The number of reported cases of cheating and plagiarism has risen by a shocking 1000 percent since 1998. Beyond pure statistics, however, I increasingly feel that many students at the College simply do not think cheating is a very big deal. The Honor Code stems from the assumption that most students here don't cheat, don't wish to cheat and prefer Amherst to be the type of place where no one cheats. We feel that through the student-led initiative of an Honor Code, we can hold ourselves accountable and maintain the standards of honesty and integrity that provide the foundation for this College's academic mission.
The objective of the Honor Code is not simply to stop cheating and plagiarism, but rather, as the name suggests, to appeal to each student's sense of honor and dignity, thereby convincing individuals that cheating has no place at our College. Amherst could easily mandate honesty by proctoring exams and running all essays through programs such as "Turnitin.com." (This program, which is currently used by over 1,800 colleges and universities around the country, cross-references papers, problem sets and even Blackboard entries against over 40 million websites, academic journals and magazines.) By embracing the Honor Code, however, students are rejecting the need for a police state. Instead, we insist that it is possible for students to hold themselves accountable for their own academic honesty and to stop cheating without Big Brother watching our every move. In order to preserve the environment of intellectual freedom we currently enjoy, from the open curriculum to unproctored exams, we must accept responsibility for maintaining the integrity of our own academic work. Therefore, the Honor Code is not simply meant to stop cheating and plagiarism, but to promote students' ownership and control over their own academic experience.
So, what exactly is the Honor Code and what does it entail? It may be better to start off with what the Honor Code is not. First, it is important to dispel the notion that an Honor Code implicitly expects you to turn in your fellow students. In no way does the Honor Code create an obligation or expectation that you have to "rat" on your friends, classmates or peers. Secondly, the Honor Code is not an intrusive document that signifies a radical shift in academic or disciplinary policy. Instead, the Code largely consists of existing policy, its core being the three Statements (of Intellectual Responsibility, Respect of Persons and Freedom of Expression) that currently make up the Code of Conduct. By incorporating existing policy into an Honor Code, yet allowing policy to be dictated and changed by the students, the student body is given a sense of ownership over its own academic destiny. Finally, the Honor Code is by no means a program meant to increase administrative control over student affairs. Conversely, the Honor Code really is an exercise in student empowerment and student autonomy over its own academic life. Ratification of the Honor Code would wrest control over the three Statements, the most important guiding principles of student conduct at Amherst, from the administration into student hands. The Honor Code boldly declares that since these statements are ours to follow, they should also be ours to examine, alter and approve.
We understand that an Honor Code is not a panacea to the problems of cheating and plagiarism at the College. There will always be dishonest or desperate students among us and no measure, short of the creation of a police state, will stop them from cheating. We believe, however, that an Honor Code will help transform the intellectual climate of the College to one that truly values integrity and honesty.
Donald L. McCabe at the Center for Academic Integrity has found that students at schools with an Honor Code are 22 percent less likely to cheat and 11 percent less likely to plagiarize. I believe that most Amherst College students are truthful and sincere individuals who would prefer to attend a college where everyone was academically honest. Although technology could force us into honesty, I believe that we can create an "honest college" by appealing to the student body's intrinsic sense of integrity through an Honor Code. Will an Honor Code put an end to academic dishonesty? Of course not. Indeed, the College Council will be implementing a host of other measures aimed at dealing with this problem. What an Honor Code can do is make it fully clear that it is our responsibility as students to maintain an atmosphere of academic integrity at Amherst College. This is an obligation we should take seriously, for nothing could be more sacred.