Honor Code

Honor codes are still a point of huge discussion: both for and against. I cannot write an honor code for Ursinus, but I do think one should be put in place.

In high school, I had a teacher who was almost completely blind – he could only see a pin-hole space in each eye. Although he wore glasses to help him see what little he could see, it was still very easy to cheat in his class. After a case of blatant cheating, he asked us seniors if an honor code would be helpful and, if so, would we write it. So we took a vote, and the majority said yes, it would be a great help. So we wrote it. It basically said, no cheating, if you are caught cheating, severe punishment (by peers) will be distributed. There were other parts to it, too, but I do not remember them. We also had to re-sign the paper every semester.

I think this code did, in fact, help. I know many people who would have otherwise cheated, but since they signed this sheet of paper, this contract, they did not. Dr. Hayes (the blind teacher) began receiving the varying grades that he should be getting. The code helped us students stay more loyal to ourselves. It was a very interesting thing to watch. One of my friends failed a test, he told me, when he could have glanced over and cheated, making him pass, but he did not. He said he felt too bad going against an honor code everyone else was upholding and he could not do it. Seeing as this friend was a notorious cheater, that meant a lot coming from him.

So I believe an honor code would be helpful. I believe it is worth a shot anyway. The worst that can happen is that it makes no difference, and I somehow think that will not be the case.