‘Honor before excellence’: Students condemn cheating in U.P.

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – “Academic dishonesty has no place in a university that prides itself in promoting honor and excellence,” said the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE) Student Council in a statement in response to the acquittal of several students who reportedly cheated on an exam. 

Last December 2018, 3 students were said to have compared answers during an Economics 122 (Financial Economics) test, which prompted two separate investigations from the UPSE College Disciplinary Council. 

The council found the students guilty of academic dishonesty after several witnesses came forward to testify against them.  UPSE Dean Orville Solon endorsed the decision which the University Council’s executive committee confirmed.

However, when the cases reached the office of UP president Danilo Concepcion, he decided to overturn the verdict for one of the cases and acquit one of the students of academic dishonesty.

Eight UPSE-based student organizations issued a joint statement on Tuesday, July 30, condemning this case of academic dishonesty and called on the university administration to uphold justice.

“We call for the university administration to uphold the 2012 Code of Student Conduct of UP Diliman wherein it is stipulated that this act of copying or providing the means or accessing means to copy exam answers has corresponding consequences,” said the Alliance of School of Economics Organizations. (READ: UP Engineering student council condemns alleged board exam cheating)

Sean Angelo Thakur, UP Diliman University Student Council chair, blasted the acquittal and ensured that they will take the necessary steps to hold the erring students accountable.

“We’ll continue to stand firm with our belief that UP is a university that upholds both honor and excellence,” said Thakur.

“Academic dishonesty should always be dealt with proper sanctions to preserve the integrity of our academic institutions,” he added.

“Integrity serves as the foundation for honor and excellence, and in order for this foundation to remain intact, there must be no question that the highest governing body of the university will uphold its policies and champion intellectual honesty,” the UPSE Student Council concluded. 

Sought for comment, the UP administration through Vice-President for Public Affairs Elena Pernia told Rappler they will not be divulging any information regarding the case “to protect the privacy of student(s) involved.” – Rappler.com

Nicolas Czar Antonio is a Rappler intern and a Psychology major at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He tweets at @Nicolas_Czar.