"Is there a price tag on dishonesty?"
“The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty. And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too.”
This quotable quote by Stephen Richards Covey (1932-2012), an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker, speaks about how a culture of dishonesty evolves.
This article, however, is not about Covey or his works. This is about University of the Philippines president Danilo Concepcion who regrettably appears to be propagating a culture of dishonesty in the state-run institution.
Rumors are rife in the academic community and elsewhere that Concepcion was engaged in a shameless cover-up of cheating by a least three students of Economics. If true, his misdeed makes him a bigger crook than the students he was coddling.
Boo Chanco, a noted newspaper columnist sarcastically remarked; “My alma mater is now breeding and training future crooks.”
“Condoning cheating at UP sends the message that truth and integrity don’t count. This is dangerous specially in an era when truth is elusive and alternative truths abound,” Chanco warned.
Dean Solita Monsod, in her own column on the issue, referred to UP’s motto “Honor and Excellence.”
“Cheating is a dishonorable act. Worse if it is done in order to obtain excellent marks so one can graduate ‘with honors,’ not just to pass a course,” Monsod said. She herself is professor emeritus at UP School of Economics where the alleged cheating was committed.
It is disconcerting, to say the least, that UP, reputedly a seat of academic excellence in the country, is being rocked by this cheating scandal.
The controversy is made more outrageous by the fact that the school’s president is front and center of this mess.
I agree with Mareng Winnie that the school is currently in the grip of a credibility and integrity crisis, thanks but no thanks to Concepcion.
Trouble started when the three students allegedly cheated in an exam at the School of Economics. The honest students blew the whistle on the anomaly; reported it to their teacher who in turn reported it to the dean. Subsequently, a College of Disciplinary Committee (CDC) was formed and a three-month inquiry ensued.
The affected dean adopted the recommendations of the CDC, forwarded it to the school’s Executive Committee which is composed of all the deans of all the colleges.
The executive panel approved the report which was eventually sent to Concepcion’s office. To everyone’s surprise, Concepcion reversed the committee’s decision on one of the cheaters who got a clean bill of health. The president sat on the verdict for the two other erring students.
There were suspicions that Concepcion did the unthinkable with a view to a substantial amount of investments into the university by unknown donors.
How do we put a price tag on dishonesty?
Anyway, at this point, the student body rose up in arms. In a manifesto, they declared; “The UPSE Student Council strongly condemns any form of academic dishonesty for we believe that it has no place in a university that prides itself in promoting honor and excellence. We collectively support and stand by our colleagues who were brave enough to step forward as witnesses in this case.”
“Their courage is unmatched—championing the principle of honesty and integrity, no matter the circumstance. Further, we call for the UP administration to uphold the Code’s disciplinary measures, given that the incident was clearly a violation of its regulations. Such violations must not be tolerated and, therefore, must be met with complete justice. We also challenge the Board of Regents to uphold academic integrity which must always be inherent in UP, and to abide by the very virtue that defines our University.”
The faculty and the dean of the School of Economics, with the chancellor’s support, have appealed the president’s decision to the Board of Regents, which has to calendar it for deliberation in their next meeting.
The ball is now in the hands of the BOR. As of the moment, we can only hope for the best.
But wait, there is more! There is a lingering whisper about UP funds in the billions of pesos invested in a “private” BPI account earning a measly one percent only. Well, ladies and gentlemen from the Senate and House of Representatives, take the cue!