Senate to consider honor code
As an Eastern student, do you promise not to lie, cheat or steal?
“Sure,” said Mike Kosiak, a sophomore undecided major. “Sometimes I lie, but they’re little white lies.”
Are you sure?
“OK,” said Thomas Culp, a senior political science major. “But I’m not saying I would tell the truth always.”
Student Government members are currently feeling out students’ opinions about the idea of a student pledge, in which all students would promise not to lie, cheat or steal.
While the pledge would not be legally binding, said Kristen Rutter, vice president for academic affairs, it would be a good idea for students to hold themselves to a certain moral code.
A student pledge “would bring additional respect” to the school, Rutter said.
Rutter said she got the idea of a student pledge from a honor code program at Texas A&M University.
Forrest Lane, student body president at Texas A&M, said his school has had a honor code system since its founding in 1876.
Texas A&M’s honor code, which maintains that “Aggies do not lie, cheat or steal and will not tolerate those who do,” has helped create better morals among the student body, Lane said.
“Anytime you hold people to high expectations, you have high quality,” he said.
The code also gives students at Texas A&M greater pride in their school, Lane said.
“It’s a value people want to see,” he said. “People want to have pride in the school.”
Rutter stressed that the idea of a student pledge at Eastern is still in its beginning stages.
“We’re just surveying students right now,” she said.
Rutter said the few surveys she has seen indicate support for the pledge.
“I think there would be general support for the pledge,” said Amanda Grindley, a junior economics major. She added that a student pledge would make people think more about their morals.
Some students, though, believed the pledge was pointless.
“It seems like a ridiculous pledge to have,” said Ben Eagleson, a sophomore English major. “These are pretty much the standards people are held to anyway. I don’t think they have to sign a pledge about it.”
