Having established the "Writing Lab" at James Madison University in 1974, the author has watched the evolution and proliferation of Writing Centers in colleges and universities over the past 32 years. Common to support services at the beginning of her career as a writing specialist and in the present Writing Center are two primary areas of interest for the topic of ethics and empathy: (1) the relationship of the writing specialist and the student; and (2) the relationship of the writing specialist and the faculty. The Writing Center at James Madison University is now facing the challenge of change which has brought into high relief questions of the writing specialists' relationship to students and to faculty. In this essay, the author intends to address two questions: (1) What is the relationship between the professional tutor and the student?; and (2) Are the writing specialists paper-centered or student-centered? The author provides examples of ethical situations that arise when working with students in the Writing Center, such as dealing with conditions of confidentiality, determining how much help is "too much," helping a student when a faculty member writes a "bad assignment," and dealing with suspected plagiarism.