Two dozen football players at Army have been linked to an academic cheating scandal at the military academy, USA Today reported Wednesday.
Last week, USA Today said that 73 cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point had been accused of cheating on a calculus exam last May, with 58 of them admitting to having done so. Wednesday’s report said that in all, 55 of the cadets were athletes — including 24 football players.
Seventeen of them remain on the team, and some are expected to play on Thursday when Army (9-2) meets West Virginia (5-4) in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.
The math test was taken remotely during spring finals week because of the COVID-19 pandemic. USA Today said that most of the students who admitted to cheating have been put in a rehabilitation program and will be on probation for the duration of their time at the academy. Others resigned, and some will go through hearings that could lead to them being expelled.
Remaining punishments are expected to be handed out in January and were not delayed because of the football season, an academy official told USA Today.
West Point has a strict honor code that reads: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do.”
In a letter sent to the West Point community on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by USA Today, academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams addressed the cheating scandal.
“These Cadets chose the easier wrong over the harder right,” Williams wrote. “As the Superintendent, I own this cheating incident. Furthermore, I and every leader at West Point own their role in developing leaders of character. The standards established by the Cadet Honor Code have not changed and the Honor System receives my personal investment of time and attention. West Point takes every Honor Code violation seriously.”
