In a recent opinion piece, John Klingler ’22 advocates for Yale to adopt an honor code in a similar fashion to other Ivy League institutions to better preserve this value. And, while his characterization of honor is correct — it is an intrinsic good and one we ought to uphold — Klinger’s faith in such a code seems to be misplaced on two fronts. Firstly, there are no guarantees the statement would prevent academic dishonesty. Secondly, and much more importantly, the adoption of an honor code would mean that Yalies are inherently dishonorable and need a written legalistic statement to ensure their compliance. Honor itself demands that we do what is right always, even when there is no explicit statement of that fact. And that cannot be reduced to a statement. It is a way of life.

Christian Wolpert Gaztambide is a senior in Jonathan Edwards College. Contact him at christian.wolpertgaztambide@yale.edu .