Harvard University is investigating whether about 125 undergraduates "inappropriately collaborated" or copied answers on a spring semester take-home final exam, the school announced today.

It's being called the largest cheating scandal in recent memory to hit the elite university and the Ivy League.

The students -- about half the class -- violated a no-collaboration policy printed on the exam, which consisted of short questions and an essay, said Jay Harris, dean of undergraduate education, the Boston Globe reports. The students allegedly collaborated through e-mail or "other means," and some may have copied their answers.

The cheating was uncovered after faculty noticed similarities among a number of exams and referred them for administrative review. All will face hearings, and those found to have plagiarized may have to withdraw for a year.

The administrative board's actions are confidential, Harris said, and the identities of the students or the course will not be revealed.

"These allegations, if proven, represent totally unacceptable behavior that betrays the trust upon which intellectual inquiry at Harvard depends," Harvard University President Drew Faust said in the announcement. "We must deal with this fairly and through a deliberative process. At the same time, the scope of the allegations suggests that there is work to be done to ensure that every student at Harvard understands and embraces the values that are fundamental to its community of scholars."

【新聞快訊】

世界知名學(xué)府美國哈佛大學(xué)校方30日證實(shí)，大約百名該校本科學(xué)生涉嫌在上學(xué)期期末考試中作弊，校方已展開調(diào)查。據(jù)哈佛?？瘓?bào)道，上學(xué)期期末有一門課程采取了可帶回家完成的開卷考試模式，提交答卷的學(xué)生超過250人，結(jié)果教研人員在批卷時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)不少學(xué)生答卷有雷同內(nèi)容，有交流答案或剽竊他人之嫌，參與者可能高達(dá)總?cè)藬?shù)近一半。

哈佛大學(xué)校長德魯·福斯特30日表示，如果這些作弊行為經(jīng)證明屬實(shí)，將是不可接受的行為，有違哈佛大學(xué)對學(xué)術(shù)精神的堅(jiān)守。一方面，校方必須公平慎重處理；另一方面，鑒于牽涉學(xué)生人數(shù)之多，校方也應(yīng)進(jìn)一步采取措施確保所有在校學(xué)生均能理解并恪守哈佛大學(xué)的基本準(zhǔn)則。

該校本科生院院長杰伊·哈里斯說，所有涉嫌作弊的學(xué)生已逐個(gè)接受學(xué)校執(zhí)行董事會下屬委員會的問詢和調(diào)查。但他強(qiáng)調(diào)，目前調(diào)查尚未完成，這些學(xué)生的作弊行為還未得到證實(shí)，而且沒有任何證據(jù)顯示作弊行為在哈佛大學(xué)廣泛存在，不能以此質(zhì)疑哈佛大學(xué)學(xué)生整體聲譽(yù)。