University of Virginia Library

Toward The Cellar

In following its policy of "reaching the
people," the Honor Committee has taken
one further step down the stairway to the
cellar. As the committee pathetically states,
it has no faith in the logic of the student
body at the University. Indeed, it has no
faith in the honor of the student body for
which it sets the policy. As of today,
"misrepresentation to a Dean" remains an
offense to the honor system, while "misrepresentation
of age to obtain alcoholic
beverages" is no longer a lie in our standard
of "honor." Cannot the committee understand
that it is against the law to sell
alcoholic beverages to anyone under the age
of twenty-one? Their most recent ruling
states that they are willing to turn their
backs on one's disregard for the law. Does
not the committee see that its purpose is to
set a standard to live up to - a policy of
Honor - not, as its recent actions suggest,
to accept a policy which is, in fact, dictated
a them by an irrational student morality?
The implication here is that the University
community is so decadent it cannot live up
to a code it has established for itself. As its
latest rulings verify, the Honor Committee is
a weak, compromising body which feels no
guilt at shirking its responsibility. With such
an attitude, the committee cannot hope to
establish a strict system of honor. Perhaps
tomorrow, the committee will see fit to
abolish the Honor Pledge, for how can such
a pledge "retain its credibility as an effective
force in our society?"