Welcome to Duke! Sign this

In accepting admission to Duke University, students must agree to uphold the Duke Community Standard. On move-in day, students are given a freshly printed copy of “The Duke Community Standard in Practice.” First-years are asked to sign the Duke Community Standard banner at the welcoming ceremony of Orientation Week. The Duke Community Standard is displayed in classrooms across campus, it’s mentioned again on the syllabi distributed during the first week and students may be expected to agree to it again during exams. For some, it may seem like the Duke Community Standard is everywhere, and yet there are still hundreds of cases of misconduct each year.

The Duke Community standard is as follows:

I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic endeavors;

I will conduct myself honorably in all my endeavors; and

I will act if the Standard is compromised.

This commitment to honesty, fairness, respect, and accountability inside and outside the classrooms at Duke aims to build a strong community and encourage graduates to lead honorable lives beyond the university. It’s the goal of the Duke Honor Council to promote these principles across campus, but simply reminding students of the Duke Community Standard may not be enough; the Standard and the core values and principles behind it must be understood, internalized, and acted upon if we wish to turn ethical aspirations into realities. 

To understand the Duke Community Standard, one must not only read each line carefully but also understand the history of the commitment and its role in the community. It’s a fairly new facet of the Duke community: we’ve discussed this history in previous columns. These details behind the Community Standard reveal that Duke is not an institution with a long-standing honor system, but that doesn’t excuse us from dishonorable behavior. Hence, the Community Standard 

The first line of the Duke Community Standard is very straightforward, but it’s important to recognize that it extends beyond exams and graded assignments– we should not lie, cheat or steal on homework, research and all aspects of academia. Students most often encounter the Duke Community Standard inside the classroom, but the second line emphasizes its purview over all facets of life. A challenge with this line, however, is the definition of honorable conduct. In general, honorable actions are honest, fair or worthy of respect; think about whether your family or mentors would be proud of your behavior. The University outlines prohibited behaviors in the Duke Community Standard in Practice, but it’s also important to remember to think about whether your permitted behaviors are truly honorable. Finally, the Spring 2007 addition of the third line—the Obligation to Act—commits students to act when they see violations of the Duke Community Standard. Acting doesn’t require reporting in all cases, but it should aim to correct the situation, put the individual(s) involved back on track, and contribute to building a stronger Duke community in the process. 

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