Military Academy May Institute Changes in Old Honor System

West Point, famous for its injunction that no cadet lie, cheat or steal, is weighing significant changes in its honor system.

Two commissions, one composed of outside experts and the other of graduating cadets, are currently reviewing the West Point honor system to advocate possible changes.

The review was initiated last year after a case in which a cadet, who was applying for a Rhodes Scholarship, was accused of lying to two instructors. The student, Anthony S. Ketron, was expelled by the full honor board and then was reinstated shortly before graduation when two U.S. Representatives asked the Pentagon to overturn the expulsion.

"I think the goal here is to see where the honor codes are as we move towards an important milestone and enter our third century," said Andrea R. Hamburger, a West Point official. The hearing process for disciplinary cases was last overhauled in 1977 after numerous cadets were found cheating.

The outside commission, headed by University of Pittsburgh President Wesley W. Posvar, is expected to advocate changes in the current system. One revision might include introducing character witnesses later, rather than earlier, in a hearing. The committee also could change the number of votes required to approve a disciplinary action. Ten of 12 members of the honor board currently must approve such a conviction.

Gen. David R. Palmer, superintendent of the Military Academy, who launched the review of the honor code, could not be reached for comment.

The committee plans to evaluate the honor code--which says simply that a cadet will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do--to make distinctions between violations of the honor code and violations of administrative regulations, which might invite less stringent punishment.

The commission, which is unconnected to both West Point and the Army, was established to "get a cross section of experts in different fields," said Hamburger.

Cadets originally had "a bad perception" of the outside commission because they thought it had been established to reinvestigate the specific circumstances of last year's disciplinary case, said Kenneth L. Kamper, chair of the honor committee. But Kamper said most cadets now "feel pretty good about it because it can't fail to help us, and our system." He added that a student committee reviewing the West Point honor system is not trying to implement large changes, but rather to "give it a fine tuning."

Both the student committee and the commission of outside experts are expected to complete their reports by late March.