More than 70 cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point have been accused of cheating in a math exam in what is being called the worst cheating scandal at the service academy since the 1970s, USA Today reports.

Fifty-eight cadets have admitted to cheating on the exam, which was administered remotely due to restrictions put in place because of the coronavirus.  Most will go through a rehabilitation program and be put on probation that will last through the remainder of the time at West Point.  Others have resigned, and some others will face disciplinary hearings that could result in their expulsion.

“There’s no excuse for cheating when the fundamental code for cadets is that they should not lie, cheat or steal,” said West Point law professor Tim Bakken, who described this as a potential national security scandal. “Therefore when the military tries to downplay effects of cheating at the academy, we’re really downplaying the effects on the military as a whole. We rely on the military to tell us honestly when we should fight wars, and when we can win them.”

Others on campus didn’t take the issue as seriously.  As USA Today reported, Army Col. Mark Weathers, West Point’s chief of staff, said in an interview Monday that he did not consider the incident a serious breach of the code and that he was “a little disappointed” in the cadets for cheating. It would not have occurred if the cadets had taken the exam on campus, he said.

However, West Point’s student code of conduct is memorized by every incoming plebe, and it’s literally engraved in stone on Academy grounds:  “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”