Duke Honor code 'goes all the way'

In Tal Hirshberg's column "A Couple Things to Make You say HMM," Tal expressed his concerns with the current Duke Honor Code, now known as the Duke Community Standard. Tal insists that if you're going to have an Honor Code, then "do it all the way." The Duke administration, the Undergraduate Judicial Board, DSG, and the Honor Council have worked hard over the last year to do just that: make the Duke Honor system more complete, or done "all the way."

The signing of the Community Standard is an affirmation by each student that they agree to the principle of integrity on which Duke is completely dependent. The signing ceremony is not carried out due to distrust in students, but rather carried out due to complete trust in students. The ceremony is just that, a ceremony--no one checks the parchment to ensure that every student has signed, rather, it serves as an opportunity for students to voluntarily sign their name to the very pledge of "respect" that we all find so necessary.

Tal insists that a two-semester suspension is not lengthy enough for students that have been caught cheating and at the same time he urges the community to adopt a general principle of expulsion for all students found cheating. Tal also advises, however, that Duke trust its students more. In an effort to fulfill both of these near contradictory wishes, it is necessary to point out that Duke does trust its students, despite the fact that sometimes students do get caught up in the heat of exams and other pressures and cheat. Duke has enough trust in its students to believe that they are responsible enough to learn from their mistakes.

Lastly, Tal contrasts Duke's honor system with that of the University of Virginia, a school that treats "their Honor Code seriously." He points out that UVa students can take their exams on their own schedule. The Duke Honor Council has been pushing for such legislation for a very long time. Though that legislation remains pending, just last year we worked with other student groups to make the Dean's Excuse policy more amenable for students who fall ill before an exam.

Similar movements in that direction, such as scheduling exams on one's own time, are options that Duke is willing to look at down the road. It is important for Duke students to take the Community Standard seriously, as the Duke administration has put their trust in us that we will not cheat. If we abide by these standards and do not tolerate cheating in our community, than we will have more opportunities to make our lives easier in the years to come.

As pointed out in an email from one concerned student, "Duke University is not a criminal organization and encouraging a code of silence is ultimately detrimental to the community as a whole. If cheating is a serious enough transgression that some universities terminate a student's right to attend college over it, shouldn't it be serious enough to not look the other way when we see it occur?"

Tal's column highlighted some very interesting and pertinent concerns with the Duke Community Standard; hopefully it is clearer to him and to the entire student body that Duke has fulfilled many of the wishes that he has laid out. Most importantly, though, one thing remains common in our thinking: Duke students will not tolerate academic dishonesty.

Robert McDonald
Chair, Duke Honor Council