Haverford College - Honor Code

Honor Code

In 1896, the students and faculty of Haverford voted to adopt an Honor Code to govern academic affairs. Since then, every student has been allowed to schedule his or her own final exams. Take-home examinations are also common at Haverford. These exams may include strict instructions such as time limits, prohibitions on using assigned texts or personal notes, and calculator usage. All students are bound to follow these instructions by the Code.

Originally conceived as a code of academic honesty, the Honor Code had expanded by the 1970s to govern social interactions. The code does not list specific rules of behavior, but rather outlines a philosophy of trust, concern, and respect for others that students are expected to follow. When a student (or other community member) feels that another student has broken the Code, he or she is encouraged not to look the other way but rather to confront the possible offender and engage in a dialogue with him or her, before taking matters to an Honor Council which can help mediate the dispute. Ideally, many potential violations are worked out through dialogue (mediated or not) and common understanding.

Student government officers administer the Code, and all academic matters are heard by student juries. More severe matters are addressed by administrators. Abstracts from cases heard by students and joint administrative-student panels are distributed to all students by several means, including as print-outs in mailboxes. The trial abstracts are made anonymous by the use of pseudonyms, which are often characters from entertainment or history.

The student body convenes every semester in a plenary session with a 50 percent quorum. At these meetings, the Honor Code or Student Constitution can be amended, and at Spring Plenary the student body votes to put the Honor Code up for ratification (now done electronically with 2/3 quorum). In addition to revisions of self-governance, the student body debates resolutions that get passed to the faculty and administration for approval and action.

The Honor Code is touted by the Office of Admissions, and every student is required to sign a pledge agreeing to the Code prior to matriculation. Unlike Honor Codes at institutions such as Brigham Young University, which are imposed on the students by the administration, the Haverford Honor Code is entirely student-run. The Code originated with a body of students who felt it necessary, and current Haverford students administer and amend it every year.