student doesn't?" Chloe wasn't buying it and started questioning the police. "Why are you just trying to sweep this under the rug? Do you only take things seriously when someone actually dies?" The officers' eyes went wide. "Alright, then both of you are coming down to the station to give official statements!" "I didn't do anything wrong, it's his problem! Why should I go? Do you have any sense of logic?" The officers were completely stunned by Chloe's thought process. "This is standard police procedure! Both the person reporting the crime and the involved party need to give statements!" "That's so annoying. Fine, I'm not reporting it anymore!" The two officers were instantly furious and began reprimanding her. "Miss, calling the police is a very serious matter, and you're treating it like a joke?" "Why are you yelling at me? Is this how you serve the public?" At this point, not only was my jaw on the floor, but the university administrators were also staring in shock. "Miss, I am now officially summoning you to the police station. Please come with us!" Hearing this, Chloe aggressively shoved the officer. "What are you doing?!" Seeing the situation escalating, the Dean quickly stepped in to block the officers. "Officers, please, I'm so sorry. She's just a student, she's young and doesn't know any better. We will definitely strengthen our disciplinary education..." 5 The Dean spent a long time pleading before the officers finally agreed not to press charges. As they left, they kept shaking their heads, muttering about "what's wrong with college students these days." I thought that after experiencing that, Chloe would calm down a bit. But perhaps she hadn't fully vented her anger at the police, because she immediately turned her sights back on us. "Teachers, if you want to keep protecting this unethical professor and refuse to regrade everyone's exams, I will continue exposing this to the media!" The Dean was losing his patience. "Chloe, do you know what the most important prerequisite is for a grad school recommendation at this university?" "I know. No failed classes!" "Then have you ever considered what the consequences will be if your regraded physics score is a failing grade?" The Dean's words made Chloe freeze for a second, but she quickly recovered. "Dean, you don't need to try and scare me with that. I know what my actual score is!" The Dean, completely exasperated, slammed his hand on the table. "What exactly will it take for you to drop this? Why are you so dead-set on creating a media circus?" Seeing the Dean get angry only made Chloe more smug. "If the university can truly be fair and transparent, what are you afraid of being posted online? If you're afraid, it means the university is hiding something!" Every single teacher in the room was left speechless. Watching Chloe's smug, fearless demeanor, I was practically shaking with anger. "Dean, no matter what, my unauthorized adjustment of the students' grades counts as an academic incident. You can discipline me however you see fit. As for Chloe's demand to regrade all the exams, I support it! And regarding the incident with Mia bringing things to my office, the entire physics department knows exactly what happened. You can just go ask them. I also have the transfer records for the payment we made to her." "Who knows if you just faked those transfer records later!" Chloe snapped. "Look for yourself!" I slammed my phone with the transfer records down in front of her. "Professor White, calm down." The Dean placated me, then turned back to Chloe: "Is there truly no room for mediation?" Chloe pretended to think about it. "Actually, it's not impossible to mediate..." Seeing a sign she might yield, the Dean immediately pressed: "Tell us, what are your conditions?" "Give me a guaranteed spot for the grad school recommendation program!" 6 That single sentence plunged the entire room into dead silence. I let out a cold laugh. "So this is the 'fairness' you've been demanding? In your eyes, 'fairness' is just a bargaining chip?" "It's not like there isn't a precedent. Are there really that few reports of this kind of thing online?" I finally understood. From the moment she sent that first WeChat message, her goal was to blow this up as much as possible, and this was her ultimate endgame. Her logic was actually: Some universities give students grad school spots to silence online PR disasters, so why can't my university do the same? "Absolutely not! Grad school recommendations are evaluated based on a comprehensive review of grades, research capabilities, competition results, and moral character. They are not bargaining chips for negotiation." The Dean immediately rejected Chloe's proposal. I wasn't going to hold back anymore either. "Dean, let's just follow Chloe's demands and regrade every single student's physics exam. I am willing to accept any punishment from the university!" The Dean's face was dark. "Very well. I will report this to the university leadership immediately. Pending the investigation, Professor White is suspended from all teaching and research duties, and is disqualified from all upcoming promotion and honors evaluations!" With that, he turned and left without looking back. I understood. This was an academic incident, and I could accept this level of discipline. Chloe hadn't expected the Dean to refuse so flatly. But hearing that my teaching, research, promotions, and honors were all suspended, she looked at me with smug satisfaction. "Chloe, have you ever considered what you'll do if your grade really isn't a 61?" "Impossible. I checked my answers against the key. Besides, students who are worse than me scored in the 70s. How could I possibly only have a 61?" Seeing her absolute confidence, I sighed. "But what if? What if your grade is a fail? Your future honors, grad school recommendations, and scholarships will all be gone!" Chloe sneered. "Professor White, you can't even save yourself right now. Who are you trying to scare?" 