Ateneo has gotten itself in hot water with regard to plagiarism—first with Manuel V. Pangilinan’s graduation speech fiasco, and then with Ateneo Law alumnus and Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo’s judicial decision— all within a span of six months. One is enough to stain any premier academic institution in the world, but two is a metaphorical right hook to the university’s reputation, and its students.
The Loyola Schools memorandum, issued last November 4, stressed that plagiarism is “a question of personal discipline and character” more than just an issue of deleted attributions or improper footnoting, as the Supreme Court might suggest.
Would it be fair to say the school has failed to groom students, current and former, young and old, to practice ethical behavior? In the article, “Papers for Sale”, published in the June 2008 issue of The GUIDON, it was revealed that there were people on campus who wrote research papers for students at a hefty price.
As simple and obvious as it may sound, the virtue (or lack thereof) of honesty is the root of the problem.
To illustrate, back in 2008, the Honesty Store was launched with the objective to teach students to be “everyday heroes”. However, two months later, it was found out that the store lost P17,236.60. They officially closed just a few days after.
A few weeks ago, Umbrellas On-The-Go, a borrowing system in key areas on campus, was launched. Two days later, 16 out of 60 umbrellas were missing, and five were broken. Some were even spotted being used in Katipunan when the rules explicitly stated that they should only be used in their designated “routes.”
Given such cases, one cannot discount the fact that a culture of dishonestly is slowly but surely brewing inside the Loyola Schools. While it is not big enough to be considered a crisis, it is disappointing that little is apparently being done about it.
Perhaps an institutional change is needed. The memorandum is a step in the right direction, providing general guidelines for all departments. However much more can still be done. Revisiting how freshman English and Filipino classes are taught is a good start. Enlisting the Sanggunian’s assistance is another.
Though there is truth that one cannot generalize due only to a few bad apples, to tolerate even the most isolated cases of dishonesty is a discouraging thought, especially to a university ranked so highly in the region, and one with required Christian morality and ethics classes.
In a much publicized statement of the University of the Philippines College of Law faculty, plagiarism was described as “cheating at best, and stealing at worst.” The labels ‘cheater’ and ‘thief’ are familiar words hurled at numerous well-known people. Most of them are in government, and a lot of them are, unfortunately, Ateneans.
Stricter implementation of the rules and a more aggressive campaign on curbing academic dishonesty are needed. Something must be done about it, lest the Ateneo be branded a school of cheaters and thieves.
