Colleges With Enforced Honor Codes

sybbie719
Fri, 05 May 2006 16:14:08 +0000

Dartmouth

“Parkhurst” is one of the scariest verbs in the Dartmouth lexicon. Named for the building in which undergraduate judicial hearings occur, getting “Parkhursted” is a slang term for being suspended or expelled by the College.

Faculty, other students and, in cases of misconduct, Safety and Security can bring allegations against students. Those students suspected of suspension-level offenses are called before the Committee on Standards. Such cases are a small subset of UJA’s 666 cases.

Once allegations are leveled against a student, that student can choose to accept the allegations and have a sentencing hearing with a dean or to refute the charges and have a hearing before the COS, Director of UJA April Thompson said.

David Chattman '08, who recently returned from a three-term suspension, faced sanctions due to violations of the honor principle in a freshman English class last winter.

Chattman opted for a hearing and said the process was very intimidating.

“The trial is pretty daunting and an intimidating experience,” he said. “There are three teachers and three students and a dean who, beforehand, come up with questions. You get to have an advisor but they’re not really there to help you out, just calm you down.”

After repeated alcohol violations, Kendrick Li '08 conceded his culpability and chose to have a sentencing hearing with the dean, but said that he regrets that decision. He said that students are often stressed and frightened when they face serious charges, but those who stay calm and approach their hearings with rational defenses can improve their situation.

Many students are concerned with the number of honor violation cases heard by COS.

Sayat Ozyilmaz '08, whom COS placed on probation for violations of the honor principle, said that, throughout the process, many students have a subconscious paranoia about getting “Parkhursted.”

“Everyone sees it as this source of enigmatic fear; they don’t know anything about the procedure,” she said.

Angela Fang '07 expressed concerns about violating the academic honor principle unknowingly.

“I always wonder if I could still be caught on a technicality even though I could be so well-intentioned to credit every possible bit of work to the correct author,” she said.

Other students feel that such fears are trivial, claiming that it is not difficult to obey the honor code.

“It is your responsibility to educate yourself about the Standards of Conduct,” Kirsten Wong '06, a member of COS said. “I feel that if you are a responsible person, we aren’t asking too much of you.”

Jared Hyatt '06, who also serves on COS, said that professors can do a lot more to prevent uncertainty about the honor code.

“I think professors should be more explicit explaining what students can and cannot do in collaborating with one another,” he said. “I think many cases would be avoided if professors spent an extra ten minutes describing what is acceptable behavior.”

The standard sanction for an honor code violation is a four-term suspension, but Thompson stressed that COS sentences individuals on a case-by-case basis and, therefore, fears of lengthy suspensions for minor infractions were misplaced.

“Many students make confusions in citations who did not get a four term suspension because that is not appropriate,” Thompson said.

“The sanctions are always deliberated and voted on. We match the sanction to the case. While there may be ‘standard’ sanctions, they aren’t fixed and in stone,” Wong assured.

Chattman said that, although he understood the need for strict sanctions, the penalties levied against students are often extreme.

"Honor principle violations are treated as murder here.