the Honor Committee's latest actions bring a dangerous chilling effect to free speech

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Virginia
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<p>Oh how Jefferson would be rolling in his grave!</p>

<p>UVA's</a> Cavalier Daily Facing Judiciary Charges - NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather</p>

<p>Cavalier</a> Daily faces UJC charges | The Cavalier Daily</p>

<p>Why oh why has the Honor Committee been allowed to pursue this ridiculous turf war? It seeks UJC charges merely because the Cav Daily reported that it had fired a journalist who had caught plagiarising articles three times.</p>

<p>It seems the Honor Committee doesn't like it when they don't have tight control over what people say not only just about honor cases, but about the circumstances leading up to them. </p>

<p>The Cav Daily, which was much affected by the whole process, had every right to publish an editorial detailing journalistic standards of conduct at the Cav Daily, and to comment on the circumstances of plagiarism.</p>

<p>That the Honor Committee would seek UJC charges is the final insult to a process that is already far too opaque and muddied with privilege and petty student politics. </p>

<p>The leader of the IRC Council, which governs the resident life of about ~300 students, complained to the Dean of Students last year about another case where the chair of the Honor Committee did not recuse herself despite the one filing honor charges, in effect, acting as both judge and prosecutor. She was in effect told, "Sorry -- but what can we do? Why didn't you join honor?"</p>

<p>When the guardians of a system are confronted about the flaws and injustices within that system, they always give that constant, mindless reply. </p>

<p>Why must outsiders join a broken system to fix it, if those within the system have no sense of self-consciousness to their own issues? Wouldn't they make terrible colleagues to work with? Well, pardon us if we have been repelled by a self-selecting political system or if the Committee takes no proactive steps to court individuals outside its traditional demographic.</p>

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<p>I am surprised this is going on. The people involved in the honor trial are sworn to confidentiality. If they choose to tell someone else, then it would be them and not the publishers who should be held accountable.</p>

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<p>I mean it was the editorial board who filed honor charges against their errant former staff. </p>

<p>But professors breach the confidentiality agreement in a similar manner all the time. They don’t name names, but they simply tell you the reason why you may notice you have less classmates (like with CS 1111) is because these people either had to withdraw from the class or face honor charges. I don’t see why the Cav Daily can’t do the same thing to defend their journalistic reputation.</p>

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<p>well technically -I- filed those cs honor charges, the professors were not bound in the same way I am/was.</p>

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<p>just like technically the Honor Committee Chair isn’t filing a collective charge against the Cav Daily right, but individual charges against the five members of the Executive Board?</p>

<p>The system should not be open to being gamed. In the actual judicial institutions in this country, we have such things in place, that take care of such things as “conflict of interest”. With power-tripping committee members in the school… the situation is more hazy</p>

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<p>[This</a> is what censorship looks like | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2011/09/26/this-is-what-censorship-looks-like/]This”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2011/09/26/this-is-what-censorship-looks-like/)</p>

<p>If corporations are people, then shouldn’t the Cavalier Daily be considered a person? Just like top officials of corporations often get away unpunished when their corporation does something illegal, shouldn’t the individuals on the Managing Board be able to argue that they are not responsible?</p>

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<p>That was a trick used by the main anti-apartheid newspaper in S. Africa in the 1960s. Whenever they were ordered to not cover a certain story, they left a white area in their newspaper where the story would have appeared.</p>

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<p>[McKenzie</a> drops four UJC charges | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2011/09/27/mckenzie-drops-four-ujc-charges/]McKenzie”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2011/09/27/mckenzie-drops-four-ujc-charges/)</p>

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<p>The UJC is ■■■■■■■■ and those who bring people up on honor charges are even more so. Get a life and realize that cheating happens all the time and no one is going to stop it! I was almost brought up on charges for “talking smack” about one of my housemates…it’s actually ridiculous.</p>

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<p>They say that if you really want to make sure that innocent people are not convicted, you should become a prosecutor, not a defense attorney. That is because the prosecutor’s job is supposed to be to drop charges if they are not justified or if there is inadequate proof.</p>

<p>A problem could occur in any system if the average students do not get involved, and only zealots control it.</p>

11

<p>When I was a first year, I love how the Honor system sounded on paper.</p>

<p>As a fourth year, I’ve realised the Honor Committee seems more concerned about having a good “legacy” or resume than actually fostering any sort of culture of virtue and honour.</p>

