Seventy-six students who had all but given up hope will get higher grades in History 161a, as a result of a special vote of the Faculty on Tuesday. The extraordinary action came at the request of Frank B. Freidel, professor of History and head of the course, because of irregularities in the grading of final exams.

Freidel returned to Cambridge early in February from India--where he had been on a lecture tour sponsored by the State Department--to find numerous complaints about the grading of final exams.

Freidel was so upset by the reports that he hired a grader with his own money to reread the bluebooks. He also read many of them himself. According to Freidel, one of the course assistants had made "several errors in judgment," which necessitated the changes in grades.

Grade Change Largest on Record

A total of 150 students were enrolled in History 161a, and the number of grades changed appears to have been the largest on record. The Faculty has approved grade changes in the past--usually one or two at a time--but made an exception for History 161a because the professor had been out of the country when the exams were graded.

Students whose grades have been changed will be notified by the Registrar's Office, which will send out corrected grade slips.