University of Virginia Library

To The Editor

Honor Trial Reversal
Spurs Varying Opinion

I would like first to applaud the
courage of the Honor Committee for
reversing their decision regarding
the Coke stealing incident. This
decision demonstrates that the
Honor Committee has finally
discovered the passage in the Blue
Sheet on honor that "... the
Honor System shall concern itself
solely with those offenses which are
classified as dishonorable by the
public opinion of the student
generation involved."

The Honor Committee should
make an introspective study to
determine whether a reversal should
have been necessary. Had they
considered the aforementioned
passage during this trial perhaps the
Honor Committee would not have
made the mistake that almost cost a
student his education at Virginia.
Again, I must compliment the
Committee on a decision which has
left them wide open to criticism.
Better late than never as they say!

Worst Miscarriage

While sitting in the law school
pursuing my normal daily routine, I
was casually informed of what I
consider to be the worst miscarriage
of justice that has occurred on the
campuses of either my
undergraduate or graduate schools.
This miscarriage was perpetrated by
no less esteemed a body than the
University of Virginia Honor
Committee.

Although Honor Committee
procedures prevent my having full
access to the facts of the case,
rumor has it that a University First
Year Man, learning of an open coke
machine, took at least two and
possibly more free cokes without
the intention of paying for them.
There were numerous students
taking free cokes in a college prank
atmosphere. The Honor
Committee, effecting the University
of Virginia's particular type of
justice, expelled the student from
the University, and later, under
student pressure, reversed.

Heretofore, the only persuasive
argument for the retention of the
overly broad Honor Code was an
implied assurance that the Honor
Committee was "just" in practice
and would conclude that de
minimise instances of "lying,
cheating, or stealing" were not
"lying cheating or stealing" in fact.
This would prevent the invocation
of academic capital punishment
where unwarranted.

The Honor System's most recent
travesty of justice is evidence that
the Committee is often unwilling to
disregard literariness even where
justice warrants it. We find that the