<p>I just heard a story about my neighbor's daughter's boyfriend. This young man is a junior and wanted to move into his dorm room ahead of the scheduled move-in date. So he obtained a key from the dorm custodian by lying. ( He claimed he was in band and needed to be at school early.) The custodian checked out his story, found it to be false, and reported the student to the housing office. The next day the student was compelled to attend an honors infraction hearing where he was found guilty of an honors code infraction and expelled from the university!!!</p>
<p>This guy was stunned. He had no clue that he would be sanctioned at all. But there it was, in black and white in the school's honors code. If you lie, you can be expelled. So, kids out there, really, really read the honors code and student rights and responsibilities handbook of your school. Take it very seriously. Remember the honors code applies to all aspects of university life, not just academics.</p>
<p>And he's a junior! This sounds like an especially strict college - that is quite a severe penalty for doing something dishonest and dumb. No second chance. What college is this?</p>
<p>I do not know what his options are. But it is heartbreaking. He was in good academic standing and had no other honors infractions. And, to add to the misery, his girlfriend is also in trouble because he gave her the key so she could move in early. She thought he had obtained it honestly. She will have her hearing next week. But her mother (my neighbor) sprang into action immediately and obtained a lawyer to assist her daughter at the hearing. In her case, we are hoping the sanction will be less heavy because the young lady did not lie to anybody. However, this is her second honors infraction hearing. She was sanctioned as a freshmen for underage drinking. And honors infractions are cumulative! So, everyone in the neighborhood is praying that the girlfriend will come out of this unscathed.</p>
<p>Schools with honor codes usually require incoming students to read them at the start of freshman year--some also have students sign agreement with the code. Honor codes don't just address academic cheating, and when you think about it, social responsibility and truthfulness are prescribed by honor codes are life skills/virtues that people really should learn to honor if such isn't already part of their character and behavior.</p>
<p>This is a sad story and I sympathize with the young man, but schools with specific honor codes are usually quite proud of them and do not keep their terms a secret from students. The story is a good reminder of that.</p>
<p>I agree with mattmom - we have read about honor code hearings where a student got into an dining hall "just to talk to a friend" and was caught eating without paying, or taking extra food out of the dining hall, all of those activities are monitored. Some schools have a formal ceremony where each member of the freshman class goes up and "signs the book" - reminds me of Hogwarts in a way. I know for one school (Davidson) the signatures are posted for all to see right in the student union...</p>
<p>In this case I do hope that the girlfriend gets a fair hearing..</p>
<p>I don't want to name the school to protect these kids' privacy. And I am sure they were both educated on the honor code when they entered as freshmen. But, as excitable teenagers overwhelmed by the newness of college, they probably blew it off and did not really think about the implications. It is a shame that a dumb mistake had such severe consequences.</p>
<p>Sad tale but I am not buying it. Sorry. Honor Codes are very specific. Why choose such a school if you don't buy into this part of the deal? Makes NO sense to me. Hire a lawyer, fine. Lying to a lowly staff member to gain access? Please.</p>
<p>
[quote]
**Honor System at Your School</p>
<p>The honesty, trustworthiness, and personal integrity of each student are integral to the life and purposes of the Your School community. This statement is embodied in one of our oldest traditions, and that is the honor system (honor code). When a student signs an application for admission to Your School, they agreed to live by the honor system at Your School. In specific terms that means that you and every other student have agreed not to deceive (lie to) any member of the community, not to steal from one another, not to cheat on academic work, not to plagiarize academic work, and not to engage in any other forms of academic misconduct. It means that we can trust each other, and that we willingly accept responsibility for our own conduct and activities. This is a tradition that goes back to the founding of Your School, and with your participation, it continues to be a cornerstone of our community and our interactions with one another.
