2008 Woodie Awards
EDITORIAL
Honor Statement lacks teeth
Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: Opinions
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Last week the SGA's Honor Statement Working Group wrote a column in this paper detailing the importance and benefits of the document they have produced, and advocated the passage of the statement this spring.
Practically speaking, what is this document? Last week, the working group answered that question this way: "[The honor statement] is a voluntary, non-binding statement of academic integrity." That summation really highlights our main reservation: this honor statement carries no weight.
First of all, what are the motivations behind this initiative? Do we have some type of academic dishonesty epidemic occurring on the Hill? There are no specific or repeated incidents that drive this motion; instead, it seems the motivation for SGA members to establish a statement is simply that we do not have a statement or code and they feel we should. No mention has been made of a higher goal, toward which this document is the initial step.
In the past few years the idea of an honor code has been tossed around by students-specifically members of the SGA-but has always failed because of mandated reporting.
Notably, this statement (a conscientiously different document than previous honor codes) does not include mandated reporting, penalties or any real change in College policy. It is merely designed to get the most students to sign it. It sacrifices credibility for popularity by removing any teeth its predecessors had.
The statement goes into effect when an arbitrary number of students choose to sign it, yet there is literally no difference between campus life before and after its ratification. You will never be held responsible for signing it, you will never be punished for violations any differently than before and you will not be treated differently by faculty either way. The only perceivable difference will be that Admissions will be able to tell prospective students that the College has a student initiated honor statement when asked about an honor code. We should not let outside perceptions of our College drive its policies or dictate our student government's agenda. Instead, the SGA should be driven by real concerns from current students.
We are not trying to tell anyone whether or not to vote for this document-that is for the individual to decide. We merely aim to provide students with another voice on the issue as members of the student government seek your signature in the coming weeks and months. Furthermore, it is our strong belief that the average Colby student lives by an internal honor code, that applies to all areas of life, and does not need a piece of paper to reaffirm this belief.
The effort the SGA has brought to this idea has been impressive. We suggest that they take that energy and organization and attack some important campus issues where there is real student need.
Practically speaking, what is this document? Last week, the working group answered that question this way: "[The honor statement] is a voluntary, non-binding statement of academic integrity." That summation really highlights our main reservation: this honor statement carries no weight.
First of all, what are the motivations behind this initiative? Do we have some type of academic dishonesty epidemic occurring on the Hill? There are no specific or repeated incidents that drive this motion; instead, it seems the motivation for SGA members to establish a statement is simply that we do not have a statement or code and they feel we should. No mention has been made of a higher goal, toward which this document is the initial step.
In the past few years the idea of an honor code has been tossed around by students-specifically members of the SGA-but has always failed because of mandated reporting.
Notably, this statement (a conscientiously different document than previous honor codes) does not include mandated reporting, penalties or any real change in College policy. It is merely designed to get the most students to sign it. It sacrifices credibility for popularity by removing any teeth its predecessors had.
The statement goes into effect when an arbitrary number of students choose to sign it, yet there is literally no difference between campus life before and after its ratification. You will never be held responsible for signing it, you will never be punished for violations any differently than before and you will not be treated differently by faculty either way. The only perceivable difference will be that Admissions will be able to tell prospective students that the College has a student initiated honor statement when asked about an honor code. We should not let outside perceptions of our College drive its policies or dictate our student government's agenda. Instead, the SGA should be driven by real concerns from current students.
We are not trying to tell anyone whether or not to vote for this document-that is for the individual to decide. We merely aim to provide students with another voice on the issue as members of the student government seek your signature in the coming weeks and months. Furthermore, it is our strong belief that the average Colby student lives by an internal honor code, that applies to all areas of life, and does not need a piece of paper to reaffirm this belief.
The effort the SGA has brought to this idea has been impressive. We suggest that they take that energy and organization and attack some important campus issues where there is real student need.
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