Historically, members of NYU’s graduating classes who have earned a GPA of 3.5 or above were awarded NYU’s Founders’ Award, which included the distinction of wearing a golden tassel during the Commencement ceremony. Members of NYU Abu Dhabi’s student body recently discovered that the policy according to which recipients of the NYU’s Founders’ Award are selected had changed from a minimum GPA of 3.5 to include just the top 40% of the class. This change soon became a heated topic of debate, with students complaining that the policy was unfair towards certain majors.

“If I’d known I wasn’t going to get the golden tassel with my 3.51 GPA, I would’ve majored in Political Science,” stated Jake Fossie, a senior graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

“I had my whole outfit planned out to match that tassel: golden heels, even golden nail polish. I already had my manicure scheduled,” lamented senior Ingie Gram. “I was going to go to Emirates Palace and take a pic with their gold cappuccino. Now I’m probably not even going to post any photos of graduation.”

This is not the first time that the distinction has caused controversy at NYUAD. In April of 2017, students called for a boycott of the golden tassels. This proposal led to mixed reactions — many supported the boycott, but some students stated that they had every right to wear it.

“If you don’t have a 3.5 GPA should you even be graduating?” commented Trey Honoré during one of last year’s Facebook fights. “How did you even get to study away?”

It seems that he has since had a change of heart, deciding to boycott the tassel as well.

“I’m doing this out of solidarity for my less fortunate classmates,” stated Honoré, nervously sliding his transcript out of view.

Given the uproar caused by this change, members of NYUAD’s Office of Academic Administration have begun considering alternatives to the Founders’ Award.

“We’re planning on just getting rid of tassels. Completely,” declared Charlie Stern, the head of the Office of Academic Administration. “But what would Commencement be without some sort of way of differentiating students according to their academic ability? And why use some arbitrary percentage or GPA limit, leaving the student’s actual grades a mystery?”

While Stern has been looking into making personalized caps with embroidered GPA’s, other staff members are confused about the students’ attachment to the golden tassel.

“Why do they care so much about some shiny junk hanging from their caps? If they insist, we can buy them some flimsy memory coins or something like that. But I just don’t get it,” shared a staff member who wished to remain anonymous in order to avoid Stern’s wrath.

Other alternative solutions the office is considering include asking His Excellency, the Minister of Education, to state a student’s GPA along with their name when handing them their certificates or pin a transcript to the back of their gown.

“Or given recent budget cuts we could look into a more low-cost option, like just writing the GPA on their foreheads with a sharpie,” added Stern.