For over 125 years, the University has been
proud of its Honor System. You will shortly
become part of its spirit, and the responsibility
and duty for maintaining its effectiveness will
pass to you You should not accept the system,
however, solely because of its strength of
tradition, but rather because of its ability to
demonstrate its worth and relevance to us today
in this academic community.
Indeed, the system is accepted and therefore
effective not because it is intrinsically venerable,
but because it has proven to be both viable and
valuable. The personal and academic freedom
that it affords our society makes it well worth
your efforts to familiarize yourself thoroughly
with the system, for you can accept the
responsibility of living by it only when you
understand its principles and mechanics. It is
incumbent, therefore, upon you to become
knowledgeable about is fundamental premises
and the responsibilities required of you.
In a separate letter the Honor Committee has
already welcomed you to the University, and
with such a short period before actual
matriculation, it would like to take this
opportunity to impress upon you the importance
of your orientation to the Honor System. There
are several key features of the system of which
you should be readily aware from the very
beginning.
First of all, it is completely student-run.
Neither the faculty nor the administration play
any role in the actual workings of the Honor
Committee. The Honor System is the epitome of
student control. It was founded on the principle
of student participation in University affairs. It is
our opportunity to assert positive student
initiative in the governing of University life.
The Honor Committee is composed of the
presidents of the ten schools of the University
and, in an honor trial, the vice-president of the
school of the accused. It functions as a board of
appeal to which students who have been charged
with violating the spirit of the Honor System can
appeal their cases. The Honor Committee is not
an investigative body; that responsibility is and
always has been in the hands of the individual
students.
You will also find that the Honor System is
not a hard-set code, but rather more nearly a
spirit. Reduced to its simplest terms, it requires
that each student act honorably in all relations
and phases of student life. Hence, lying, cheating,
and stealing are considered violations of the
spirit.
Regardless of your background, when you
become a student at the University you are
accepted into a community which respects
integrity and mutual trust. No human institution,
however, can be one hundred per cent effective
because there will always be those who take
advantage of what others value; therefore, as a
University student, the responsibility of
maintaining this desired ideal will devolve
upon you.
The spirit of the Honor System is perhaps
best defined as the attitude of the student, and it
is only through you that the spirit of honor and
sense of integrity can be upheld in our
community.
Thus, the Honor Committee emphasizes the
tremendous importance of your fully
understanding the Honor System, and of your
developing the same enthusiasm and respect
which has characterized the system since 1842.
We are confident that, if you give your
undivided attention during the orientation to the
Honor System's principles and mechanics, you
will enter the University with a profound
resolution to support the system and accept the
dual responsibility inherent therein: not only to
live by it yourself, but also to see that your
fellow classmates abide by it.
The Honor Committee
