A spokesperson with Cal Poly confirmed Friday that the University agreed to change Kristin Smart's transcripts to "w's" to reflect "withdrawn."
According to a petition, Cal Poly's final grades for Kristin Smart reflected all F's and one incomplete for the quarter, after not showing up for her finals.
Smart disappeared on May 25, 1996, only a few days before finals began. She was a 19-year-old freshman at the time.
The petition was created to ask the governing body at Cal Poly to amend Smart's transcripts "to reflect her legacy honorably."
"I felt this overwhelming feeling to do something, like I need to do something," said Kristie Sheets, petition creator.
University policy states that the Registrar's Office can make necessary changes to a student's transcript after receiving official notice of a student's death.
On Friday, Media Relations Director Matt Lazier told KSBY in a statement: "In the years immediately following her disappearance, Kristin Smart was not legally considered deceased. As such, the university took no action with her final transcripts."
Lazier goes on to say, "Even after she was declared legally dead, the Registrar's Office never received an official notice. Therefore, her final transcripts remained unchanged."
University officials say after learning of this, their senior leadership immediately instructed the Registrar's Office to make the necessary changes. Those changes were made on Friday, Feb. 7.
As of Friday afternoon, the petition had over 4,000 signatures
Advocacy groups say this isn't the first time they've tried to get the university to change Kristin's final grades.
"This is not our first attempt or our community's first outcry. We have attempted to contact them for almost 24 years now," said Marie Inman, Warriors for Kristin Facebook page admin.
Inman and Warriors for Kristin hope Friday's news is a step in the right direction for Kristin and her family.
"Kristin worked really hard in school and it's important to her parents that her grades be amended. It was due to this tragedy that she ended up with an F it had nothing to do with who Kristin was," said Inman.
Lazier was not sure whether Smart's family had been notified of the transcript changes.
KSBY reached out to the smart family spokesperson about the change but he says the family does not have a statement at the time.
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