Citing concerns over academic integrity and advancements in technology, Princeton University faculty may require proctoring for all in-person exams, the Daily Princetonian recently reported.

Such a move would buck 133 years of precedent and “would mark a departure from the traditionally unproctored exam format under the Honor Code,” which was established in 1893, the student newspaper reported. “Currently, only individual and small group examinations are proctored.”

But the Honor Committee chair told the Princetonian that, in November, professors were instructed to proctor individual and small-group exams, such as make-up exams, exams taken by student-athletes while traveling, and exams taken with disability accommodations. 

Currently under the Honor Code students take their exams without supervision and subscribe to the pledge: “I pledge my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code during this examination.”

News of the proctor proposal made headlines last week, but in late January concerns about the Honor Code were already broached.

A Jan. 28 student op-ed in the Daily Princetonian headlined “Why the Honor Code doesn’t work” argued the current system is broken.

“[D]espite what the Honor Code stipulates, no one wants to be a tattletale — a longstanding aversion of Princeton students. Rather than reporting, some students turn a blind eye to cheating, or deliberately avoid sitting near the back row of a lecture hall to avoid catching their peers in the act,” the columnist argued.

“Princeton’s vaunted Honor Code can sometimes feel like the butt of a running joke. Despite the policy’s insistence that students report in-person cases of cheating, there’s still a sense that academic dishonesty runs unchecked on some exams.”

The recent news that faculty are seriously considering the proposal drew mixed reactions on Reddit.

“I’ve always been proud of the Honor Code and what it says about us. Do current Princeton students lack personal integrity? That’s just embarrassing,” one person stated.

But another argued: “As someone who teaches here, instituting more handwritten things I think is a necessary change given how tempted students are to use AI for everything (and I mean EVERYTHING).”

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