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This picture has been making the rounds on Twitter today. enter image description here

Judging off the second bullet point, I assume that the tests being talked about are ones that are given in college. Is it true that, if someone dies during a test, everyone else present passes?

Also, the second bullet point states that, should a university (or its library) be destroyed, all current students graduate with honors. Is this claim true?

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Chris Loonam
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    The Wikipedia page you're in starts with "Pass by catastrophe refers to any number of popular urban legends in academia". Enough said. It's a myth. – George Chalhoub May 07 '15 at 22:07
  • This would apply... where exactly? – Sklivvz May 07 '15 at 23:23
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    Why did this get closed? I think the question is pretty clear. – Chris Loonam May 07 '15 at 23:27
  • Isn't there a movie made about this? – Lyrion May 08 '15 at 07:13
  • AFAIK, something catastrophic could make test results void and get test rescheduled. And even that would be subject to dean's approval, rather than automatic. – vartec May 08 '15 at 16:01
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    Why did this get closed? It's the answer that's bad, not the question... – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft May 09 '15 at 16:52
  • I didn't close it, so I can't answer definitively, but I would have closed it because (a) the scope is too broad - there are tens of thousands of universities, and possibly a millions schools. (b) it needs editing to transcribe the text to enable it to be found in a Google search... and then the trivialest of Google searches would reveal there is no claim there. – Oddthinking May 10 '15 at 23:11

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The image

That image is a screenshot of the Wikipedia article entitled "Pass by catastrophe". As of 14:43, 7 May 2015, it reads:

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 [...]

There are are no references in the article supporting the claim that this is an urban legend, let alone the claim that pass by catastrophe is a policy at any university.

Policy

I've sampled the examination policies of several institutions and have failed to find a "pass by catastrophe" clause in any of them:

Practice

At York University, a strike caused class cancellations, and exams were postponed "into the summer". (York suspends classes, exams and academic activities during strike. Toronto Star. March 2, 2015)

At Harvard, a bomb threat caused exams to be "cancelled, with grading and rescheduling options varying for each course". (Final Exams Cancelled, Postponed, and, In Some Cases, Continued Anyway Amid Bomb Scare. The Harvard Crimson. December 16, 2013)

[Some students] had the option of taking the exam at a rescheduled time this week or at the start of next semester, or not taking the exam at all and accepting their current grade. For its part, LS1a required students in the evacuated Emerson Hall exam sitting to make up their missed exams Monday evening or in early spring.

At York University, a fire caused exams to be postponed. (Exams cancelled, residence evacuated after York U fire. Toronto Star. December 13, 2010.)

The Monday afternoon blaze damaged steam boilers and generators used to heat most campus buildings, so the university was forced to postpone exams and send students to alternate accommodation.

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  • I have heard this urban legend too, and I've never read that wikipedia article. Given that the wikipedia article you link has no references either for **or against** the claim, that means this answer is unsourced. – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft May 07 '15 at 22:24
  • *(in response to a deleted comment)*: You didn't make any incorrect claims, but you also did not answer the question. The statement *"That picture comes from an unsourced wikipedia article"* does not answer the question *"If someone dies during a test, does everyone else pass?"*. Therefore this should be a comment, not an answer. – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft May 07 '15 at 22:28
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    As a single data point, the university I am currently at allows a student to pass with credit if a roommate commits suicide. I'm not sure about testing, though. –  May 07 '15 at 23:19
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    @Emrakul: That is not true. Skeptics.SE is not a great place to pass on [old Urban Legends](http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp) without it being noticed! – Oddthinking May 08 '15 at 00:44
  • @Oddthinking You don't receive a GPA that quarter, if I recall correctly - the courses are turned to credit/no-credit. I wouldn't put it here if I didn't recall reading it on a university page :] I'll see if I can double-check it later, though I may not post the policy here because of privacy. –  May 08 '15 at 00:58
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    @Emrakul: Do go and double-check. My money is on no such rule, but I'll change my tune if you provide evidence. – Oddthinking May 08 '15 at 03:46
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    @Oddthinking Well, I checked, and it looks like you're right. Which is confusing, because I read it _somewhere_; I'm just trying to recall where... either way, my apologies! –  May 14 '15 at 17:35