Friday, January 11, 2013

The Value of Integrity


Brigham Young University’s biggest problem lies deep within the context of the honor code. The honor code is the foundation of our prestigious university, and is also what makes us unique from any other school in the world. The underlying theme that sums up this code is integrity. 

Now integrity itself is not the problem at hand. The problem arises when students of BYU disregard and disrespect their own integrity as well as the standards of their university. For example, many professors at BYU have assignments that rely on the honesty of the students. This could be a reading assignment for a religion class or a community service requirement for a general education credit. It is too easy for an individual who accidentally forgot about an assignment to lie and ultimately cheat. This dishonest act is demeaning to our school and our beliefs. Not only is it unfair to the students who actually completed the assignment, it also sets a precedence for the individual to be fraudulent in other areas of their lives.

Students who have signed a contract to abide by the rules need to live by them. I do not bring up this issue to state that we need a stricter enforcement of the honor code. It is already enforced enough. What BYU needs are students who are willing to keep their integrity rather than lose it for the sake of a few points in a class. 

No comments:

Post a Comment