University of Virginia Library

'Spirit of Honor'

The "spirit of honor" which
Mr. Whitebread describes
provides the foundation for our
present Honor System. This System
was founded in 1842 following the
assassination of a professor during a
riot against faculty surveillance of
examinations.

Originating with an exam
pledge, the Honor System gradually
expanded its scope until, in 1909,
the increasing size of the University
necessitated the establishment of a
formal procedure, the Honor Code.

The Honor System has been
student-administered since its
conception, and its history reflects
the changes in attitudes held by
successive student generations.

Tom Bagby, Chairman of this
year's Honor Committee, has
expressed the need for the Honor
System "to be reevaluated and
accepted by every generation of
students and every entering class."
He believes that the "fact that the
system has weathered questioning
demonstrates its strength."

Although the System has
expanded its scope to encompass
"all the relations and phases or
student life," the Honor Committee
of 1935 warned that "one of the
greatest dangers to which an Honor
System can be exposed is that of being 'overloaded.' "

The most recent controversy
involving "public opinion of the
student generation" occurred last
March. The Honor Committee
reversed a decision regarding a
first-year student who had been
found guilty of stealing drinks from
a vending machine in Echols
Dormitory.

The original decision of the
Honor Committee gave the student
24 hours to leave the University.
The Committee later declared a null
verdict "in this particular case,"
stating that it did not "believe that
this student's behavior" could "fall
within the jurisdiction of the Honor
System as it now exists."

In giving its reprieve, the
Committee declared that "while
such behavior may be construed as
dishonest," the Honor Committee
felt that the current student
generation did not "consider this
act so reprehensible as to warrant
permanent expulsion from the
University." Mr. Bagby noted that
this was a complex and unusual
case and stated that he felt it
demonstrated "the extent to which
the Honor Committee attempts to
protect the rights of the accused."

He cited three other examples of
the ability of the Honor System to
by responsive to the changing needs
of each student generation.

From the original exam pledge
until 1956 lying for liquor was
never included within the scope of
the Code. In an open meeting in
1956, the Chairman of the Honor
Committee stated that lying for
liquor constituted an honor
offense.