Honor Bound

Recent inquiries into the workings of Radcliffe's honor system have produced one significant fact: girls occasionally cheat. And when they do, they usually get away with it. For in the great American system of Fair Play, no one likes to turn in his neighbor.

Although the ideal would be for everyone to be completely on his honor, the fact remains that a college must make sure its examinations are valid, its libraries full, and its social regulations obeyed. The findings of Radcliffe's investigating committee have prompted pessimists to say that human nature being what it is, an honor system just won't work. And these pessimists always trot out a long list of reasons why such a system, a conspicuous success at Princeton, would never work out at Harvard. The community is too large and impersonal, they say. Members of one group don't care what members of other groups think of them, and have even less concern as to whether their cheating could hurt someone else.

Whether this argument applies to Harvard has frequently been debated; that it completely misses when applied to Radcliffe is certain, however. For the Annex is a small, closely-knit place in which everyone eventually comes to recognize nearly everyone else. Violations of the honor system are usually seen; if the girls do not report each infraction, they do remember them. And there is the undeniable fact that at Radcliffe an honor system is established and has functioned with a moderate degree of success for many years. The most precarious stage in the life of any honor system is its beginning; several years must pass before students get used to the novelty of being trusted. During this transition period, many might feel they must cheat simply, in self defense. The system would then collapse before it got started.

But when an honor system is old and respected it can be improved when it lapses into occasional disrepair. There is no reason for Radcliffe to abandon its present system because of failures in certain aspects. But a re-evaluation, and consequent improvement, cannot come from a committee, composed of three girls and two faculty members, meeting in closed sessions. Nor can it come from questionnaires like the one sent out by the Radcliffe News. An honor system will work only if everyone affected clearly understands it and firmly believes in it. Such an understanding can only come through long discussion and debate. Only in Student-Government forums and open programs can Radcliffe talk out its reservations about the system. Examination of the privileges, demands, and purposes would rouse the support which the program needs to survive. Radcliffe's honor system is worth this added effort.