On April 1, Robert Gorr, the assistant principal, sent out a new email regarding cheating at Loyola. This email established a new set of punishments for cheating at Loyola, with some regarding it as extreme while others seeing it as a necessary action to prevent further cheating from taking place at Loyola. While Loyola holds its students to a high standard of academic integrity, recently, Loyola students have not seemed to share these same values.
While this change may look like an extreme shock and a very dramatic shift in punishment, Mr. Gorr had this to say: “We’re not changing much, just adjusting policies.”
While Mr. Gorr views these as minor adjustments, many students are now terrified at the thought of getting caught using their phone for a test. This entire ordeal seems so foreign, and a mid-year policy change is anything but ordinary for our school. Surprisingly, Mr. Gorr agrees.
Mr. Gorr commented: “Typically you wouldn’t find much change in the policies, but with how quickly technology is advancing, and some of the cases we’ve seen pop up in the fall and earlier in the spring, we’ve found it necessary to kind of differentiate having a phone in a pocket versus using a phone while taking an assessment or trying to modify technology in any way trying to be deceptive.”
While many see it as an act of cracking down on cheating at Loyola, it seems as though it’s more of an adjustment to a pre-established, fair set of punishments in accordance with the rising level of cheating incidents at Loyola.
However, as Mr. Gorr said, students are going to such extreme lengths to cheat — not just using phones during tests, but using modified technology designed specifically to cheat.
“There should be a higher level of punishment if someone is premeditating an opportunity to try and uneven the playing field.”
Mr. Gorr sees intent as a large part of the crime as well. This mindset of establishing a fair system of punishments is the whole reasoning behind this new set of cheating rules.
While many see Mr. Gorr’s new system of punishment as cruel and as a means to scare students straight, Mr. Gorr’s idea of it is extremely altruistic, as he aims to level the playing field. He sees cheating as an unfair advantage that allows some students to get by while others work hard to earn good grades.
“This is data driven in that students learn better without the distraction of a device and students are more social with each other, which is what we want here on campus … and are more engaged if they don’t have that distraction of the phone, so that’s why we have the policy.”
Mr. Gorr sees the phone policy not as a malicious policy designed to keep students in line, but one made with their best interests at heart and made to better our community rather than create a miserable environment for students.
But while this may be true, is it their only intent when making this policy? Is the idea of the students’ best interest being the reasoning behind the phone-in-backpack rule just a cover to prevent students from cheating, rather than to make students more focused and social?
While using your phone to cheat on a test is one thing, Mr. Gorr’s email also addressed a new kind of cheating using specialized, modified technology to cheat on exams.
“And the final piece of that, we haven’t seen much of this anywhere on campus, but we are aware of different types of wearable technology, the very basic Meta glasses, the smart watches, these are things that you can see. But now there are companies targeting students, sadly targeting students to make it easier for them to cheat — they’re selling products to students, could be video cameras, could be earpieces, could be a lot of different types of technology that can be wearable and technology that’s been modified.”
Mr. Gorr and the Loyola school administration see this extreme method of cheating as the ultimate betrayal to the Loyola community. It’s not a spur-of-the-moment type of crime, but a well-planned, thought-out attempt to cheat the system and create an unfair playing field for other Loyola students who want to earn a good grade through hard work.
“If it is premeditated, purchased, wearable, if a student is caught with this type of technology it is an immediate review in front of the discipline board and the academic review board and possible dismissal from school.”
However, despite all these circumstances, Mr. Gorr still has absolute faith in the Loyola community and believes that, as Loyola cubs, students will do the right thing and try to live out the Jesuit mission in all aspects of their lives. Mr. Gorr has hope for the future of the school and believes the majority of honest, integral cubs will overpower those who intend to cheat and lie their way to a good grade rather than putting in hard work.
“We trust you, we trust our students, we understand that not everybody is doing this, and that it is a very, very small percentage of cubs that are doing this, and what we want to rely on the very, very large percentage of cubs that want a level playing field and make sure that they protect the field.”
Additionally, Dr. Jordan has also brought up the idea of starting an honor council at Loyola that would provide a new perspective from students in order to better tackle the issue of cheating at our school. Mr. Gorr claims “it’s not a tattletale council,” though many view this in a different light and see it as a betrayal.
“A group of students that are kind of sick and tired of this and that want a level playing field and they want to work together with, you know, adults on campus, teachers, administrators, and find the best way so everybody’s playing fair.”
To close off, Mr. Gorr had these words to share to encouraging all cubs who want to make this school a better place and the true learning environment they know it can be.
“We must work on it together to make sure we’re providing the best possible and fairest possible experience for all cubs.”