<p>The Honor Committee chair – rather than being a seat of respect, sagacity and other things I have seen in leaders of large organisations with wise and esteemed leadership – becomes more and more of a joke with each ridiculous case it prosecutes.</p>

<p>(Although none did more damage to the position than Mary Siegel, I would say. She had to take herself off facebook after the Cav Daily covered her ridiculous lack of self-consciousness over her conflict of interest.)</p>

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<p>I remember that Mary Siegel-Jason Smith controversy in 09’ as my son was a 4th year then. There was a big thread on here started by barboza. Many people thought Mary Siegel was quite overzealous. I looked her up on LinkedIn out of curiousity and it looks like she in investment banking in NYC. Does anybody know what became of Jason Smith?</p>

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<p>I don’t know. I imagine he didn’t want to publicise it to his former school.</p>

<p>[Breach</a> of trust | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2011/09/28/breach-of-trust/]Breach”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2011/09/28/breach-of-trust/)</p>

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<p>I’ve talked to many friends about this, and I do not find very widespread support for the Honor Committee’s style of governance in general.</p>

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<p>This is quite the reason behind the standard “but if you care so much you should join honor” response to everyone who brings up concerns about the system. They know people won’t join unless they are indeed, zealots. And if people don’t join, they can simply say the lack of reforms is the student body’s fault.</p>

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<p>[Honor</a> trial verdict finds fourth-year student guilty | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2009/03/30/honor-trial-verdict-finds-fourth-year-student-guil/]Honor”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2009/03/30/honor-trial-verdict-finds-fourth-year-student-guil/)</p>

<p>The above is an article about the 2009 case referenced above. It is ironic that it involved a class entitled “Honor and Ethics.”</p>

15

<p>Here is something else in the Cavalier daily about the Jason Smith case.
<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2009/04/07/in-defense-of-jason-smith/[/url]”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2009/04/07/in-defense-of-jason-smith/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>This is another interesting piece in the Cavalier Daily written by professors in Jason Smith’s department.
[An</a> unfair trial | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2009/04/16/an-unfair-trial/]An”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2009/04/16/an-unfair-trial/)</p>

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<p>Thank you Sevmom for sharing this poignantly written article. My concern with self governance at UVa is at what point does an experienced professional, such as a professor in the English Department in this case, have the right to step in and be heard. Are we actually giving the lives and futures of our children to their peers? Where is the voice of reason in these types of situations? How does UVa, the professional staff (advisors, administrators, professors) look upon these cases? Do they get involved at any given juncture?</p>

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<p>What is upsetting is when people who are really cheating get away with it, while someone such as Mr. Smith gets thrown out. Mr. Smith may have been guilty of being a slacker who may have deserved to fail that class. However, based upon the press coverage, it seems questionable if his offenses were serious enough to justify expulsion. He obviously didn’t think so or he would have not have agreed to a public trial.</p>

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<p>The problem is not because of self-governance by peers, which I still cherish. It is because the system has been shaped in such a way that there is a self-selection of peers for those who join honor. It becomes unfriendly towards individuals from joining for the sake of reform – it would be a rather unpleasant form of seppuku. Once this self-selection is in place, there is also the system’s preference for asking “their own kind” to join. In this, a very un-Jeffersonian system has been created.</p>

<p>While attending an ASU meeting, I managed to accidentally peek into an Honor-related meeting once…(the correct room was next door). The meeting was essentially demographically dominated by white, blonde females. While I realise that could potentially be someone’s fantasy, I imagine some people appreciate a little diversity in their honor system.</p>

<p>Of course, the Honor Committee frequently uses many rhetorical devices to make it look like it is indeed a representative system based on your peers.</p>

20

<p>When I went to UVa in the Pre-Cambrian era, elections were dominated by first year students, because they were the easiest to reach in campaigns and because older students didn’t care. I imagine the same is true today. Those first year students may not understand how the system really works. </p>

<p>In my 4 years at UVa, I never crossed paths with Honor charges or trials and neither did my friends. At the same time, I never saw evidence of cheating, except a couple people who looked at old tests when they weren’t supposed to.</p>

<p>It would be interesting to know if certain sororities dominate the Honor system. I would also imagine that legacies are well-represented.</p>

<p>In the past, arguments were made that providing honor juries with the choice of expulsion or a one year suspension (depending upon the seriousness of the offense) would actually increase the conviction rate. More students might be willing to file charges and more faculty might be willing to cooperate if the juries had two choices.</p>