Honor System Rejected By Dartmouth Students

Honor went down to a crushing defeat in Hanover, New Hampshire, last week when in a college-wide referendum Dartmouth students voted down a proposal to install such an honor system at their wind-blown hideaway. The college at present operates under a system similar to Harvard's.

Fifty-seven percent of all Dartmouth students voting in the referendum expressed themselves as favoring an honor system, but, under College rules, a 75 percent vote was necessary. The referendum was initiated by the Academic Committee of the Undergraduates Council, but had the necessary vote been obtained, official Dartmouth would have surely given its approval.

Commenting on the college's rejection of the honor system the Daily Dartmouth wrote. "The undergraduate body has voted to postpone temporarily a decision upon the institution of an honor system at the college. This is the only way that the result of Thursday's referendum can be interpreted."

"This should be a clear directive to the Undergraduate Council's Academic Committee to continue its efforts to institute an honor system at the College... Above all, the committee must find a way to bring the honor system before the undergraduate body again for referendum with complete informational--not propagandized publicity."

The Dartmouth itself supported the change

Agitation for the honor system has been rampant at Dartmouth all year. Support for it was led by The Dartmouth and the Academic Affairs Committee, while opposition came from isolated groups of students who protested that such a system would be unworkable and an unfair imposition upon the individual.

Furthermore, claimed the opponents, if the honor system did indeed prove to be unworkable, it would be devilishly hard to get rid of, since College officials would be extremely unwilling to admit that Dartmouth men lacked sufficient honor to keep the system operating.

The college-wide referendum is a fairly new part of the Dartmouth scene. It was first--and last--used two years ago when the college voted to abolish discriminatory clauses in fraternity constitutions.