Problem lies with people, not with Honor Code

Problem lies with people, not with Honor Code

ATLANTA
November 6, 1998

What is wrong with the honor code that we have here at Tech? After all, it was formulated in response to the need for integrity in today's students. It was carefully written, but still left room for individual professor's preferences, and it is being kept up to date by an Honor Advisory Council.

Yet the honor code has not done its job. Dean Boyd has heard around 100 violations since only July, and I know of no instances where a student was intending to cheat in some form on a test or assignment and then realized that this would violate the honor code and held themselves back.

The problem is not with the code, but with a simple fact of human nature we don't follow the rules. No matter who we are, we can never really do what is right. If we are all honest with ourselves, we will realize that we never really act how we should. Rules with associated punishments may deter us from certain behaviors, but rules never change our hearts and intentions. In fact, rules such as the honor code may even make the problem worse.

Consider the child told not to touch the expensive vase. He may not have even considered touching the vase, but when presented with the rule he will grab at the vase as soon as the adult turns around. It is the same with the honor code. Now that we have the honor code, there is controversy across campus about the present state of honor.

Is there a solution to this problem of honor and of our misbehaving in general? Fortunately there is. Jesus said that everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin, and indeed we are trapped in our inability to act as we really should. In Romans, however, Paul writes the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Jesus death on the cross and resurrection not only frees us from sin, but also gives us power over death through life in Him.

Mark Birney
gt4650b@prism.gatech.edu

Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board

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