Harvard Cheating Probe Details Emerge, Class Name Leaked

Cambridge, MA — A Harvard cheating probe that was confirmed to be underway at the prestigious university was confirmed earlier this week, and now more details have emerged about the investigation.

We first reported on the Harvard cheating probe yesterday, and new details have leaked about which indicate the scope of the cheating scandal as well as the class affected by the investigation. As our earlier post on the Harvard cheating investigation detailed, the class probed has more than 250 students currently enrolled.

And, as was indicated, the Harvard cheating probe revealed that approximately half the students may have cheated on a take-home exam distributed in the class. President Drew Faust commented on the Harvard cheating allegations, saying that if the accusations bear out, the intellectual integrity of the institution is impugned by the actions of a handful of students:

“These allegations, if proven, represent totally unacceptable behavior that betrays the trust upon which intellectual inquiry at Harvard depends.”

Jay M. Harris is a dean of undergraduate Education at Harvard, and Harris says that the accusations are not an indication of a widespread Harvard cheating problem. Harris said he does not believe that such behavior is in any way representative of the student population as a whole, even if half a whole class felt comfortable doing it.

“The facts that are before us are that we have a problem in this one course … I hope that doesn’t sound overly naive, I don’t want to be naive, but this is what we have. The rest would be speculation … Looking at the students we have and the work that they do, I would be loathe to say this is something that represents Harvard students generally.”

The class in question was identified by the Harvard Crimson as “Government 1310: ‘Introduction to Congress'” and was taught by assistant professor Matthew Platt.