University of Virginia Library

Honor System

You are about to enter a school
that is unique in many ways from
every other school in the country.
The University of Virginia has a
heritage which is seldom found in
the modern colleges of the day.
It has been able to expand, diversify
and develop to meet the needs of a
modern, educational institution,
but, at the same time, to retain
the classic, traditional concepts of
education which Thomas Jefferson
himself incorporated in his original
plans for the University. Certainly
the most cherished and most protected
of these concepts and the
most important part of our heritage
is the Honor System.

For a 125 years now, the University
of Virginia has been justly
proud of its Honor System. In
September of this year you will
become a part of its traditional
spirit, and the responsibility and
duty for maintaining it will pass to
you. For this reason the Honor
Committee cannot overemphasize the
importance of its orientation program
at the beginning of the year.
You will be living under the Honor
System from the minute you arrive
here, so it is imperative that you
understand as soon as possible what
your responsibility is to the System
and what demands it makes upon
you. Ignorance of the System is not
considered an excuse for a violation.

In a separate letter the Honor
Committee has already welcomed
you to the University and told you
something of our spirit of honor.
We hope that you have been thinking
about the System in these last
few days before you come to
Charlottesville and that you will
use the orientation programs and
informal discussions that come up
in the next few weeks to clear
your mind of any questions or
doubts you have about the System.
Remember that the only reason our
Honor System works is that the
students here today make it work.
It will be up to you and your
classmates as much as anyone else
in the University to see that the
Honor System is maintained.

Reduced to its simplest terms
the Honor System requires that
each student shall act honorably in
all phases of student life. Lying,
cheating, stealing, and breaking
one's word of honor are rightfully
considered violations of the spirit
of honor and are punishable by
permanent dismissal from the University.
This is not an administrative
or a faculty dismissal but rather
an act carried out by the students
themselves. The price we pay for
having so meaningful and effective
a System is that we must not only
live honorably ourselves but also
we must accept the responsibility
of seeing to it that our fellow students
do also. We cannot and will
not allow dishonorable people in
our midst. If we see a person commit
a questionable act, we must
confront him and ask him to explain
his behavior. Should this
explanation be unacceptable, we
must ask him to leave the University.
If a trial is required, it is
held before a committee made up
entirely of students and the decision
of that group is final. No
appeal may be made to anyone,
including the faculty and administration,
outside the student body.
That the faculty has been willing
to accept and enforce the decisions
coming from this entirely student-run
system is a reflection of how
well it works and how much confidence
they have that we can keep
it working so effectively.

As a new student you should
enter the University with a profound
resolution to support the
Honor System and be a gentleman
of honor in the fullest sense
of the word. Only then will you
realize the deep and lasting meaningfulness
of James Hays' words
which thousands of University students
have come to cherish, "I
have worn the honors of Honor.
I graduated from Virginia."