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History of the Honor Committee
Many of the Honor System's principles originate from Thomas
Jefferson's own ideals and their application in the founding of the
University. In his creation of a great public institution devoted to
higher learning and educational freedom, Mr. Jefferson recruited
several noted professors from Europe, who wasted little time in
establishing their own preconceived notions of proper conduct and
enforcing rigid discipline. On November 12, 1840, Professor John
Davis was shot to death in an attempt to quiet a disturbance on the
Lawn. Both students and faculty were shocked by this incident and the
need to resolve the conflict became gravely apparent.
On July 4, 1842, in an effort to ease the tension between students and faculty,
Professor Henry St, George Tucker offered the following resolution as a gesture of
confidence in the students: "resolved, that in all future examinations ... each candidate
shall attach to the written answers ... a certificate of the following words: I, A.B., do
hereby certify on my honor that I have derived no assistance during the time of this
examination from any source whatsoever." The resolution was meant to govern
conduct in the classroom only, but the students so strongly wished to be measured by
their own standards that they unexpectedly assumed responsibility for the protection of
this privilege. Consequently, for more than 146 years the System has been completely
student-run.
Since its inception, the Honor System has experienced several periods of change.
Following the Civil War, the System became romantically tied to the idea of the
Southern Gentlemen and men were permanently expelled for cheating at cards,
insulting ladies, and defaultingon payments of debts. During this period, no formal
accusatory procedures existed - honor violations were handled by a small group of
students or the student body as a whole. In the past 25 years, the rapid expansion of
student enrollment along with the advent of both coeducation and integration has
changed the student body from an all white male population to one composed of over
16,000 men and women from various backgrounds and ethnic groups. At the same time,
several changes in the Honor System have made it more responsive to the new and
expanded needs of the University community.
In 1952, the Bad Check Committee was established to handle
the increasing number of student bad checks and to ensure a continuing
good relationship between the University community and area merchants.
Some years later, in 1969, the Honor System was revised to cover only
honor violations committed within the boundaries of Charlottesville and
Albemarle County, or wherever a student represented him/herself as a student
of the University of Virginia. Students felt an unlimited scope endangered
the effectiveness of the System by overextending its boundaries in the
administrative sense. And then in 1977 the student body ratified a written
constitution for the Honor Committee. Never before had the Committee worked
under the restraints of a written constitution which could only be changed
with the approval of students. For the first time, students facing trial
were guaranteed certain rights in a written form which would be much more
difficult than bylaws to change. Also, the student body was accorded the
right to change the Honor System directly or override the will of the
Honor Committee by popular referendum. Three particularly
important changes were made in the 1980's. First, passage of a referendum
in 1980 gave accused students a constitutional right to choose a trial
panel composed to a mixture of randomly selected students and elected
Committee members. Second, in 1984 the criterion of reprehensibility was
changed to seriousness. This change eliminated consideration of extenuating
circumstances in honor cases. Third, in 1987 the Honor Committee created
an investigative panel to serve as a check on the thoroughness of investigations
and the validity of investigator's decisions. In 1990 the
student body approved a referendum which gave students the option of choosing
an all random student panel for the first time in UVA history. The Fall
of 1993 saw the beginning of a new investigation process. Random student
investigators were eliminated and in their place, Honor Advisors began
to investigate all cases. Additionally, the Investgative Panel was modified
to allow both the Reporter and the investigated student to speak. The
I-Panel began to make the final decision about whether to drop a case
or render a formal accusation. As the University has continued
to change, the System has had to address new problems and issues facing
the current student body. Changes in the past have helped the Committee
to more effectively reach students and to protect them from wrongly being
dismissed from the University. As the University continues to evolve,
the System will continue to adjust to reflect the opinions of the student
body.
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