Article April 2, 1966 Issue

Signs of the Times

Robert H. Hamill

The Link

The Reverend Robert H. Hamill, D.D.
Dean of Marsh Chapel Boston University
in The Link, a Protestant magazine for Armed Forces personnel
Washington, District of Columbia

Morality on the modern campus may be no worse than in times past, but it is certainly different. ...Studies suggest that 40 to 80 percent of students cheat more or less....The cause of cheating is found in the nature of the moral revolution itself....Many students, as a result, come out with a sell-centered morality....

Thus when they ask. Shall we cheat on this exam? they answer either yes, because we need a better grade than we can earn, or no, because we might get caught and be embarrassed or expelled. In both cases, they appeal to self-interest; the case for cheating and and the case against it both rest on self-interest. It never occurs to them to ask whether there is a principle that governs regardless of its consequences....They seem unable to take seriously the thought that honesty is valid whether it pays or not!...

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