Meanwhile, at West Point the essence of the honor code is that “a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” The code carries the serious expectation—accompanied by threat of punishment—that students turn in their peers who have violated the honor code or risk violating it themselves.

While at both Haverford and West Point, the honor codes’ jurisdiction extends beyond students’ academic lives, many other schools—such as Princeton and Stanford—have less expansive honor codes that are primarily restricted to matters of academic dishonesty.

Both Hammonds and Undergraduate Council President Johnny Bowman acknowledged that Princeton’s honor code could be a model Harvard might opt to emulate.

Princeton has an Honor Committee, composed of nine undergraduates and three alternate students, that hears and makes recommendations for cases involving charges of academic dishonesty.

On every exam students must write “I pledge my honor that I have not violated the honor code during this examination,” and sign their names. But Peter Dunbar, chair of the Princeton Honor Committee, says that the school’s honor code is much more than a sentence atop an exam page.

“The Honor Code permits students to take ownership of the classroom, of their own work,” Dunbar wrote in an e-mailed statement. “It also underscores a set of values and a focus on integrity that the University and its student body looks to promote, which is in line with our school’s mission and motto.”

“A PARADIGM SHIFT”

The idea of an honor code is part of a broader movement within the College to address issues of academic dishonesty and promote a “culture of greater integrity,” according to Harris. Administrators say they hope it would bring about a change in College’s academic atmosphere.

“All the research shows an honor code does reduce plagiarism and academic dishonesty,” Bowman says.

But beyond just combating academic dishonesty, Harris says the College is hoping to promote a better “community of learning.”

According to Faculty of Arts and Sciences Registrar Barry S. Kane, the current academic environment of the College is a contradictory one.

“In general, we expect students to lead their lives with a level of integrity, and yet when we look at the way we do academic requirements and the way we do exams, there’s a stark contrast to that,” Kane says. “Basically the message we send is we expect you to cheat, and we’re going to do everything we can to stop that from happening.”

Harris echoed Kane’s sentiments, calling the faculty-student relationship at Harvard “sometimes more adversarial than I’d like it to be.”

Adams House Resident Dean Sharon L. Howell­—who went to a college with a honor code—says she hopes to see an honor code adopted at Harvard: “I would be very heartened if we were ready for a paradigm shift.”

Administrators stress that students must be involved and committed to the honor code at Harvard if it is to be a successful endeavor.