7 Soon, the university agreed to regrade everyone's physics exams. To ensure fairness, in addition to the professors from the physics department, they specifically invited several PhD students from the graduate school to jointly review all the exams. Furthermore, the university's PR department publicly promised that, with the students' consent, they would release the original exams for public review. Chloe was incredibly smug, feeling that the university had completely capitulated to her demands. She figured the moment they found an issue, she would demand I be fired. Of course, she likely also planned to use it as further leverage to negotiate for that grad school recommendation spot. Seeing the official notice from the university, the students who had scored in the 60s and joined the mob in the group chat started messaging me privately. "Professor White, we were misled by Chloe. She said we could fight for higher grades, and that the university would try to quietly settle this. She even said we might get grad school spots. Could you... maybe not regrade our papers?" Looking at these students, I knew exactly how they had been dragged into this. But they had also fanned the flames. If even one of them had spoken up for me, it wouldn't have escalated to this point. They weren't innocent. "I'm sorry, but this regrading is organized by the university. I have no power over it. You'll have to talk to the administration." Chloe had completely obliterated the option of "private communication." I wouldn't do it, and the university certainly wouldn't do it. Who knew if these students would just turn around and report us again after the communication? The university also spoke with me. They told me to prepare myself: if I truly had maliciously suppressed grades targeting specific students, the university wouldn't be able to protect me. I had nothing to prepare for. My conscience was clear, and all the exams could stand up to scrutiny. Chloe continued to vocalize her grievances on social media. Her targets were no longer just me; they now included the "corrupt university protecting an unethical teacher," the "useless police trying to sweep it under the rug," and the "incompetent administration." Driven by her relentless narrative, more and more people started following the story. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that public opinion is a double-edged sword. However many people supported her now, even more would turn around and cyberbully her once the results came out. Everything she was doing now was just laying the groundwork for her own future destruction. After a week, all the exams had been reviewed by multiple different people, and the final results were submitted to the academic affairs office. To ensure absolute accuracy, the office randomly selected several exams and sent them to an external university for a final audit. Once everything was fully prepared, the university published the official handling of the incident on its website. 8 Because Chloe filed a formal complaint, the academic affairs office had to give her an official response. Before the public announcement, Chloe and I were called into the office. Director Lee pulled out Chloe's exam, along with the results of the cross-audit by the two external professors, and handed them to her. "Chloe, this is your exam paper. It shows Professor White's original grading, as well as the cross-audit by two other professors. Your final, actual score is a 37!" Hearing that score, Chloe froze in place, seemingly completely unable to believe it. She frantically flipped through her exam, muttering to herself, "Impossible, impossible, I checked the answer key, it should be at least a 70..." "Actually, according to university policy, a score between 40 and 60 allows you to take a makeup exam. However, a score below 40 requires you to retake the entire course. You will need to pay the retake fee, and since Physics is only offered in the Fall semester, you will have to wait an entire year!" I suspected the academic affairs office did that on purpose. Chloe hadn't even processed the shock of the 37 before they delivered another fatal blow. Hearing that she didn't even have the chance for a makeup exam, her face turned stark white. Of course, whether it was a makeup exam or a full retake, the difference for her wasn't that big. Either way, her eligibility for grad school recommendations, honors, and scholarships were completely wiped out. "What about Mia? What about everyone else? Are you guys targeting me?!" Chloe frantically threw her exam paper on the floor and rushed at Director Lee. But Director Lee remained completely calm. "Out of 50 students, 45 had originally 'passed.' But after the regrade, the raw scores of 17 of those students were actually below 60. Fortunately, the majority of them scored above a 40, so they only need to take the makeup exam next semester." Chloe stood frozen. In that moment, she seemed to finally realize that the grad school recommendation she had obsessed over was permanently out of reach. The scholarship she was supposed to get this year had vanished, and any hope for honors next semester was dead. More importantly, how was she going to face the 16 classmates she had dragged down with her, and the hundreds of thousands of netizens who had supported her crusade? "I don't believe it, I need to see for myself!" She crawled on the floor, picking up the pages of the exam she had thrown, organizing them, and checking every single question one by one. But how could three different physics professors all make a mistake?
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