Student Feels Regret after Forging Signatures on COS Petition

Brendan Haynesworth ’13 suddenly felt a pang of regret hours after turning in his petition to run for the Committee on Standards Wednesday afternoon. Having collected only 41 of the required 50 signatures minutes before the deadline, Haynesworth and several friends used various color pens and different handwriting techniques to forge the final nine signatures, thus ensuring his candidacy.

However, several hours later, when Haynesworth decided to investigate the function of the COS, which had been described to him by a friend as “a sweet work-free resume booster,” he was dismayed to learn that the committee was actually responsible for trying and convicting students accused of breaking the honor code.



Casey Clements ’13, who helped Haynesworth forge the signatures, described it as an honest mistake, “You couldn’t read most of the real signatures anyways so we didn’t give it a second thought. I realize it’s wrong but more importantly, we did a great job with the names so there’s no way anyone can tell.”

Haynesworth felt terrible over his mistake, but argued that it could have happened to anyone, “I was just doing what those kid filling out their SA Rep petitions were doing and didn’t even realize it was wrong. Who knew that I might have to Parkhurst a kid whose name I forged on my COS petition for forgetting to cite a source.”

Haynesworth qualified his statement, “But at the same time, shit’s so ironic it’s hilarious.”