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The Spectator
Order in the Court: the Honor Code
by Jason Mariasis '12Opinion Contributor
We supposedly have an honor code here on campus, but I'm starting to question whether that is actually true. When deciding to come to Hamilton, we made a commitment to abide by the Honor Code, which, in my opinion, plays a huge role on campus and is an integral part of who we are and what we stand for. Without the prevalence of the philosophy and reality of the honor code, Hamilton would be a very different place. I'm now concerned that we, as the Hamilton community, are losing track of the honor code and are even losing a sense of basic trust with other people.
A Hamilton senior created the honor code in 1908, and it was eventually voted into existence by the entire student body in 1912. As the College website states, "Since [1912] the Honor Code has developed into one of the most respected institutions at Hamilton, promoting a rare form of trust between students and faculty as well as binding sense of integrity and responsibility among fellow students…the Hamilton Honor Code remains a source of pride for all those associated with the college."
About a month ago, I began to feel that the Honor Code is no longer fully a part of our community and that it is no longer cherished by some students and faculty. Before an economics exam, the professor told the class to put all backpacks and coats up front and that only basic calculators were allowed (as opposed to graphing or programmable ones). After the test, I had a short talk with him about why graphing calculators were not allowed and why he did not trust us with our bags and coats. He said it was department policy and he simply had to abide by it.
Many other students in the class were upset as well by the breach of trust that took place, and interestingly enough, many brought that trust topic up to me in conversation when discussing the exam afterwards, without my even mentioning it. It was not only I who was upset; it was a significant portion of the class. That showed me that the Honor Code is greatly valued by the majority of students.
At that point, I contacted Professor Stephen Wu, chair of the Economics Department, to ask him about the department's policy and why it was instituted.
"We have had a fair number of students complaining about other students cheating during tests and they have often asked us to monitor exams and be tighter about ensuring cheating does not take place," said Wu.
While that policy was a response to requests from students worried about cheating, the response directly contradicts the essence of the Honor Code on campus.
Interestingly enough, other departments do not seem to have a cheating problem, or they simply do not acknowledge that a problem exists. The Biology Department, for example, trusts students with take home exams. The Mathematics Department does not proctor tests and will even let a student take a test wherever he or she would like.
So which departments are doing the right thing? Should departments be concerned about cheating like the Economics Department is? After all, honest students raised the issue and the professors are tryingto be responsible. Or, should departments trust students as the Biology and Mathematics Departments do?
Hamilton either has an Honor Code or it does not. It must be fully realized, with no discrepancies across departments. To me, the full trust represented by the Honor Code is a must and is something that attracted me to this school from the very beginning. Honesty is trusted and respected here. If we lose this value, the environment, culture and character on this campus will be negatively altered. The Honor Code and this trusting atmosphere shape who we are and how we think. We as a community cannot have an environment that is controlled and restricted by a dishonest minority, when it is honest students who make up the majority. The latter group should not be punished for the shortcomings of the former.
With that said, cheating is unfair to those students who actually do their work and honestly earn their grades. I would, therefore, call upon the student body to change the punishment for cheating.
Currently, as stated in the Honor Code, "such dishonesty will often result in removal from the course, assignment of an XF for the course, or separation from the College community, or some combination of these." I think if a student is caught cheating, in any sense of the word, and it is proven that his intent was to cheat, he should be unquestionably expelled from our honest community at Hamilton College after the first offense. Because we are intellectual, moral and mature adults, this punishment should make each and every student in the cheating minority understand the value the student body places on trust and honesty. That should make each and every student in the cheating minority understand the importance of trust and honesty here on campus like the rest of us do.
Each of you, as students, also need to make a commitment to enforce the Honor Code if it is indeed important. Professor Peter Rabinowitz, a member of the Honor Court and professor of Comparative Literature, pointed out that the Honor Code system only works if we as students "police" ourselves. He mentioned that the students who cheat are injuring other students but those other students don't report cheaters.
Additionally, Wu stated that, "While I think the idea of the Honor Code is good, its success really hinges on students being willing to enforce it with each other." Ideal situations are preferable where no one would cheat, but unfortunately, there are realities. Perhaps there is a trust spectrum, where neither full trust nor distrust is present, since a perfect system is not possible.
But if we did not have full trust in each other, the Hamilton environment would negatively change since people would consider it distrusting. We need to keep integrity and moral values in our community since we have seen what the world becomes without them.
The Honor Code and a trusting environment are essential to what Hamilton stands for and is all about. Many students believe trust is a crucial component of their education. We as a community either live by the honor code or we don't, but we must make that choice so each department can follow accordingly. We must be cautious in our decision. If we lose the Honor Code, we will fully lose trust, and if we lose trust, we will lose our character. We will lose us. We will lose Hamilton.