University of Virginia Library

The Coming Campaign

The campaign for President of the College
may be one of the most crucial ever run,
coming at a time when some voices claim that
student confidence in the Honor System and
respect for it is at a low ebb.

It would be a mistake if the candidates
were to concentrate only on the procedural
aspects of the Honor System's problems,
including those which may stem from legal
challenges. Even more devastating would be a
lacklustre campaign that failed to raise any of
the pertinent questions that must be
answered. The Honor System deserves a
hearing that goes further than that.

We hope that the candidates will think
seriously about, and address themselves to,
some of the fundamental tenets of the system.
There is reason to question the efficacy of the
single sanction of a permanent expulsion from
the University. There is reason to question the
present scope of the system and to determine
whether it ought to be broadened to abrogate
the changes made last year or tightened to
include only academic questions. There is
reason to question whether the present
student body wants or is capable of
supporting an Honor System such as we have
at Virginia.

It would be unreasonable to expect that
the candidates could come up with answers to
these questions that would be acceptable to
the preponderant majority of University
students. Indeed, the very heterogeneity of
today's student body may mean that a
consensus on honor such as is necessary to
maintain an all encompassing University-wide
code is unattainable. These are questions
which must be faced and faced squarely.
Surely the Honor System deserves no less than
a searching and honest appraisal.