An Education in Honor

A couple of young people have received a tough lesson in honor, courtesy of my beloved University of Virginia Honor Code ("On my honor (as a gentleman), I have neither given nor received aid on this (test, examination, paper, project)").

Apparently, UVA runs a little "Semester at Sea", giving students the opportunity to earn a few credits while generally enjoying a Mediterranean cruise. All are apparently informed of the UVA Honor Code and agree to be subject to it.

The two expel-ees in question were accused of cadging from Wikipedia (a source so dubious in the first place as to defy citation in a serious paper, I would argue) on a project; they were tried by an Honor Court (which does indeed have a set of rules and procedures) and convicted...and then sent home. One of the student's statements had me chuckling: "Routman said most students were not familiar with the University of Virginia's honor code. "We're all coming from completely different backgrounds," Routman said, "with completely different attitudes at our schools. To expect us to just pick up the honor code like that is ridiculous."

What does this say about the schools from which they were coming?

Most criticize UVA's system because it has only one sanction...expulsion. There have been movements through the years to create other sanctions, but I steadfastly remain wedded to the single sanction. In four years there, I can honestly say that I never once saw cheating occur. I'm not saying that it didn't, I'm saying that I didn't see it. The atmosphere there was one of trust, and I treasured it.

That said, I got caught up in the honor system while there. Here's the story. All First-year's at UVA (not freshmen, thank you) are required to take an English Writing course. I was breezing through with a strong "A" average, when toward the end of the semester, we were given a project that was designed to take us to the Universities libraries for some serious card catalog diving. The work was not "pledged"....that is, we were not required to write out and sign the pledge, as we were for every assignment in which professor wanted to ensure there was no group effort.

I and four other guys, all of them football players, met at Alderman Library one afternoon and I made the assignments. We each headed off for an hour or so, then returned, exchanged our information, and then turned in our work.

When I went by the teacher's (a TA, not a professor) office to pick up my grade, he was not there, but he had posted a large envelope containing individual envelopes with each student's name on it. When I casually opened mine, fully expecting the "A" that would counterbalance the C- in physics and the C in Ancient Chinese History, I was met with a letter saying something like the following:

"I have determined that you and four other students committed academic fraud in the assignment of 20 April 1984, in that all five of your inputs were exact duplicates of each other. Based on the rules of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, I am lowering your grade from an "A" to a "C-", the lowest passing grade for this course. Should you wish to appeal this decision, you must petition the Faculty of Arts and Sciences."

I was crushed. I really needed that "A", and I hadn't done anything wrong. I played by the rules. The assignment was not "pledged" work (unlike every single writing assignment that he had given us that semester), and we did not seek in any way to hide that we had done group work (group work being, by the way, the basis of virtually every MBA program in the country these days....).

I was very interested by the fact that he had resorted to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, rather than the Honor Code. As a graduate student, he was fully within his rights to take this to the Honor Committee, which could have resulted in my expulsion. When I did catch up with him finally, I confronted him with this. His answer is one of the reasons I love the Honor Code to this day. "I did" he said. "But they wouldn't even take up the case because it was un-pledged work." I was dumbfounded. I asked him why he didn't just drop the matter there and then, as it was clear I had done nothing wrong. He said that I had violated the "spirit" of the assignment, and rules of the College of Arts and Sciences gave him the latitude to do what he did. I thought then and there, "if I ever see you outside of this office by yourself, I will beat you to a living pulp." And then I walked out. Luis Gamez, you clog-wearing little pufter, you are lucky I am a man of restraint.

The Honor Code works. Because of the gravity of the sanction, much...and I mean much...deference is given to the student's situation. It is entirely student run, and students don't like kicking each other out. It is something to be protected, and it is something I wish more colleges and institutions replicated.