Few of us are ever faced with making the sort of life or death decisions we routinely hear about in the news. And yet there are decisions we face everyday that–whether we realize it or not–have very real moral implications.
Part trivia game and part reality show, BustedHalo’s Moral Dilemmas feature is intended not only to raise some moral issues for our readers but also to ask you to participate in resolving them. After reading the story below about Michaela, Catherine and Rich please tell us what the “right thing to do” is via the quiz at the bottom. Next week will offer a “wrinkle” to the dilemma and ask your opinion once again. Finally, we will have our own moral theologian weigh in with some analysis of the dilemma and your responses.
As Good a Life as Possible
Michaela is a lovely 18-year-old who is set to graduate from high school in a few months. Ever since she was a young girl her mother made it abundantly clear to her that she needed to take her schoolwork very seriously because she was expected to be the first member of her family to attend college. Michaela and her mother lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment in a dilapidated housing project in a very poor section of Chicago. Her mother–who had dropped out of high school at 16–worked at a local WalMart store stocking shelves and did her best to make as good a life as possible for her daughter.
Throughout her upbringing Michaela’s mother was very protective of her daughter and was always checking up on who Michaela was spending time with to ensure that she didn’t fall in with the wrong crowd. Rather than let her be by herself when she was working late, Michaela’s mother arranged for her to do her studying at an elderly woman’s apartment who lived on the same floor.
During the first semester of Michaela’s junior year her mother began feeling unusually tired all the time. She had been working hard and just thought she needed to try to get more rest. She couldn’t afford to take much time off however and, because she had no insurance, she put off going to the doctor. Weeks passed and her condition grew worse. When she finally got help at a local clinic the cancer had spread throughout her body. Michaela’s mother died two weeks before Christmas break was to begin.
Michaela was forced to go live with the elderly woman on her floor. Though it was difficult she got through this tough time and has started applying to colleges.
Recommendation
Catherine is a substitute teacher filling in for a teacher who was on maternity leave and has Michaela in her senior English Lit class. Though she has taught in far more affluent schools she genuinely likes the students here and hopes that she will be asked to stay permanently.
When Michaela asked Catherine to fill out a recommendation for a scholarship to a small private college she was happy to oblige. The college had an endowed scholarship (tuition, room and board) set aside for an African-American student from an economically disadvantaged background. Without the scholarship Michaela would almost certainly have to get a job in order to be able to afford to go to the local community college part time.
The recommendation required that she have a working knowledge of Michaela’s academic record. She thought it was just a formality because Michaela was clearly a superior student. But when Catherine looked at her transcript she was surprised to see that her grade point average was much lower than she expected. When she reviewed it she realized that Catherine’s grades had dropped dramatically during her junior year, especially in the first semester.
Questions
What’s The Right Thing To Do?
What’s the Right Thing to Do?
- Confront Rich about the change and ask him to change it back?
- Report Rich to the school principal?
- Make note of Michaela’s family difficulty in the recommendation in order to explain the true nature of her record and her worthiness for the scholarship?
- Tell Michaela that she won’t be able to do the recommendation after all.
- Say nothing because Michaela–despite the difficulties the year before–is clearly qualified for the scholarship which will certainly change her life for the better.
None of these sound right to you? Want to qualify one of the above answers? What do you think Catherine should do?
Catherine decided to ask Rich the school registrar about the matter. Rich hadn’t heard about the scholarship but he did inform Catherine about the death of Michaela’s mother during her junior year and what that did to her grades.
Because the competition for the scholarship was incredibly stiff Catherine didn’t hold out much hope for Michaela. The application even stated that students with a GPA under 3.75 would not even be considered (because of her uncharacteristic drop in grades the previous year Michaela’s cumulative grade point average was well below that). Nevertheless she filled out the recommendation.
While she was preparing to mail it she went to the school records office and asked for a copy of Michaela’s transcript so she could send it with the recommendation. Before sealing the envelope she looked again at the transcript and noticed that Michaela’s GPA was significantly higher than it was before. On closer inspection she realized that most of Michaela’s grades for junior year had been altered to be more consistent with her sophomore and senior grades. Her GPA was now very impressive and along with her other scores and recommendations Michaela had a very good chance of getting the scholarship.
Catherine knew that Rich was the only person who could’ve made this alteration of the records, but she was concerned that if she drew attention to it she would jeopardize both Michaela’s chances for a scholarship as well her own ability to get a permanent job at the school.
Time for you to decide. What’s the right thing for Catherine to do?
(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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