In Defense of the Honor Code

Seems like Mr. Peterson’s fifth grader touched a nerve. I’m not sure what can be expected from the ethical development of a 10-year-old, but college students should know what honesty is about.

In the university setting we should continue to rely on the honor system, and to advertise that as integral to our mission. Our students should know that in their academic world their teachers and peers expect them to act with integrity. This expectation carries over into the professions in which integrity is a sine qua non: scientists and engineers don’t falsify data; doctors don’t push for unnecessary treatments; fiduciary advisers don’t swindle.

Policing strategies to enforce honesty does no one any good, not the student, who is demeaned, nor the faculty whose time and effort are wasted. This is a dance that tramples student-faculty bonding. We can imagine escalating efforts that devolve into high-tech policing regimes in which all essays are put through plagiarism detectors, students are put through TSA-like screening on entry to exam rooms, and then are actively surveilled by AI-powered cameras programmed to spot cheaters.

For a path forward on this issue, I would urge that Princeton adhere to the 1967 AAUP Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities, which identifies the faculty as stewards of the academic enterprise. Modification to the honor code should not be imposed by an administration in response to alumni preference but should be the consensus product of faculty deliberation.