<p>Just curious, is this a religious school perhaps? Is it possible the bf thought he and his gf could break some other rules that might exist at a religious school and stay together over night before move in day? I think some schools require guests to leave by a certain time.</p>
<p>Yorkyfan.....not at all. What I am not buying is that this student's actions and the resulting expulsion came as a shock to him. He was a junior and should have known the consequence. Most schools w/ honor code have many hearings and data on the outcomes of such. To not be aware after living on campus for several years.......nope. He knew, he took the risk and he got caught. </p>
<p>The judicial process is also spelled out clearly. I am thinking that you are telling the truth and you don't know all of the facts. Just my humble opinion.</p>
<p>Nice share, it is worth noting as school begins anew. Many folks have no idea how many judicial actions are taken each and every week at schools.</p>
<p>Hazmat, you could be right about that. Thanks for posting the link. Interesting and surprising reading for me! And, this is not a religious school. The kids just wanted to get a jump on move-in day. The girl's mother (my neighbor) was with her the entire time and, unwittingly, assisted both kids with moving in their stuff!</p>
<p>
[quote]
The girl's mother (my neighbor) was with her the entire time and, unwittingly, assisted both kids with moving in their stuff!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Mom is lucky that her daughter wasn't also expelled. If her D attends the same school, she is also responsible for knowing the honor code and broke it by helping her bf move in knowing that his actions were wrong.</p>
<p>I think this is a good warning to both kids and parents. Thank you for posting it. </p>
<p>So many kids think that they can get away with stuff...those underage beers at parties, the lie about being sick or a family emergency to get extra time to turn in an essay, a little plagarism here & there, the false complaints to parents about trouble with roommates (when the reason grades are low are because of missed classes or not doing the work)..... </p>
<p>We are less appalled at the fact that this kid lied to get a key to avoid personal inconvenience (none of us are calling it trespass or breaking and entering) than we are at the penalty. We feel badly for the poor college kid expelled for 'stupidity,' and hope our kids don't make a "mistake" that could affect them so badly. </p>
<p>Fortunately, most of us do ultimately learn to walk the straight & narrow most of the time. Of course, at every age there are still people who don't - for ex., people who file a fake insurance claim or try to pump up their damages to squeeze more money out of an insurance company, drive DWI, write their kids' essays or do their kids' science projects for them, who violate corporate code of ethics, steal office supplies, commit various crimes, etc. </p>
<p>This school is teaching a very harsh lesson. Personally, I think it's too harsh and that this school could teach the kid a more valuable lesson with a lesser "sentence." A suspension, having to take an ethics class or do college-community service to graduate, etc. might all have gotten the point across. In this case, not only the student but his family is being severely punished. I wondered whether the school had an unusually strong emphasis on ethics (for ex., whether it's a religious-affiliated school) and whether this kid had any other issues that might not be known to his GF or her family.</p>
<p>I will definitely use this story to review their personal ethics and the importance of their schools' rules with my kids. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that my kids never get caught when they're make their own stupid decisions....because I know they're going to make stupid mistakes no matter what I say or do.</p>
<p>I would bet money that the school warned students about heavy penalties if they moved in early. Early move-ins probably have been an ongoing problem, and the college decided to crack down. At S's school, students knew that rooms would be checked for students who moved in early, and any students who did would be charged something like $75 a day for the days they moved in before the move-in date. S, a soph, and his friends took this very seriously.</p>
<p>That is a very harsh punishment for trying to move in early. I would consider a bit minor to academic cheating. Especially that this is a junior of a good academic standing and no past infractions.</p>
<p>Schools do seem to be cracking down a bit. My school was very strict- sent out several reminders during breaks that students were NOT to move in before the big day, no matter how many students were moving in (my school would insist on moving ALL years except for freshmen in ONE day, imagine the chaos). My advice to move ins? Just move in later.</p>
<p>Too harsh... besides there are people who would rather be at school than at home!</p>
<p>The student asked for a key to be let into a dorm he was not supposed to be in and lied about it. He could have been anyone.</p>
<p>Good for the staff for turning him in. Its not about moving in early, its about asking for access to a dorm you shouldn't have. What if this was an apartment and the tenant moved in early, would you all go, eh, no big deal? I don't think so.</p>
<p>For safety, insurance, having someone to wathc out like an RA, etc, the school was right to act harshly. If this kid was in the dorm and no one knew he had move in and something happened, whose fault would it be? Picture a dorm with absolutely NO monitoring or security, this kid could have let anyone in with no one watching the check in. At my Ds dorm, there is a person 24-7 watching the door for safety reasons. Would it be smart to have someone wandering the floors with no one at the front desk? I am glad the kid was expelled. Safety at colleges is vitally important and you have to be strick.</p>
<p>And calling them "lowly staff' is not right. They are employees whose job it is to watch and protect the premisses of your children. And good thing they took their job seriously.</p>