Strengthen the Honor Code

Pining for a past golden age may be misguided, reflecting a failure to recall the problems of that (and every) time. Failing to remember the lessons of the past is another matter, reflecting a failure to appreciate danger.

The Honor Code might be viewed as a bit of quaint anachronism carried over to the present, but its failure to function should be viewed as a warning.

Education should serve to do more than help us get jobs. It should help prepare us to meet the challenges of life, to craft a compass to navigate a world in which we must make difficult choices.

Today, as in the past, we confront efforts around the globe to tear down institutions and ridicule norms developed in the knowledge that we are far from perfect, to help protect us from ourselves.

The Honor Code represents an expectation of integrity and ethical behavior. If it has not been functional in the face of AI, seeking a way to enable it to be would be appropriate.

We need more people in our society who don’t cheat not because they can’t but because they shouldn’t, and who have the strength to take action when the ethics of others fail.

At a time when many question the value of the Ivy League and look in dismay at actions of its graduates, Princeton should be doing all it can to strengthen rather than dismantle such an institution and the essential norms it has fostered.

Barr Weiner, ’91
History Major