University of Virginia Library

Spirit of System

Honor cannot be codified in
several columns of rules and
regulations. To attempt a detailed
codification would destroy the
spirit of the system. In early years
the list of offenses that could bring
dismissal went far beyond the three
fundamental infractions of
honor—cheating, lying, and stealing.
During prohibition days any
student who stepped on a dance
floor gave the automatic pledge
that he had consumed nothing
more alcoholic than water since
noon. If he wandered about the
dance floor drunk he would awaken
the next morning to find himself
dismissed from the University.
There was a time when the breaking
of athletic training rules was cause
for dismissal.

The Honor Committee settled
the disturbing problem of
jurisdiction in 1934 when it
accepted a statement which remains
part of the Honor System: ".....it
is essential that the Honor System
shall concern itself solely with those
offenses which are classified
dishonorable by the generation
involved." Thus the system is not
static. It has responded to changing