[6][7] This version provides the premise for the films Dead Man on Campus and The Curve, as well as episodes of several television series.
Broiled Again!, urban legend expert Jan Harold Brunvand investigated the claim that a student whose roommate commits suicide will receive straight As for that semester.
[6] Sociologist William S. Fox described this legend and variants, such as the rule applying to any death of a roommate; he also concluded that the claim has no basis in fact.
[10] Many schools and jurisdictions, while not adopting any blanket rule as claimed by the legend, may make allowances or adjustments for individual students in cases of hardship.
[15][16] Beginning on December 31, 2019,[17] some students in the United States of America and Canada advocated for various forms of pass by catastrophe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.