Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-04-26
THE HONOR SYSTEM
IN COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES

students OF 123 universities ana COL
leges in the United States are under
the honor system" according to
bulletin just issued by the United
| States Bureau of Education. or
these. 81 per cent are situated east Of
the Mississippi and south of Ma
son and Dixons line; four per cent are
in New England; only six and one
half per cent are for women, while
IS 1-2 per cent are coeducational.
While the University of Virginia
has almost universally been credited
with being the originator of the hon
or system. the bulletin shows that
priority is also claimed by William
and Mary College of Virginia. This
institution is declared to have had a
form of the honor system in 1878,
and to have introduced it through
it's graduates into the University OF
Virginia. The honor of establishing
the system has also been claimed for
the University of South Carolina.
Among the institutions of the
country that have the honor system
in one or all departments are:
Princeton University. Princeton, N.
j.; Cornell University. Ithaca, N. Y;
Barnard College, New York City;
Washington and Lee University,
Lexington, Va; Smith College, North
ampton, Mass; University Of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. c.; Stevens
Institute of Technology, Hoboken. N.
y; Swarthmore College, Swarthmore,
Pa; Beloit College, Beloit, Wis;
Wesleyan University. Middletown.
Conn; and Randolph Macon Wo-
mans College. Lynchburg, Va.
Among those that have the honor
system 'in spirit but not in FORM"
the bulletin mentions Albion College,
Albion Mich; Dickinson College,
Carlisle, Pa; Bryn Mawr College,
Bryn Mawr, Pa; Mount Holyoke
College, South Hadley, Mass; and
Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre
Haute, Ind.
There are institutions where pc
culiar conditions initiate against the
adoption of the honor system" de-
clares DR.. Baldwin, compiler of the
bulletin. Theological seminaries and
certain military schools are cited in
this connection. st. Joseph's Semin-
airy, st. Joseph. Mo-, reports that
Tie Naturally SOOu CHdTdCleT aspiring
for the priesthood does not require
the honor system On the other
hand, in most military institutions a
breach Of honor is considered so Sc
rious an offense as to have definite
penalties already provided" and no
honor system is considered necessary.
Some institutions frankly oppose
the honor system. Among these are
the Brown University, Providence. r.
l.; Ohio University, Athens, Ohio;
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y;
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me-;
Clark College, WORCESTER Mass;
Goucher College, Baltimore Md, and
Trinity College. Durham, N. C. The
president of Clark College declares
that ito ask a student to sign a pledge
that he has not cheated in an ex-
animation is like asking reputable
man to hand up a sign in his store
that he does not use short weights"
A few institutions are cited as
having tried the system and declared
it a failure. Among these are Frank
lin and Marshall College, Lancaster.
Pa: the State University Of Iowa,
Iowa City; and William Jewell Col
lege. Liberty Mo.
The bulletin gives as types Of con-
situations for the conduct of the
honor system those of Princeton and
Cornell Universities.