Harvard's faculty began voting yesterday on limiting the number of top grades professors can award students.

Why it matters: Grade inflation is at a tipping point at Harvard.

• A move to make A grades harder to come by at one of the world's leading universities could influence grading debates at peer institutions.

By the numbers: Solid A's account for nearly two-thirds of all undergraduate letter grades. That's up from roughly a quarter 20 years ago.

• More than 50 members of last year's class graduated with perfect GPAs.

State of play: An online ballot for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences opened Tuesday and closes next week, with results announced May 20.

The big picture: The steady rise of A and B grades at elite universities since the early 2000s has reduced university GPAs as a screening tool for employers and graduate admissions offices.

• In 2010, A's accounted for one-third of all marks, according to an internal Harvard report. By 2025, that number doubled to over 60%.

Faculty are voting on three separate provisions. Each requires a simple majority to pass.

• A cap to limit solid-A grades to 20% of enrolled students in a class, plus four additional A's per course.
• Changes to how internal honors are calculated, moving from traditional grade point average scoring to an average percentile rank.
• Allowing courses to use new "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" marks with a "satisfactory-plus" distinction.

What we're watching: A pre-vote faculty poll showed around 60% of the 205 respondents favored the 20-plus-four formula over an alternative.

Between the lines: Supporters of the cap argue it's intentionally modest as it places no restrictions on A-minuses.

• The four-grade buffer is designed to protect small seminars where a higher proportion of students may succeed.

Yes, but: Critics insist that any restrictions or quota systems undermine academic freedom.

• They say a capped system at Harvard may disadvantage students competing for graduate placements against peers from schools without restrictions.
• Princeton and Wellesley previously adopted anti-grade-inflation policies and later rolled them back amid concerns about student stress, perceptions of quotas and other unintended consequences.
• Princeton's review, however, found no measurable harm to graduates' competitiveness.

What's next: If passed, changes would take effect in fall 2027, followed by a mandatory three-year review.

• As a higher education leader, Harvard's decision could pressure other institutions to revisit their own grading norms.

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Tyler Brown, 46, had left McLean Hospital in Belmont just three days before he allegedly opened fire and wounded two people on Memorial Drive Monday.

• Brown made suicidal statements to his parole officer over FaceTime and brandished a rifle on the call before police could locate him.
• A state trooper and armed civilian ultimately shot and wounded him.

Why it matters: Warning signs about Brown were documented. Police tracked his phone to Cambridge roughly 20 minutes before shots were fired but couldn't reach him in time.

Catch up quick: Brown served five to six years for a 2020 shootout with Boston police.

What's next: An arraignment date is pending.

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🍺 Two managers seeking to buy a Theater District bar told the Boston Licensing Board they want to crack down on underage drinking after detectives found multiple 19- and 20-year-olds with fake out-of-state IDs. (Universal Hub)

🏡 Single-family home sales fell over 12% last month compared with April 2025 as housing inventory remains low, per the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. (Axios)

• Yes, but: New listings are up, which could drive up home sales this summer.

🛣️ A newly constructed ramp linking the Mass Pike to I-495 opened overnight Monday, splitting what had been a single congested access point into two separate exits for northbound and southbound traffic. (Boston.com)

• MassDOT said the previous interchange design contributed to crashes and backups for the more than 100,000 vehicles that pass through the junction daily.
• The full interchange rebuild is set for completion by summer 2028.

✈️ Logan International Airport launched a real-time security wait time feature available through Massport's website and the FlyLogan app ahead of the busy summer travel season. (WCVB)

Harvard University named 1,613 people enslaved by university affiliates in a sweeping new database released yesterday.

Why it matters: It marks the most significant documented expansion of Harvard's ties to slavery since its 2022 report identified roughly 70 enslaved individuals.

• Researchers warn the final count could exceed current figures by a factor of 100, the Crimson reported.
• Nearly 3,000 affiliates' records are still under review.

Catch up quick: Harvard dissolved its in-house Slavery Remembrance Program in January 2025 amid internal disputes over research scope, transferring the work to Boston genealogy nonprofit American Ancestors.

Researchers found 259 confirmed enslavers among Harvard leaders, faculty, and staff.

What's next: Harvard has committed to descendant engagement focused on education and information-sharing, while explicitly ruling out monetary reparations or preferential admissions in the near term.

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🌉 Construction is beginning on a $1.06 billion replacement of the century-old bascule rail drawbridges over the Charles River near North Station. The 6.5-year project expected to go through 2032.

• Swedish construction giant Skanska, in a joint venture with Koch, will replace the two aging bridges and 1.5 miles of track while adding a new platform and two additional tracks to North Station.
• Weekend MBTA service disruptions are expected.

🏗️ Developers restarted plans for an 18-story mixed-use tower at Hood Park in Charlestown, proposing 130 hotel rooms on the lower floors and 108 apartments above.

🧪 Cambridge granted preliminary approval to a $4.5-billion, 18-building mixed-use development called Cambridge Point in the Alewife neighborhood.

• Developer Healthpeak Properties plans to prioritize residential in the first phase, along with a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the MBTA commuter rail tracks.