DescriptionThe West Point Academy Honor Code states that "A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal nor tolerate those that do" (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1981). In 1976 theAcademy and the Honor Code came under scrutiny due to a broad range cheating incidentamongst cadets in an electrical engineering course. In the class of 823 cadets, it is believedthat 300-600 cheated on the assignment. Cheating is a direct violation of the Honor Codeand all those found guilty by the Honor System are subject to expulsion. Because of thecheating incident, the Academy gained tremendous national exposure and publicity. Thecadets caught in the scandal are questioning the Academy, the Honor Code and the Honor System itself. Lt General Sidney Berry, Acting Superintendent of the Academy, must sortthrough all information and satisfy the wishes of Congress, the Department of the Army,alumni, current cadets and the merciless public.DiagnosisThe Academy produces battle-ready offices. Some of the "macro level" stressors that arevisible are; competitive pressures, bureaucratic rules, restrictive untrusting culture, tightcontrols, centralized decision making, lack of participation in decisions, punitive appraisalsystem and physical and mental strain all of which exist at the school (Luthans, 2011).At the center of all the practices at West Point is the Honor Code. A change in the Honor Code would go against the what the Academy had always stood for and would hold futurecadets to lower standards than the alumni. When Berry was appointed Superintendent of the Academy, the first thing that was brought to his attention was the Honor Code and thatthe Honor System was deteriorating. The Honor Code was seen by the public as too strictand was asking cadets to too strict of rules.In 1974, Berry established a joint officer-cadet task force to examine all tenets and facets of the Honor Code System. The task force suggested these changes: (1) investigation andappeals would be at the Honor Board level and the Officer Board eliminated. (2) A lessthan unanimous vote would be needed to find a person guilty. (2) Other cadets not on theHonor Board would participate in investigation and adjudication. One of the keyrecommendations was to end the mandatory expulsion for Honor Code violations but theCorps did not pass it, even though 65 percent of the Board voted to end it. Berry thenreversed a decision to expel a cadet and the Corps was very disappointed in this ruling.Less than one month after this event, the cheating scandal occurred.During the scandal, internal and external requests came to dissolve the Honor Board due tosuspicions of corruption, which reached the Secretary of the Army's office. Duringquestioning of some cadets and with affidavits it was found that 73 percent of cadets wouldnot report a good friend, 34 percent would not report an obvious violation and over 60 percent of both cadets and officers believe that the Honor Code had deteriorated. Berryheld strong to his beliefs and trust in the Academy system. He wanted to keep the current proceedings involving the Corps and did not want outside intervention. Berry realized hemust make the correct decision regarding the cheating incident and all participants.