Wellesley's Fabulous Honor Code

by Allen B. Downey

Part One of Four

Contrary to local mythology, Wellesley has no honor code. We refer to it frequently in conversation and legislation, but there is no document that answers to the name. The Honor Code is a social construct. It exists because we say it exists.

Our castle isn't the only one built on air. Most people think the Rule of Law is a good idea, but as far as I know they don't keep it on display in an inert-gas, climate-controlled case at the Library of Congress.

But there are drawbacks to keeping basic law in the form of a collective hallucination. One is that new arrivals on campus waste time trying to find a copy. The Student Handbook refers to legislation; legislation refers to the General Judiciary home page; you can guess where the GenJudic sends you...

There is a promising page in the Student Handbook entitled "The Honor Code," but the first sentence is, "The Honor Code is inherent in Wellesley's system of democratic government and its accompanying law." It's odd when self-important political figures refer to themselves in the third person; it's downright creepy when apocryphal abstractions do it.

A more important drawback is that no one knows what actions and policies are either required or forbidden by the Honor Code. For example, there are signs in the library reminding students that the Honor Code applies to their dealings with the library. What does that mean? Presumably stealing books is bad, but stealing books is already criminal---we don't need an Honor Code for that! What about overdue books? Sneaking food into the stacks? Is talking too loudly an Honor Code violation or just rude?

It reminds me of a short play by Shel Silverstein, in which a cafe waitress strictly enforces her "No Skronking" sign, but refuses to explain what "skronking" is.

These sentences from the Student Handbook may, or may not, be the definitive statement of the Honor Code:

The Honor Code requires that every student uphold and obey all duly adopted rules of the College for the government of academic work, for the use of College resources, and for the conduct of its members. Each student---degree candidate, exchange student, and special student---is bound by all the rules.

Is that it? Is the Honor Code a meta-rule that requires students to follow the other rules? But if we need a meta-rule to invoke the other rules, don't we need a meta-meta-rule to invoke the meta-rule? Jane, get me off this crazy thing!

Silliness aside, there is real confusion on this campus about what the Honor Code is and why we have one. The effect of this confusion is detrimental to the quality of the Wellesley education and experience. In this series of articles, I will discuss problems with the Honor Code and a few things I think we can do about it. Next time we go "In Search of... The Honor Code!"