New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-24
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS.
NEWS OF THE COLLEGES AND UNIvER-
sITIEs-BRIEF NOTES OF INTEREST.
THE HONOR SYSTEM IN ExAMINATIoNs-ITs
SUCCESSFUL WORKINGS AT PRINCE
TON UNIVERSITY.

Princeton. n. j., Feb 23.-Seven years ago the
honor system in examinations was begun at Prince
ton. The example of this institution has been fol-
lowed by other colleges with more or less success
With the exception of Yale, Harvard Pennsylvania
and Brown, most of the large colleges have sub
sequently introduced similar systems, though they
differ much in the details of organization and pro-
cedure Wherever such a system has been tried
and abandoned, the reason may always be found
in the fact that the movement emanated from the
faculty and not from the students Such system
is necessarily founded on the sentiment or the
individual students, expressed in public opinion
which withholds the honor and character OF
gentleman from man who lies, even though these
falsehoods only in recitations and examna-
lions, circumstance which once exculpated him.
In 1893 the conditions of Princeton very ia
vorabe to the public expression Of such senti-
ment The college not very large, all the stu
dents closely associated with one another and
had common interests while the spirit or democ-
racy for which Princeton stands had been disgrace
fully shocked by recent wholesale cheating
STUDENT MOVEMENT.
The Princeton movement, 1t may be affirmed,
without detracting in the least from the merlteo
praise of the system which has been In operation
for many years in the University OF virginia
was distinctly an independent movement The stu
dents were gentlemen, and demanded that they be
treated as such. The system has as Its basis the
idea that 1t is human nature for man to do what
is right II he is trusted and to do wrong II hemed
in by all sorts of restraints, detectives, OpOH
the petition from the undergraduates in January
1888 that the examinations be conducted that
the students be put upon their honor as gentlemen
the faculty placed the examinations In the contro
of the students and agreed to exercise no super
vision 1t was provided that each student should
subscribe at the end of his paper the following
declarations "I hereby pledge my honor as gen
tleman that during this examination 1 have neither
given nor received assistance" The examinations
were held under these conditions, and number OF
men were suspected Of cheating. A committee OF
students appointed to investigate Two FRESH
men and two sophomores were found guilty out as
this was the first prosecution the punishment was
lenent. The men received the choice or expulsion
or of confessng to the professor and of requesting
another examination. One man refused either al
tentative and was compelled to leave town.
HOW VIOLATIONS ARE PUNISHED.
After two years Of fair successful trial Of the
system, the students adopted formal constitution
Sin order to preserve more perfectly the nign
standard of honor recognized by the establishment
of the honor system to regulate the procedure
and organization Of an undergraduate committee Oh
investigation and punishment, and to insure It's
continuous and uniform action" To this commit
tee all suspicious reported by the students
who are in honor bound to report II they suspect
man of cheating. It then Institutes regular court
Of Justice summoning witnesses on each side ana
gathering all available evidence If five Of the six
members decide that the man is guilty the COM
mittee forwards brief of the evidence without the
names of the witnesses and It's Recommendation
of punishment to the faculty The defniteness or
this recommendation is OF the bulwarks of the
system There Is leeway for personal preJu-
dice or sentiment A is innocent or guilty In
this exact definition OF the offence the honor sys-
TEN is superior to and more efficient than the re-
cent hazing resolutions which leave II TO the
individual student draw the line between permits
sfhIA "horseplay'' and brutal hazng. If the con-
victed student is a freshman the committee recon-
mends suspension for one college term, because an
entering student may be slow to catch the spirit
Tho Arc III
an upper class the recommendation is imme-
date expulsion. The faculty has never failed 10
adopt the committees recommendation without
qualification although they are not pledged to do
so for they are unwilling to compromise their own
Freedom of action and responsibility TO the parents
Violations of the honor system are interpreted
ito consist in any attempt to receive assistance
from written aids or from any person or ms paper
or in any attempt 10 give assistance, whether the
one so doing has completed his paper or not
This rule holds within and without the examination
room during the entire time in which the examlna-
ton is in progress-that is, until all papers nave
been handed in In other words. 1t is the attempt
to cheat and not the mere perjury Of signing the
pledge alone that is criminal. The pledge is con-
sidered a formal acknowledgment by the stu
dent of the conditions under which the examination
is held A man enters an examination without
feeling that he going to be watched; he is on his
honor and knows it. He is at liberty to converse
with his neighbor and has the privilege Of leaving
the room at will. The professor in charge Is en-
spying over the Many professors make
point of being absent from the room, as a proof
of their trust in the students. The professor is
uecessarafly present only to answer questions Of
information concerning the Interpretation of the
examination paper and to collect the papers at the
close of the examination.
| FACULTY ENCROACHMENTS DENOUNCED.
The students are very bitter against any en-
| croachment upon their rights by the professors.
They crticise the suggestions OF some professors
that students themselves in alternate seats
! only though such suggestions arise probably from
hygienic motive. They denounce openly the single
! professor who asks them not to leave the room.
| A professor is not supposed to question the con-
! duct OF a student during the examination. But II
! in looking the papers he discovers unmis-
taxable signs of cheating, he must hand the paper
! and the evidence, TO the faculty, but to the
student committee for action. Such is the system.
| It is regarded by the student as an essential,
| integral part of Princeton life which will be
| abandoned All the leading professors speak of it
in terms of the highest praise; II relieves them of
| the disagreeabe duties of ordinary pro-
fessor's life
| ing known to have occurred Only two cases
have arisen this academic year, and both of the
men suspected have been fully exonerated. Cheat
| ing has therefore been reduced almost to nothing
and every man receives the just reward of his
labor. The examinations are conducted as orderly
before and the whole morale OF the students is
elevated. There is a healthy, manly and moral
offender from its midst "as plague stricken man."
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
| DEBATING INTERESTS-THE UNION SITE
SCANDINAVIAN CONCERT.