University of Virginia Library

Honor System Proves Valuable

For 127 years the University of
Virginia has been proud of its
Honor System. You will shortly
become part of its traditional spirit,
and the responsibility and duty for
maintaining its effectiveness will
pass to you. You should not accept
the system, however, because
of its strength of tradition, but
rather because of its ability to
demonstrate its worth and relevance
to us today in this academic
community. Indeed, the system is
accepted and therefore effective
not because it is intrinsically
venerable, but because it is
valuable. The personal and academic
freedom that it affords our
society makes it well worth your
efforts to yourself thoroughly
with the system, for you
can accept the responsibility of
living by it only when you understand
its principles and mechanics.
It is incumbent, therefore, upon
you to become very knowledgeable
about its fundamental premises and
the responsibilities required of you.

In a separate letter the Honor
Committee has already welcomed
you to the University, and with
such a short period before actual
matriculation, it would like to take
this opportunity to impress upon
you the importance of your orientation
to the Honor System. There
are several key features of the
system of which you should be
readily aware fro the very beginning.

First of all, it is completely
student-run. Neither the faculty nor
the administration play any role in
the actual workings of the Honor
Committee. The Honor System is
the epitome of student control. It
was founded on the principle of
student participation in University
affairs. It is our opportunity to
assert positive student initiative in
the governing of University life.

The Honor Committee is composed
of the presidents of the ten
schools of the University and, in an
honor trial, the vice-president of
the school of the accused. It
functions as a board of appeal to
which students who have been
charged with violating the spirit of
the Honor System can appeal their
cases. The Honor Committee is not
an investigative body; that responsibility
is and always has been in the
hands of the individual students.

You will also find that the
Honor System is not a hard-set
code, but rather more nearly a
spirit. Reduced to its simplest
terms, it requires that each student
act honorably in all relations and
phases of student life. Hence, lying,
cheating, and are considered
violations of the spirit.

Regardless of your background,
when you become a student at
Virginia you are accepted into a
community which respects integrity
and mutual trust. No human
institution, however, can be one
hundred per cent effective because
there will always be those who take
advantage of what others value;
therefore, as a Virginia student, the
responsibility of maintaining this
desired ideal will devolve upon you.
The spirit of the Honor System is
perhaps best defined as the attitude
of the student, and it is only
through you that the spirit of
honor and sense of integrity can be
upheld in our community.

Thus, the Honor Committee
emphasizes the tremendous importance
of your fully understanding
the Honor System, and of your
developing the same enthusiasm
and respect for which has characterized
the system since 1842.

We are confident that, if you
give your undivided attention
during the orientation to the Honor
System's principles and mechanics,
you will enter the University with a
profound resolution to support the
system and accept the dual responsibility
inherent therein: not only to
live by it yourself, but also to see
that your fellow classmates abide
by it.

The Honor Committee looks
forward to meeting the entering
class during orientation and wishes
you a bright future at the University.