The Honor Code at Notre Dame is
unique due to the spirit that pervades Notre Dame's entire environment. Most institutions of legal education
recognize the need to prepare the would-be attorney for the "real" world of
legal and ethical problems. Judicial ethics guide the attorney in reacting to
sensitive issues. Most honor codes are based on this system. At Notre Dame
there is a more meaningful justification.
Notre Dame Law School is more than just an institution organized to produce qualified lawyers who will someday face their share of
ethical enigmas. Notre Dame is a group of people who not only learn together but also live, study
and laugh together. It is an amalgamation of some 600 (including faculty, staff,
and students) individuals who are striving to work themselves into a single unit
with a common goal. We like to speak of it in terms of a community people cooperating.
This being the nature of the institution, its preservation and perseverance demand each member to trust and depend on all other
pieces of the puzzle. Without this faith in each other, the system and community are unworkable
and shallow. Thus, the Honor Code is central to the community: the means through which each individual
contributes to the continuation of the trust and interdependence of the whole.
Therefore, the answer to the "why" question provides
us with an answer to the "what" question. Rather than
being a set of standards drawn up in statutory form (with the
attending implication of rigidity and enforcement), the Honor
Code is a system of values within each member of the community
which permits interaction among the others in trust and respect.
This is the essence of the Honor Code; this is the essence of
Notre Dame.
Honor
Code
(pages 42-49 of the Hoynes
Code)
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