Students propose integrity pledge

Furman is the type of place where you can leave your laptop out in the James B. Duke Library and expect it to still be there when you get back. Despite the pervasive sense of trust on campus, Furman has neither an outright honor code nor a clear philosophy of personal integrity. One group of students is seeking to change that.A student group called the Integrity Committee has developed an integrity pledge for Furman University. The pledge will be voted on for adoption by the student body as part of the vote for Homecoming Court. Though the pledge is not an honor code, it emphasizes personal integrity in terms of humility, respect and responsibility.

The Integrity Committee itself is comprised of approximately 15 students and has been officially meeting at least once a month since spring 2009. It is entirely student-run and student-led, although Student Services Coordinator Carol Daniels has served as a mentor in the process.

"We're just trying to get this pledge to try to write down how Furman students are expected to behave as individuals and as a community," said sophomore James Wade, a member of the Integrity Committee. The committee is willing to revise the pledge if the student body expresses interest in doing so.

Members of the Integrity Committee are aiming for a ceremony at the beginning of each academic year in which all freshmen are given the opportunity to sign a physical copy of the integrity pledge, thereby establishing a new Furman tradition while simultaneously stressing the importance of integrity.

Provided that the student body approves of the integrity pledge, other goals of the Integrity Committee include finding the funding so that copies of the integrity pledge can be posted in all academic rooms and organizing Cultural Life Program events related to cheating, plagiarism and integrity.

"This isn't an honor code by any stretch, but if students want to take it there, it can be taken there," said senior Sally Morris.

The pledge will not change Furman's academic integrity policy or alter the role of the Academic Discipline Committee, the organ that handles academic misconduct cases.

The idea to create an integrity pledge was originally brought forth in April 2008 by senior Spencer Conner and Will Walker, who graduated in 2008. Walker "had a similar pledge at his high school and saw.that Furman could possibly benefit from having such a pledge," said Morris.

Over the past several decades, there have been multiple failed attempts at creating a full-fledged honor code at Furman. This is part of the reason the Integrity Committee has focused instead on creating an integrity pledge. Considering that previous efforts at an honor code have been rejected either by the students or by the faculty, the committee has been periodically consulting with Dean of Faculty John Beckford.

Some of the earliest honor codes in the United States were created around 150 years ago but were intended to address social misconduct. College students "were throwing bricks through windows. They were writing slander in the hymnals in the Bibles. [They were] doing pretty despicable things," said Brandon Inabinet, a professor in the communication studies department who researched honor codes for his master's thesis.

Honor codes gradually began to include academic integrity, and now there are schools like Haverford College, in Haverford, Pa., that have comprehensive honor communities. Each year, a quorum of 50 percent of the Haverford student body must meet to discuss possible changes in the honor code.

By contrast, academic integrity policies at schools like the University of Maryland at College Park, in College Park, Md., barely include any substantial student involvement or even awareness.