WASHINGTON \u2013 West Point officials have expelled\u00a0eight cadets and required more than 50 others to repeat a year of instruction\u00a0after the most extensive cheating scandal in more than 40 years at the Army’s renowned academy with a reputation for moral rectitude.<\/p>\n
The academy also halted a\u00a0program 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\u00a0Willful Admission Process. A review of the program found that it failed to meet its goal\u00a0of increasing self-reporting and decreasing toleration. Its end\u00a0means expulsion\u00a0will be a potential punishment for any honor violation.<\/p>\n
First reported in December: <\/strong>West Point accuses more than 70 cadets of cheating in worst academic scandal in nearly 45 years<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,”\u00a0Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the superintendent of West Point, said in a statement. “West Point\u00a0must be the gold standard for developing Army officers. We demand nothing less than impeccable character from our graduates.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the 73 cadets accused of cheating, six\u00a0resigned during the investigation,\u00a0four cadets were acquitted by a board of their peers, and two cases were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Among the\u00a061 cadets\u00a0found 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.<\/p>\n USA TODAY reported in December that instructors determined that 72 plebes, or first-year cadets, and one yearling, or second-year cadet, had cheated on a calculus final exam in May 2020. Those cadets all made the same error on a portion of the exam.\u00a0The exam was administered remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n