I just returned from the land of over a thousand, small, outstanding, liberal-arts colleges. I believe it is called… Minnesota. Okay, that might be hyperbole, but Minneapolis is loaded with academic opportunity. Think of Boston, but with wheat fields and friendly cows. While I found the landscape beautiful, the people incredibly friendly, and the cheese sublime, one thing definitely stood out.

The Honor Code.

While touring St. Olaf college, across the road from the Malt-O-Meal plant and just down the road from another wonderful school—Carleton college—I took an unexpected step back in time. It wasn’t a chronological shift but rather a stride into a culture that used to be much more commonplace. A place where Trust, Respect, and Honor are still part of the ethos and DNA of communities.

I tour a lot of colleges, but I rarely take the canned school tour. I spend a lot of time in bookstores, undergraduate admissions, the information desk, libraries, cafeterias, science departments, and talking to groundskeepers and campus/city police. But my favorite source of school information and culture are students who work in the admissions office. You learn a LOT about school culture by talking to students who work in admissions because they want to, or have to.

When I arrived at St. Olaf I immediately found Undergraduate Admissions and started talking to a St. Olaf senior who was excited to start his student teaching. As I asked him questions about applications, programs, food, favorite professors, class rigor, food, admissions rates, housing, and dessert… two other seniors working nearby began offering their inputs as well. I have found such conversations to be invaluable for understanding a school’s real culture, because they live in it. Let current students describe the good, the not as good, and the things they are going to miss when they graduate.

I was too late for a campus tour; however, one of the seniors told me she would take me on a tour. Did you catch that? A student offered to take me on a tour, just to show me her school, because she was proud of it. In my years of walking school campuses, this has happened exactly three times.

As we walked through the student union building I noticed all the little, brass, student mailboxes were unlocked. She saw my head-tilt and said, “Yeah. They are all unlocked. It’s the Honor Code.” Then I realized something else. There were backpacks, coats, even computers on tables without an owner to be seen. When I inquired further she said, “I know people who have left computers or a backpack on a table all night by mistake, and they were there the next day.” This is a stark difference from the “Never Leave Your Valuables Unattended. Ever.” signs posted every three feet at most universities. The environment at St. Olaf is almost surreal given that when I ask campus police, they always state the most common crime is petty theft of computers, phones, and backpacks.

Honor. Respect. Trust.

I now encourage all students—and parents—to add one question to their list when touring schools. “Can you talk about the school’s Honor Code?”

November 1, 2019by Mark Hofer