University of Virginia Library

'System Less Effective'

Certainly, the central obstacle to
a successful system is maintaining a
consensus of honor. Present Chairman
Whitt Clement has said, "For
any honor system to serve as an
effective code of conduct it must of
course have widespread student
support ... As the consensus of
opinion of honor lessens, the
system tends to become, regrettably,
less effective."

The scope of the system has
changed many times since its
beginning over a hundred years ago.
Critic and former student Pieter
Shenkkan argued that "there is
only one area where agreement is
possible, and where we should take
action because other large communities,
like the State of Virginia
and the United States, do not:
academic practices.

"Cheating on exams, plagiarism
and similar offenses are not covered
(by other authorities); unlike lying
about your age, cheating on an
exam injures this community far
more directly and significantly than
it does any other. So the academic
area alone should be the subject of
our concern."

Defenders of the system have
retorted that "It would be illogical
to limit the scope of Honor in just a
few areas. This would only add fire
to the argument that we say some
things are dishonorable while
others, equally wrong, are not
surely the peak of hypocrisy."

All do agree though that without
a consensus of honor the
system will not survive. Many
members of the present Honor
Committee feel that it is imperative
that next year's new Committee
painstakingly gauge student opinion
for a consensus of what exactly
should constitute an honor offense.