Honor Court Upholds Campus Integrity
Most students on Centenary’s campus have the first part of the Honor Code memorized from having to repeatedly write it on tests, essays, and other assignments. The second half of the Honor Code is “except as I shall report immediately to the Honor Court,” but most students never write those words. The second half is only intended for when a student has violated the Honor Code or knows of someone who has broken the Honor Code.
An estimated 50 to 90 percent of students are reported to have cheated or been academically dishonest on some sort of assignment. Centenary students are likely not omitting the second part of the Honor Code because they do not need it but because the system that the Honor Court is based on comes from trust in the integrity of its students. When this trust is upheld and students are reported to the Honor Court, it is then their job to take responsible action and assign appropriate consequences.
12 students serve on the Honor Court at a time. The eligible candidates are chosen by the student body and staff, and the Court interviews and decides who gets the position. There is one Chief Justice, Associate Justice, Clerk and nine regular justices. TJ Chau was elected to serve as the 2026 Chief Justice after serving on the court for three semesters. As the Chief Justice, he is always one voting member out of five for each case and has the responsibility of overseeing that all of the other members are doing their duties “properly and promptly.”
Centenary’s Honor Court is also made up of three faculty advisors, each one representing a different branch of Centenary’s programs. The students are the ones who vote on cases, while the faculty members are there to, as faculty advisor and associate professor of philosophy Chris Ciocchetti says, guide the student justices through “complicated issues.” Such cases include sure justices consider all perspectives equally or helping them communicate with other members of faculty.
Centenary did not always have an Honor Court. The students of the school campaigned for years to create the court. The Honor System is for students and by students, and advisor Ciocchetti says it is important that “The same people who are subject to the rules enforce them.” Chief Justice Chau says that many students work very hard to do their best in classes and various other activities, and it is “frustrating to have that hard work and accomplishments minimized by those who seek to cheat their way through college.” The fact that the court is almost entirely controlled by students allows consequences to be assigned without students feeling targeted by their professors.
The purpose of the Honor System is also to make sure that Centenary and its students preserve the academic integrity of the institution. Thach says that integrity is simple: “do the right thing.” Integrity is also something that is carried not just through one’s academic career, but “it will matter for the rest of your life," as Ciocchetti says. The Honor System works to encourage integrity in its students, but Thach acknowledges that the work is not always easy, between long hours working, technically and emotionally difficult cases and the personal pressure to be a perfect justice. Thach says that the work the court does is greatly important to Centenary, and the value outweighs the necessary work.
Ciocchetti says the Honor System “asks us to think about who we are becoming and reminds us to help keep our community strong.” Even if the Honor Court has a misunderstood reputation with some members of campus, integrity is what keeps Centenary and its students continuing down the right path.