The timing is exceptional, and perfectly appropriate, that Pingry’s Honor Code, which has guided countless students to develop honorable behavior, character, and good decision-making, and work for the common good, is celebrating its 100th anniversary at the same time that the School has made “Learning and Living with Honor” one of the priorities of its new strategic plan.

Origins

First, some context. What was the source of Pingry’s original Honor System in 1925-26? The Head of School at the time, C.B. Newton, had graduated from Princeton University, which had established its own Honor System—one of the few on American college campuses. Believing strongly in the system’s values, Mr. Newton promoted the idea of an Honor System at Pingry, but did not impose it, because he wanted to make sure that most of the students would support it. Ultimately, the Class of 1926 took the initiative to create Pingry’s version.

In the fall of 1925, the Middle and Upper Schools voted overwhelmingly to institute the Honor System, so the plan was signed by all members of the Class of 1926 and the Student Council. Under the plan, no faculty supervision was required for written tests and exams, and if a student cheated, either the cheating needed to be reported to the Student Council or the student in question would need to voluntarily confess.

Evolution

A key aspect of the original plan was that it required the student body to vote at the beginning of each school year whether to continue the Honor System. In the late 1930s, students voted to make the Honor System permanent. In 1949, the faculty expanded the Honor System to include the Honor Code, so the Honor System continued to apply to tests, homework, and personal property, while the Honor Code guided the ideals of behavior. In 1988, the Honor Code’s wording was revised to apply to both men and women. In the 1990s, the Lower School created its age-appropriate version, the Code of Conduct, known today as the Code of Honor with the acronym CARES (Community, Aspire as a Team, Responsibility, Empathy, Self-Awareness).

Within the past 25 years, the Honor Code became further entrenched in school life through the establishment of the John Hanly Lecture Series on Ethics and Morality, named for Pingry’s former Head of School, and through the inclusion of a ceremony during Convocation when Middle and Upper School students submit signed pledges to the Student Body President and Honor Board Chair (the ceremony was the brainchild of Jessica Westerman ’08, Student Body President in 2007-08).

Centennial Year Celebrations

During this centennial year, the School has formed a Focus Group that is discussing ways to amplify and celebrate the Honor Code throughout the year—specifically, how to revisit, reintroduce, and recommit to this “North Star” document. Chaired by faculty members Ahmad Boyd, Assistant Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete Success, and Julia Dunbar, Form V/VI Dean of Student Life, the Focus Group includes the Student Body President; Honor Board Chair; Honor Board Advisor; Presidents of the Pingry Alumni Association and Pingry School Parents Association; Community Well-Being Director; representatives from the Magistri, Alumni Relations, and Communications; and faculty from all three divisions.

A visible representation during the year, the Pingry People Through the Years wall, located outside Hauser Auditorium on the Basking Ridge Campus, is sharing the stories of community members with a connection to the Honor Code. Among events planned, the Honor Board is launching an annual “Honor Code Week” with faculty/student seminars and programming that connects the Honor Code to current events; the John Hanly Lecture in January 2026 is to be conducted as a panel of alumni talking about real-life ethical quandaries; and Reunion Weekend will be themed around the Honor Code.

Pictured: Student signatures pledging to uphold the Honor Code


Contact: Greg Waxberg ’96, Assistant Director of Communications, Writer/Editor