The Code of Honor
| "On my honor, I pledge that I have neither given nor received help on this assignment." |
In the early years, most University of Virginia students came
from plantations of the middle Atlantic and Southern states.
Independent and often cocksure, these students lived a rowdy
life, bound to provoke disciplinary action. The University's
Board of Visitors, in those first months led by Jefferson
himself, began articulating laws limiting student behavior—an
action Jefferson regretted, revering instead the ideal of
student self-government.
On the night of November 12, 1840, a masked student shot and
killed John A. G. Davis, beloved professor of law. Sobered
students agreed to a plan whereby students "vouched"
for one another, agreeing to report misbehavior. In the same
spirit, University faculty established an "honor pledge"
on examinations, agreeing to trust students when they pledged
that they had "neither received nor given assistance"
on their schoolwork. Over the years students at the University
of Virginia stepped up to the ideals held by Jefferson. According
to the rules of the nation's oldest student-run Honor
System, students must pledge not to lie, cheat, or steal,
and must agree to report anyone doing so to a court of their
peers. Today that same Honor System is alive and well at the
University of Virginia, frequently coming under scrutiny by
both student leaders and the full student body, always affirmed
in its reliability and importance through results of student
referenda.
By the late 1850s, the University was the "pride of Virginia"
and the "head of Southern colleges." Courses in
engineering had been added to those in liberal arts, medicine,
and law, available from the beginning. Enrollment had grown
so that in 1852, an Annex was added to the central Rotunda,
providing more classroom and meeting space.
The University, unlike many other Southern schools, stayed open
through the Civil War. In March 1865, Union General George
A. Custer marched troops into Charlottesville. Faculty and
community leaders met Custer at the corner of the Grounds
and convinced him to spare the University. Union troops camped
on the Lawn and ravaged many of the Pavilions but, without
any bloodshed, marched on four days later. |
434.924.0311 / 
