Students at Lafayette are part of a broader academic community, with a shared set of values and assumptions, and united by the common goals of acquiring and advancing knowledge.
Within that community are many smaller, specialized communities, each with its own specific conventions for working and communicating. In general, however, intellectual endeavor involves discussing the ideas that others have already expressed; striving to understand them more deeply; applying those ideas to new and far-reaching problems; and respectfully challenging those ideas and attempting to extend or even replace them in light of new discoveries.
We at Lafayette share the values of the academic community, which (among other things) require us to acknowledge the contributions that others have made and to continue to add to ongoing intellectual conversations. Failure to uphold this value, either intentionally or inadvertently, is a violation of the community’s standards. Moreover, certain violations of the community’s standards clearly rise to the level of academic dishonesty and can have serious consequences.
