The idea for the code or creed came when Vice President for Student Affairs, Dennis Pruitt, expressed his concern about the increasing number of document incidents of sexual violence, sexism, racism, hazing and anti-semitism on the nation’s college campuses, and asked, "Could incidents of this sort happen here?" and "What are we doing to be sure they don’t?"

In examining responses to the same concern at other institutions, Pruitt found schools that had introduced regulations to prohibit "offensive forms of expression" were not embroiled in free speech and academic freedom arguments.

Recognizing that restricting expression and inquiry on a college campus would prove problematic at best, he was persuaded new rules or regulations would do little to stem the number of incidents given those reported elsewhere usually occurred in bonded groups of anonymous crowds where personal accountability and the risk of discovery is low. To him, it seemed that individuals inclined to become involved in the incidents were learning how to behave from their peers and that they prized over peer approval more than that of the institution; so he commissioned a group of faculty, staff and students to learn more about USC’s peer culture and compare what the students value with what the institution promotes.

Pruitt charged the committee to: "discover what ethics govern personal relationships among students, compare them with what we expect and identify ways we can close the gap between what exits and what’s expected without issuing additional regulations."

Marna Davenport, an education graduate student at USC characterized this as "a refreshing outlook that embraces traditional approaches to living within a community." "Far from being an abridgement of individual freedom," she said, "this philosophy celebrates the freedom and dignity of each of the members of the group."

In praising the group’s eventual product, Davenport called the Creed "a concrete representation of the spirit of integrity and concern that each of us would like to be part and parcel of the communities in which we live. Elegant in its simplicity, the creed contains only five statements, but those five encompass a range of ideals which, if followed, could solve many of the problems experienced on campuses today." Ernest L. Boyer of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, shared Davenport’s enthusiasm and closed his letter to Pruitt on the subject saying:

"I’d like to see this code endorsed by every institution of higher education in the nation."

In some says like an honor code, the creed calls not only for allegiance to the ideals, but for individuals to discourage others from engaging in behaviors which threaten individual freedom.

For more information about the Creed and its development, contact the Office of Student Judicial Programs at (803) 777-4333.