Did You Ever Violate The Honor Code When You Were An Undergraduate?

We asked 25 alumni:

ONLY FOUR ALUMNI actually admitted to cheating on a test or paper, but five others said they had observed someone else violating the honor code. Several alumni mentioned that a primary source of cheating was files of old exams kept by fraternities. A member of the class of '50 admitted to bringing crib notes to

exams. And a member of the class of' 70 told us that he submitted a computer program that he'd had someone else write for him. An other revealing comment was made by an '84: "I never cheated myself, but I think I remember a few hockey players who did."

So how honest are current students? In a poll conducted in 1990 by the Dean's Office and the Student Assembly, 54 percent of undergraduates said they had observed cheating at Dartmouth, and 13 percent said they had used material for a paper without proper quotation or citation. Why are the figures so much higher than what alumni admit to? Perhaps because our alumni poll was less anonymous it was conducted by phone. Moreover, today's students may be better educated about the honor principle than were their predecessors. And their memories of violations are certainly fresher.

The consequences of those violations can be serious: during the 1990-91 academic year, nine students were suspended by the Committee on Standards for flouting the honor principle.