The story we present here is real. We change only names and details to protect the privacy of individuals and/or organizations involved. If you have an ethical dilemma that you would like to share, please contact the editorial staff at Independent School ([email protected]).
Lexi Davis and Kamille Hopkins are seniors at the Westhaven School for Girls. The girls became fast friends after meeting at a special dinner for scholarship recipients. Both girls are seniors, and making plans to attend college in the fall.
Kamille is accepted early to her target college and is notified by the college that her attendance will be covered by a scholarship program similar to the one at Westhaven. She is relieved that her plans are made and that she can focus on finishing her senior year. Lexi, on the other hand, is still deciding where she wants to attend. Many of the schools where she has been accepted will only cover a portion of her costs, so she is actively applying for scholarships to help cover the remainder.
As part of Kamille’s scholarship to Westhaven she works in the main office during free periods. One day, Lexi casually asks Kamille to get her several blank sheets of school letterhead. Sensing hesitation, Lexi assures Kamille that she has permission from the faculty members to reproduce their letters of recommendation. She plans to scan the letters on the blank letterhead. Her deadlines for scholarships are coming right up, she explains, and the text and signatures on original letterhead will look better than a photocopied document.
Kamille feels confused about what to do. On the one hand, she feels it is right to help her friend in the short-term. Lexi says she has permission to reproduce these letters and she needs these recommendations to make college a reality. Furthermore, saying “no” to this request could certainly put a strain on their friendship.
But Kamille feels uncomfortable about possible long-term fallout from this decision; was there a chance that Lexi wasn’t being completely honest about her plans to reproduce these recommendations? If there was any bending of the truth here, Kamille’s imagination went to loss of reputation for both Lexi and the teachers. Worse, could the act jeopardize the value of their word in recommendations thereby undermining the scholarship process for future students from Westhaven? On top of these risks, Kamille thinks about another long-term picture. She just isn’t sure if she’d be breaking rules and jeopardizing her own reputation by handing out official letterhead.
What should Kamille do?
Resolution
In the end, Kamille decides that she can’t help her friend. Even though Lexi’s request could be perfectly innocent, Kamille worries that too much harm could be done to too many people if her worst fears are realized. She urges Lexi to go back to the faculty members and make this same request of them.