University of Virginia Library

Honor Committee Rejects
Alternate Suspension Plan

By NEILL ALFORD III

The Honor Committee Wednesday
night rejected a proposal by four law
students to adopt an alternate honor
penalty of suspension.

The committee also turned down a
proposal to submit the question to a
University-wide student referendum.

The proposal made by Nick Davidson,
Craig Hopson, Neal Fink and Tim
Oksman called for a two-penalty system,
retaining the sanction of expulsion but
adding the sanction of suspension up to
one year for lesser offenses.

"The present single sanction of
expulsion is a major factor contributing
to the decreased effectiveness of the
system," the report asserted.

Honor Committee chairman Tom
Bagby said that the committee has
studied the question of multiple sanctions
since last spring. "This was not an
overnight decision," he said.

Single-penalty Rule

The committee voted 7 to 4 to retain
the single-penalty rule. All four
dissenters were from the graduate
schools.

"Many students refuse to report honor
violations," the report contended,
"because they feel that certain acts,
though dishonorable, are not
dishonorable enough to warrant
permanent expulsion from the
University."

The report declared that a random poll
on the Honor System conducted last year
by the committee showed that "a graded
penalty structure has wide support among
all groups of students."

Mr. Davidson, who is an Honor
Committee member, said, "if the system
is out of line with students' values, then
it will become more effective if it is put
in line with those values."

Mr. Bagby, however, said the majority
of Committee members felt that the poll
in fact showed support for the
single-penalty system.

"The poll seemed to indicate that
there is a lack of knowledge among
students as to how the Honor System
actually works," he said.

The Honor Committee plans to
present a detailed analysis of the poll
soon in The Cavalier Daily, he added.

Immediate Suspension

The proposed lighter penalty would
consist of immediate suspension for the
remainder of the semester and the
following semester. The report included
special rules to insure that a student
convicted near the end of a semester
could complete his exams.

"It would be vindictive to deny him an
opportunity to receive credit for a
semester's work which he has
completed," the report said.

The proposed penalty system would
have allowed a student convicted for a
"minor" offense to return within a year
after his suspension.

"We owe it to the student to allow
him a chance to redeem himself," Mr.
Davidson said.

But Mr. Bagby said, "We don't think
this University is a rehabilitation
institution."

Both he and Mr. Davidson said they
felt the poll was a dependable indicator
of student opinion.

Mr. Davidson said, however, that he
felt the poll results showed that a
referendum should be held to decide the
question of graduated penalties. He said
he hoped that such a referendum would
take place.

To call such a referendum would
require a petition signed by 5 per cent of
the student body and ratification of it by
40 per cent of the student body.

Mr. Davidson said he will hold a press
conference today at 1 p.m. in Mural Hall
at the law School to present a proposal
to call a student referendum to decide the
penalty question.

"The results of the poll should be
released immediately," he said.

Mr. Bagby said he considered the poll
had as much or more validity as an
opinion indicator than a referendum
would have.

Basic Level of Conduct

"There is a basic level of conduct
which most people feel is reprehensible,"
he said. "A violator of these standards of
the community forfeits his privilege to be
a member of the community."

Unwillingness to report violations,
which the report mentioned, might be
based primarily on the subjective
experiences of the students in the Law
School, he added.

But Mr. Davidson said "we think a
majority of all students are for graduated
penalties."

"We think that this whole question of
honor penalties should be a major factor
in the upcoming Honor Committee
elections," he said.