125 Harvard students suspected of cheating

31 August, 2012

Cheating and Harvard are words almost never used in the same sentence or context. In a rare instance, it has been reported that 125 students of Harvard University in the US have been suspected of cheating in their take home exam. If proved guilty, they might be expelled from the University for a year.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY has been known for its quality of education that it has to offer to it's students, who are considered to be one of the brightest in the country. Even foreigners dream of getting admission into this prestigious University, where the competition is of very high standard. But, Harvard University has hogged the limelight for wrong reason this time around, as 125 Undergraduate students are said to have cheated in a take-home final exam. It is being referred as the largest cheating scandal in recent times in the university and the Ivy League.

The instance of cheating was not known to the administration until the faculty noticed that there were some kind of similarities in the answers that were written. Questions that were asked during the exam were short and essay type. In such type of take-home questions, technology can play a vital role in cheating. So, the authorities allege that the students might have collaborated through e-mails and networking sites to get the required answers.

Though, the names of the students, who are involved in cheating, have not been released by the University, but if proven guilty, these students will be punished for their act. They could be given a first offence warning or may be excluded from the university for a year. The latter seems to be the most likely repercussion. These students need to appear before a committee, which reviews academic integrity, of the Harvard College Administrative board, reported Washington Times.