Throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, college instructors struggled with how to accommodate the extenuating circumstances confronting students during the pandemic while, at the same time, maintaining course integrity. Instructors made decisions about accepting late assignments, extending deadlines, and relaxing attendance guidelines for students who became ill, served as caregivers, or lost jobs; as well as those whose work hours suddenly increased as essential workers. The number of students reporting anxiety, depression, or suicidal ideation skyrocketed (Son et al., 2020). Instructors were acutely aware that students were struggling, yet also wrestled with soaring instances of academic dishonesty and waning levels of student engagement. Many openly wondered whether learning outcome achievement was even comparable with pre-pandemic norms (Donnelly et al., 2020). This article proposes that learning efficacy in online environments--as exposed during the 2020 pandemic--may be achieved best by approaching a pedagogy within an ethic of care (Gilligan, 1982).