What in the world is going on at Washington & Lee Law? A cheating scandal, one that absolutely could have been been prevented with even modest aforethought, is roiling the 1L class.
It seems the professors of two of the Crim Law sections decided to give the same exam. No problem there — the tests were even scheduled for the same time. But then things get tricky. One of the professors shared 2 of the questions with their section ahead of time. Okay, that seems like a real problem — professors that go halfsies on test should really adhere to the same procedure, especially when it comes to the early release of questions.
See, even though the professor warned students sharing those two questions with other sections would be a violation of the school’s honor code there’s still a high likelihood that the questions get out. Maybe someone sees the questions pulled up on a laptop in the library. Or perhaps someone just notices that all their friends in the other section have started *really* studying the felony murder rule. The point is, there are many ways for exam questions to spread even assuming no one takes a page from NASCAR champ/occasional cheater Richard Petty’s book.
That said, according to tipsters at W&L, many 1Ls suspect deliberate question sharing. Due to the inequity that results from only some members of the class having access to questions ahead of time, they’ve proposed a pass/fail solution for those impacted — a tried and true response for all manner of exam screw-ups.
But that’s not what’s happening at the law school. Tipsters shared multiple emails from administrators (you can read them below), where the legitimate concerns about the test are being brushed off as “rumors” and “innuendo” or “chatter.” Instead of a solution for students, the law school is leaning hard on the school’s honor code and just assuming everything is kosher unless someone comes forward with first-hand knowledge of an honor code violation. (How you’d have this knowledge without telling on yourself is anyone’s guess.)
And the thing that gets me about this issue? So. Damn. Preventable. If professors share exams they should share rules for those exams. See how easy that is.
Emails to the 1L class below.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
