Honor system at the University of Virginia

HONOR PLEDGE

On my honor as a student, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment/examination.

The University of Virginia has an honor code, formally known as the Honor System.[1] The Honor System is intended to be student administered.

It was founded by Virginia students in 1842 after John A. G. Davis, chairman of the faculty and professor of law, who was attempting to resolve a conflict between students, was shot to death.[2] The University had at that point a 17-year history of ongoing tensions between students and faculty over strictly enforced discipline, hours, and dress. Students, sons of the most prominent families of Virginia, found particularly galling the impugning of their honor by stringent supervision during tests: "[t]he students were allowed to bring only a pencil to the classroom, they were forbidden to speak, and the professors, operating in shifts, watched them with 'lynx-like' eyes during the course of the examinations."[3] Law professor Henry St. George Tucker, Sr., proposed a basic honor pledge as an alternative to faculty oversight.[4]

Originally the honor system only applied to allegations of cheating, although it was subsequently expanded to hold students to a general standard of gentlemanly conduct: the shared values of an all white, all male Southern aristocratic tradition.[3][5] In modern times, however, the Honor System is composed of only three simple tenets: a student will not lie, cheat, or steal. It extends to matters academic and personal, and the sole sanction for a confirmed Honor System violation is dismissal from the university. This is called the "single sanction system".

A plaque regarding 150 years of the Honor System, placed on the Lawn in 1992

The system is not without its detractors—it has been criticized because the required severe penalty may prevent more moderate violations from being reported or acted upon.[6] Although students have voted on numerous proposals to weaken or eliminate the single sanction over the past few decades, none has ever succeeded. Support for the honor system has waned in recent years, and in the Spring of 2007 a non-binding referendum to replace the single sanction with a tiered, multiple sanction system received 49.5% of the votes cast, falling just 62 votes shy of a majority.[7]

While cheating convictions are relatively rare (24 students were dismissed during the 2003 academic year, and 21 more were dismissed in 2004), a large cheating scandal occurred in 2001.[8] Physics professor and Hereford College Dean Louis Bloomfield, based on a student's complaint, suspected that some of his students copied portions of their term papers from fraternity archives in his Introduction to Physics class. After devising a computer program to detect copied phrases of at least six sequential words, over 150 students were accused of plagiarizing or allowing others to plagiarize their work over the previous five semesters. Although over 100 of these students were eventually exonerated, 48 students either admitted guilt or were convicted, and were therefore dismissed from the university. Three of these students had already graduated, and their degrees were subsequently revoked.[9]

Lawsuits have challenged the honor system, such as a 1983 case brought by an expelled law student that reached the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Courts so far have concluded the system affords due process sufficient to satisfy constitutional expectations.[10][11]

However, there has been at least one case of UVA administration interference in an honor proceeding under the threat of a lawsuit.[12] In 1993 an Honor Trial convicted Christopher Leggett of cheating. The Honor Committee of that year insisted Leggett had received a fair trial but President John Casteen called it flawed, after Leggett's family hired law firm Williams & Connolly.[13] The President and Board of Visitors forced the Executive Committee of the Honor Committee to grant a new trial (not provided for in the Honor bylaws) and in the second trial the student jury acquitted Leggett.[13][14][15] One Honor Committee member resigned because of the administration's interference.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "The Honor Committee". University of Virginia. 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  2. ↑ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0-8139-0904-X.
  3. 1 2 C. Alphonso Smith (November 26, 1936). "I Certify On My Honor--'The Real Story of How the Famed 'Honor System' at University of Virginia Functions and What Matriculating Students Should Know About It". Richmond Times Dispatch. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  4. ↑ TUCKER, Henry St. George – Biographical Information
  5. ↑ Noel C. Paul (June 4, 2002). "Honoring the Code". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  6. ↑ Kessler, Aaron (2006-12-27). "Professors Tepid about the Honor System". Charlottesville Daily Progress. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  7. ↑ Madrecki, Thomas (2007-03-01). "Students decide on referenda". Cavalier Daily. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  8. ↑ Greta von Susteren (May 10, 2001). "University of Virginia Tackles Cheating Head On". CNN. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  9. ↑ "Past Cases May Shed Light on 'Introduction to Congress" Investigation". Harvard Crimson. September 4, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ Meg Scheu (June 22, 1999). "Judge Denies Call to Dismiss Lawsuit". Cavalier Daily. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  11. ↑ In 1983 the Fourth Circuit rejected a challenge brought by an expelled law student, the Henson case, concluding UVA's student-run honor system afforded sufficient due process to pass constitutional scrutiny.
  12. ↑ Robert O' Harrow Jr. (August 8, 1994). "Honor Case Causes Uproar at U-Va.; Some Angry Over Official Intervention, Student Panel's Unusual Reversal of Decision". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  13. 1 2 O'Harrow, Robert, Jr. (August 10, 1994). "U-Va. Accused of Applying Pressure, Paying Student's Legal Fees in Cheating Case". archived newspaper article. Washington Post. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  14. ↑ Helen Wu (April 2, 1996). "Leggett Crops Up in New Honor laws". Cavalier Daily. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  15. ↑ Barefoot, Coy (Spring 2008). "The Evolution of Honor Timeline". University of Virginia Magazine. Retrieved 3 November 2012.(noting the case "garnered a great deal of media attention and criticism among alumni and students").
  16. ↑ Hughes, Melvin R., Judge (January 18, 1995). "Redinger v. Casteen, Circuit Court of the City of Richmond". Opinion. Virginia Coalition for Open Government. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
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