Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom This May Concern,

I am a student in GNDS 315 Feminist Pedagogies, and I am appealing to drop GNDS 315 after the academic drop deadline. On February 20, 2022, my grandmother suddenly passed away. As a result, I have experienced significant mental health difficulties and emotional distress, which has negatively impacted my ability to complete the coursework or perform well in this class. Following the bereavement up to now in April, I have and continue to experience emotional distress and intense symptoms of grief, including fatigue, anxiety, and depression. The loss of my grandmother has made it very difficult to keep up with the coursework and perform well. Specifically, it has been difficult to attend in-person lectures and complete written assignments on time. I did not drop the course before the drop deadline originally as I thought I could handle it, but it has become too much to keep up with, resulting in further mental health difficulties.

Recently, I had a meeting with the professor for this course, Professor Melissa Houghtaling, in which she gave me her 100% support in dropping this course to solely focus on completing the course work for my other classes this term. She suggested I appeal to drop this class in order to relieve stress and anxiety from finishing up all of my coursework due to the extenuating circumstances.

By dropping GNDS 315, I believe it will help me succeed in my other courses this term by freeing up time to complete my other assignments. Thank you for considering my academic appeal to drop this class this term.

Sincerely,

Malissa Brown.