University of Virginia Library

Honor System

students finally sign their "honor
cards" at the conclusion of all this
orientation process.

Mr. Clement has mused that if
the administrative load increases
each year, there may come a time
when it will be necessary to appoint
administrative or legislative
assistants to allow the Committee
members adequate time in dealing
with their first responsibility, the
actual cases and trials.

Communication

Members of the Committee also
spend as much time as possible in
keeping communication lines open
between themselves and the rest of
the student body. Periodic letters,
personal visits, and publicity of
cogent points of the system in The
Cavalier Daily have just been some
of the ways in which the
Committee has attempted to
forward necessary information to
the students and to take away any
damaging appearance of secrecy by
the Committee in its work.

The Committee also has the
responsibility of keeping interested
alumni and others connected with
the University abreast of the status
of the system. Members of the
Committee often travel to various
schools to give talks on how the
system works here and answer
numerous questions received
through the mail concerning
procedural aspects of the system.

Aiding The Guilty

For the benefit of any student
who is found guilty of an honor
offense, the Committee in
conjunction with the Placement
Office has compiled information
which might help the student after
he leaves the University. This
information includes a list of
schools where other students in the
past who committed a breach of
the system found admittance.

The Vice President of the Law
School, has the responsibility of
procuring student counsel for both
the accuser and the accused and
seeing that these students have all
necessary information about the
system and trial procedure at hand.

Much administrative work is
connected with an tu honor
trial. If a student is found guilty of
a breach of the system, all of the
evidence of the case is kept on
record by the Committee in the
event that there is a retrial with the
presentation of new evidence.

The number of dismissals has
remained fairly constant since the
turn of the century with only slight
increases in later years which are
probably due to increased
enrollment. Of the average fifteen
dismissals a year almost all have
been for the offense of cheating
with only a few lying and stealing
dismissals scattered in over the
years.

More Than Trials

So a student can see that
members of the Honor Committee
spend much time on many more
areas of the system than just the
actual trials. For the system to
continue at Virginia, it is necessary
to have Committee members who
are willing to devote all of their
creative energies and many long
nights administering the system.

Next, a look into some of the
traditional criticisms of the system
and the explanation given by past
and present Honor Committees.