Trust

When I sat down to write my application essays for college, I zoomed through several of them. Many were easy to answer, such as Swarthmore College’s famous essay, “Why Swarthmore?” However, I hit a roadblock when I came to answer Haverford College’s essay. They asked applicants to comment on their honor code. The professors and president of Haverford are very proud of their Honor Code, however, I found it very hard not to criticize the idea of the Honor Code as I wrote the essay. I have always felt that it is a student’s personal responsibility not to cheat. The only person that is harmed by cheating is the individual. The professor does not lose anything and the other students are encouraging the behavior by helping the student to cheat. Personally, I believe that by joining a class, you are agreeing to do the work and learn the material yourself. The professor should reserve the right to fail you on a test if he or she catches you cheating, but there should not be any action taken past that. If an Honor Code had to pass, I would say that it should simply give professors the written power to fail a student for cheating if sufficient proof is given. I believe that a greater environment of trust is created without an honor code. With an honor code, I believe that a rift is created between students and professors since I believe that an honor code inherently says, “I do not trust you.”