The U.S. Military Academy has accused 73 cadets of cheating on a calculus exam this past spring, the most serious academic violation the school has seen in nearly a half century, multiple reports said.
After a preliminary investigation, 58 of the cadets admitted to the cheating. Fifty-five were found to be in violation of West Point’s honor code and were enrolled into a “Willful Admission Program,” which essentially places them on academic probation for the remainder of their time at the academy.
Three were not eligible for the program and face administrative hearings along with nine others before a board of cadets who will hear the case and decide whether a violation of the code occurred. Another board will recommend penalties, which could include expulsion. The final decision rests with the school superintendent.
Two cases were dismissed because of lack of evidence and four cadets resigned.
Of the 73 accused, 72 were freshmen, or plebes, while another was a sophomore, or yearling. The academy suspected the cheating when all 73 committed the same error on the same portion of the test administered remotely online in May because of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Cheating violates the school’s honor code, etched into a marble wall, which states: "A Cadet will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do."
“The honor system at West Point is strong and working as designed," West Point superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams told USA Today in a statement. "We made a deliberate decision to uphold our academic standards during the pandemic. We are holding cadets to those standards.”
West Point’s Chief of Staff Col. Mark Weathers did not consider the matter a serious breach of the code and said it would not have occurred if the students had taken the exam on campus, USA Today reported.
The incident occurred 44 years after 153 cadets were accused cheating on an electrical engineering exam. They resigned or were expelled, but 90 were later reinstated and allowed to graduate, the New York Post quoted academy spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt.
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