Certain issues are always on our minds at Dartmouth, from the frivolous your potential as a Masters player, whether the sandwich line is worth waiting in, whether you should start flitzing with that hottie in your seminar - to the more substantial gendered social spaces, campus diversity, budget cuts. Dartmouth's honor principle, however, is missing from this list of campus' trendy topics, even though it is something that affects us on a near-daily basis. It lingers in the background when we take tests, complete problem sets, write papers or decide to blitz a prof with a fake excuse for missing the 9L. How much do we actually think about the honor principle and how much should we be thinking about it?
In "Sources and Citation at Dartmouth College," which documents the correct manner for citing sources at the College, source citations are described as "the heart of intellectual exchange." By citing your sources, the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric argues, you are legitimizing your own argument, as well as showing respect for the academic discussion in which you are engaging.
The "disrespect" shown by the students who land in front of the Committee on Standards, however, may not be a conscious act. David Becker '13, an RWIT tutor, explained that cases of plagiarism he has seen while reading students' papers are often unintentional and the result of a lack of confidence rather than malicious intent. According to Becker, some students "don't trust their own interpretations of things" and resort to using "someone's academic interpretation because they don't trust their own."
Then again, there are certainly students who intentionally inhibit their own learning and "disrespect" the academic field that they are studying. Maybe they are stressed and crunched for time, or they're too focused on getting an A, so they choose to act in a way that they will regret.
That said, most professors at Dartmouth place a lot of trust in their students.
"We're all adults, we're engaged in the conversation [about] and study of a subject, and with the honor principle I can really treat the students as my equals," explained religion professor Christopher MacEvitt, who does not proctor exams for his classes.
Physics professor Yorke Brown gives quizzes to his classes and then explains the answers immediately afterward, "for pedagogical reasons," while the quizzes are still on the students' desks. This method could make cheating very tempting for some students could easily wait until Brown reviews the quiz to fill in the multiple choice answers. Although students have approached him with suspicions that their peers in the class cheat, Brown rests assured that most of his pupils are honest.
"I know the students; I know what they're doing," Brown said. "If there was cheating going on, it was a select few. I think the overwhelming majority of the students are conscientious."
Despite these feelings of trust toward students, some professors doubt the honor principle's effectiveness and wish it was more strongly adhered to on campus.
"It's not completely effective, but I'm in favor of it and I think it works decently well," said economics professor Meir Kohn.
"I don't know how effective it is, and I'm curious," MacEvitt said. "Sometimes I want to know and sometimes I don't."
Besides being mentioned on the first day of classes and noted in all syllabi, the honor principle is not frequently discussed among students, nor does it define the basis of campus culture. Certainly, the honor principle has not cultivated what Brown calls a "culture of honor."
"There's a difference between having a legal code and an honor principle,'" Brown said. "It's the difference between a society regulated by rules and a society regulated by honorable behavior. In a true culture of honor, you cultivate an atmosphere, an attitude, an approach not compliance with a set of rules."
To further muddy the waters, what about other forms of dishonesty that aren't as explicit as copying answers off a neighbor or plagiarizing an argument in a paper? What about those little white lies students use on occasion to get themselves through the week? You know the drill: "I can't get my paper in because GreenPrint is broken!" or "Unfortunately, I can't make it to class due to my explosive diarrhea." (Professors don't want to deal with that one!) Sure, they'll grant you that extension, but can professors tell when someone is lying? Are these kinds of white lies honor principle violations?
While MacEvitt does not consider excuses to be honor principle violations, Brown said he believes that such unwarranted or insincere excuses are technically violations. Both professors commented that they like to think they can see through students' lies.
Students are similarly ambivalent as to whether they consider white lies honor code violations.
"I feel totally fine about [blitzing excuses to my professor] it's not a big deal. It's one class," commented a '13 female, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of this issue. She did, however, allude to the concept of respect for one's own education, as echoed in "Sources and Citations."
Luke Peters '13, on the other hand, feels strongly about maintaining personal honesty, in and out of the classroom.
"The whole point of the honor [principle] is to uphold a high moral standard," Peters said. "Cheating's obviously a violation of that, but in my opinion, so is lying, especially in an academic context. If you don't have your work done, it's not done, and you can't just make up a free pass to get it done."
Kevin Cox '13 expressed a similar moral obligation to adhere to the honor principle.
"I never tell white lies to professors," he said. "Classy gentlemen just don't do that."
Brown stressed that in an ideal "culture of honor," such as those he experienced while teaching at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech, these white lies wouldn't even be told.
"In a culture of honor, we wouldn't have to worry about that. Members of the community would learn to take responsibility for their actions," he remarked.
Even though we don't discuss the honor principle as much as we complain about the Class of 1953 Commons (get over it already!), it seems that many of us have strong feelings about it. Dartmouth is not a particularly dishonorable place, nor is it a particularly honorable one. Professors have enough confidence in their students to trust them but not enough to believe that the honor principle is completely effective.
