Yesterday evening was a busy one for the Honor Committee. In addition to its usual business and weekly reports from several school representatives, the Committee heard two community concerns and discussed two important proposed amendments regarding the Semester at Sea program. The first was brought forth by Chair David Truetzel at last week's meeting; the second was presented last night by representatives Alexander Cohen and Ed Lee.
During the meeting, there were numerous instances that contribute to the perception that some confusion and disorganization could exist within the Committee. In particular, its members should consider reevaluating their approach to the Semester at Sea amendment process to ensure that a more exhaustive appraisal of each proposal is given.
The most significant error appeared to come when the Committee addressed Truetzel's proposal. In short, the amendment would allow a student convicted of an honor offense during the Semester at Sea program to request additional honor proceedings on Grounds. If an on-Grounds investigation was requested, the student could only be expelled from the University if he was convicted at the second trial as well. A motion to vote on this plan failed, but the discussion continued to that point without a single member of the Committee raising one critical concern: namely, that the proposal's intended changes could be seen as being in direct conflict with the Committee's preexisting bylaws.
Part C of the bylaws explain that, because of the unique nature of the Semester at Sea program, special guidelines for conducting the proceedings are outlined in Section IV.K. This section refers students to the program's Voyager Handbook for more specific information about Semester at Sea honor proceedings. The proposed amendment seeks to insert a new bylaw, which would become Section IV.L, without addressing Section IV.K, seemingly creating a significant conflict. When this concern was brought to Truetzel's attention, he acknowledged that the Committee would have to vet the proposal to ensure that a conflict would be avoided. This statement came, however, after the motion to vote was made.
Another point of concern arose during the Committee's discussion. Responding to a question by Cohen, Truetzel stated that his proposal is "not entirely consistent" with single sanction logic. Though that contention could be debated and fleshed out further, the acknowledgement alone implies that such an amendment could be a dramatic departure from traditional practice. If that is the case, the potential changes certainly merit more discussion and the Committee should bring the issue to the attention of University students and make them aware of the proposals' broader implications about the future of the honor system.
Perhaps some of the confusion arises from the language of the honor bylaws itself. For example, the document explicitly defines "University student" to include "any Semester at Sea Program participant (whether such Semester at Sea participant is a student primarily at the University of Virginia or at any other institution(s)." However, all students participating in the program sign a waiver that during the voyage, "the By-laws and Constitution of the University of Virginia's Honor Committee shall not apply ... University of Virginia students hereby waive the 'Rights of the Accused' set forth in Article V of the Constitution of the Honor Committee." There seems to be something of a paradox in these statements.
At one point in the discussion, representative John Griffin questioned if the Committee should associate its name with the proceedings that occur onboard the Semester at Sea ship. After all, the hearing process during the program is mostly independent of the Committee's oversight. In responding to Griffin's and other members' concerns, Truetzel said "whatever we write is whatever is possible," in reference to the proposed amendments. Griffin's statements pointed to serious problems with attaching the honor banner to investigations and hearings that may not be up to the caliber of on-Grounds proceedings. Nevertheless, the discussion seemed mostly to evade that issue.
There is no doubt that the 2008 Semester at Sea incident underscored significant challenges in administering the honor code off-Grounds. The peculiarities of the program make the questions confronting the Committee especially intricate, and the seriousness of the consequences means that the proposed amendments carry great importance. For such critical matters, Committee members must educate themselves and rigorously scrutinize the proposals. Certain instances from last night's meeting could leave some members of the University community perplexed as to how the Committee functions and what can be expected from the Semester at Sea amendments. The discussion going forward should emulate the high standards the Committee sets for itself.
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