As students funneled out of the Chapel Thursday afternoon, they were asked, per tradition, to pledge to uphold honor at the University. This year, however, marks the first year the incoming class put their names to the new Duke Community Standard, which replaces the former undergraduate honor code this fall.
During Thursday's convocation, the Class of 2007 was reminded repeatedly of the University's expectations. President Nan Keohane cautioned students to remember their personal dignity and Duke Honor Council Chair Robert McDonald reminded them that "the foundation of this University does not lie on the gothic stones before us, but within its students and faculty."
The Community Standard has three main differences from the old honor code, which was established in 1993. First, it strengthens the honor code's "non-toleration clause," which required students to report incidents of academic dishonesty but did not require students to name the offenders. Now, students are expected to cite specifically the student they are accusing, if known.
Judith Ruderman, vice provost of academic and administrative services, said this policy will be essential to the judicial process in cases of academic dishonesty, as the accuser can be more readily called upon as a witness during the judicial process. Although the accuser will not be forced to testify, the entire process will be more open because the accused will know exactly who accused him, Ruderman said.
The Community Standard also provides the possibility for one-time mediation for minor, first-time offenses. Under the old honor code, academic dishonesty cases always went directly to the judicial system. Now, however, a faculty member who learns of a student's dishonesty but judges the infraction to be minor may settle the matter with the student outside the judicial system.
The Dean of Students Office will still monitor the system and will keep a record of the mediation process, but the offense will not go on the student's permanent record.
Ruderman said this aspect of the Community Standard encourages more student-faculty interaction--an element she said was essential for the University to truly work under a self-governing honor code system.
The third major change from the old honor code involves the punishments doled out after an incident of academic dishonesty. Previously, students were punished under a two-semester suspension policy. Now, punishments will be tailored more to the severity of a student's infraction.
Although the new Community Standard may be most prevalent in the classroom, advocates of the new policy insist that it can and must be applied to all aspects of a student's life at the University.
Avery Reaves, Duke Student Government vice president of academic affairs, said the honor code that students have been signing since 1993 fell short of those codes from schools with historically strong systems of academic integrity.
"The code was given due lip service but was in practicality seen as clumsy and peripheral, as President Keohane has described it, to students' day-to-day lives here at Duke," Reaves said. "At Duke we seek not to build simply a community of great scholars but also a community of great citizens, in their years here and in their lives to follow."
Ruderman said the exact wording of the Community Standard was a topic of much discussion over the last year, as administrators wanted students to uphold the standard in their non-academic spheres as well.
"Last year, we hounded the faculty to talk to their classes about the honor code," Ruderman said. "We worded the Community Standard to make sure that students knew exactly what was expected of them. It's a two-way street if we want to create a community that is truly honorable, so we have to have high expectations for students as well as faculty."
Administrators say their next challenge will be in educating students about the new Community Standard. McDonald has already told the Class of 2007 that to cheat is to violate "the very principle on which our community is dependent," and the new freshmen have already promised to uphold that principle by signing their names to the Community Standard. But that is certainly not the last they will hear of it.
The Duke Honor Council will present the Community Standard again during first-year orientation. Throughout the school year as well, Ruderman and Reaves said they plan to expose students to the new standard by encouraging faculty to go over it in their syllabi and even giving smaller group presentations in residence halls.
"This is a gradual process, but if we get out there and keep the word out about the Community Standard, it will be something that will be planted here and left to grow," Reaves said.
Many members of the Class of 2007 said they were optimistic about Duke as a university with a strong self-governing honor system.
"I think most students will take [the Community Standard] seriously," said Josh Posen, an incoming freshman from Toronto. "Especially after signing it, people who are tempted to cheat might think, 'I already committed not to.'"
Others, however, said they thought the Community Standard would have little practical effect. "If you were going to cheat in the first place, you still would, regardless of the Community Standard," said Caitlin Vandevander of Silver Springs, Md. "There's a lot of pressure to sign the code when you come out of the Chapel because everyone's signing it anyways, so it might not mean a lot."
Los Angeles native Peter Moon struck the middle ground: "It might not be feasible, but it's still good to have it, at least formally," he said.
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