Eight cadets at West Point expelled for cheating, over 50 set back a year

[DonViejo]

Source: USA Today


Tom Vanden Brook
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – West Point officials have expelled eight cadets and required more than 50 others to repeat a year of instruction after the most extensive cheating scandal in more than 40 years at the Army's renowned academy with a reputation for moral rectitude.

The academy also halted a program that had allowed students violating the school's vaunted honor code to stay at West Point by admitting fault and accepting punishment. Most of the cadets caught cheating in May had enrolled in the program, known as the Willful Admission Process. A review of the program found that it failed to meet its goal of increasing self-reporting and decreasing toleration. Its end means expulsion will be a potential punishment for any honor violation.

“The tenets of honorable living remain immutable, and the outcomes of our leader development system remain the same, to graduate Army officers that live honorably, lead honorably, and demonstrate excellence," Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the superintendent of West Point, said in a statement. "West Point must be the gold standard for developing Army officers. We demand nothing less than impeccable character from our graduates.”

Of the 73 cadets accused of cheating, six resigned during the investigation, four cadets were acquitted by a board of their peers, and two cases were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Among the 61 cadets found guilty of cheating, 51 were turned back one full year, and two were turned back six months. Eight were expelled, five of whom were offered the chance to enlist in the Army and reapply at West Point.


Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/16/west-points-worst-cheating-scandal-45-years-expels-eight/7121457002/

[Raven123]

1. 51 turned back a year? Whose paying for that extra year?

[vlyons]

2. Self-disciple, self control is a great virtue and the very essence of ethical morality

But noooooo, the cheaters thought it more expedient to cheat to get a desired result, rather than work and study to acquire the result. Hopefully, the cheaters will have a learned a hard lesson about moral rectitude and not ever cheat about anything ever again.

[Auggie]

7. Following Trump's lead?

[CTyankee]

14. I am with you on this. My late uncle went to West Point after my grandmother wrote to her

Congressman citing her son's academic brilliance. In those days, it was his only hope of the family getting out of poverty caused by the Depression. My uncle graduated just in time for WWII and spent the duration in Iran (Persia in those days) guarding oil reserves and then post War he was sent to the occupation of Japan -- I remember getting Japanese trinkets from him for Christmas.

[Baked Potato]

3. But, they were allowed to play some football, because priorities--

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/30/west-point-cheating-scandal-football-players-athletes-liberty-bowl/4085075001/

[moreland01]

4. Good Grief

Are we running low on honorable, honest, upstanding young people who want to go to West Point? We're forced to keep the cheating dregs? You don't want them, Army, you really don't.

[rainin]

5. You do realize you're talking about students who were top of their class in HS,

were leaders in their communities, they have perfect records and robust resumes. They've gained admission despite West Point being one of the most competitive schools to get into because they are the best of the best...and,

during a pandemic, while at home taking an open-book test, they went online and searched for the answers after being told not to do that.

OH NO!!!!! END THEIR CAREERS!!! HOW CAN THEY BE LEADERS IN THE ARMY???

Get a grip! No institution gets it right 100% of the time, but these kids are not unredeemable. They're young and they made a mistake and they don't deserve to have everything they've worked so hard for taken away. They'll learn from their consequences and go on to be excellent officers.

And yes, I have a child at West Point, so I know a lot about this "scandal". And no, my child is not one of the ones who cheated.

Yes, you DO want them, Army, you really do.

[IbogaProject]

6. Thank you for your insight

Thank you for your insight into this. I am a Type 1 diabetic, so I was ineligible to serve and I haven't learned about the Military Academies.

Since the science shows that emotional restraint continues to develop until age 26 I feel we as a society need to rethink this early adult stage and how we deal with rule and lawbreaking by our youth 16-26. We need a truly redemptive remedial process for low harm offences like this. Brandishing or using a gun or other violence maybe not without a long period of demonstrated goodness.

[MrsMatt]

8. Two words, one name.

Mike Pompeo.

[rainin]

9. I don't really know much about him when he was 18-22 years of age.

Do we know he was a bad egg back then?

[moreland01]

10. Yes, I do realize that

My brother went to West Point on a gymnastics scholarship. We've had many discussions about this topic and he agrees with me 100%. There are way too many HS students out there who would do anything ( including not cheating during a pandemic) for the opportunity to go to West Point but were overlooked because they didn't have the right connections.

I know a young man that skipped school one time at the end of his Senior year in High School and his West Point appointment was revoked.

They don't want cheaters. They don't want liars. They don't want people who take the easy way out. They want serious, disciplined future leaders of soldiers.

But, apparently, they've backslid and are allowing the less than stellar to continue in the program.

[alphafemale]

11. Cheating is a character flaw and if you let them slide it is encouraged.

It is also injecting a person with a deep character into top leadership in society.

Sure lets coddle cheaters.

You are talking about them like they are 3rd graders where a character can still be taught.

These are adults and this is not the first time they have cheated.

It's the first time they've been caught.

[erpowers]

12. All Of Them Should Have Been Kicked Out

All of the students who were caught in this cheating scandal should have been kicked out of West Point.

[jmowreader]

13. What's this "offered to enlist in the Army" shit?

IMO all 58 should have been shipped straight to Fort Jackson as privates, sent through basic training and given enlisted jobs, no “you can reapply to the Academy” option.