Students, from the time they arrive at the University, are thoroughly immersed in the workings of the honor system. For the rest of their University experience, they will constantly be reminded of their duties not to lie, cheat or steal.
For all the ubiquity of the University's honor system, though, it should not be the strongest force around Grounds for promoting morality. Students should not denounce lying, cheating or stealing simply because they are echoing what the honor system or Honor Committee has mentioned time and time again. Students need to think about why they personally support the honor system, if they do at all. An honor system at the University is all well and good, but to truly build a strong community of trust and respect, individual student morality needs to be the driving force.
Reflecting this sentiment, an upcoming two-day conference could serve well as a refreshing look at morality for University students. The conference, titled "Telling the Truth and Doing the Right Thing: Accountability, Guilt and Forgiveness in the Ethical University," will feature a number of guest speakers and University faculty members who will address the theme of student morality.
While including the proper conduct views of the Honor Committee, the conference will also tackle morality from philosophical, psychiatric, anthropological and biological standpoints, among others. This conference is a fantastic idea, as it deals with ways in which morality around Grounds can be fostered and upheld by students with no need of an honor system or Committee. Rather than having morality mandated by judicial bodies, individual responsibility is closer to student self-governance.
The University boasts the oldest student-run honor system in the country. But, recently, the only improvements which have been suggested to the Honor Committee have been ways in which to modify its punishment system. Granted, having the single sanction as the sole penalty for honor violations is misguided, and a multiple-sanction system should be implemented as soon as possible. Beyond that, though, there have been no talks about how the honor system can actually impact students' moral reasoning.
Students know what is broadly prohibited by the honor code, but they nevertheless may partake in such activities. The threat of Honor Committee action can only do so much. Eventually students will have to take some matters into their own hands and promote morality amongst themselves. This can mean denouncing cheating on a student-to-student level, or even just coming to a broader consensus about what to do in certain morally gray areas. The less the Honor Committee needs to do, the better.
The sense of honor at the University should have a more noticeable two-way relationship with more student involvement. On the one hand, the honor code provides the framework within which proper student conduct is outlined. That part of the honor system is currently well recognized - students know that if they are caught cheating, for example, they will be brought up before the Honor Committee and may face expulsion.
On the other hand, University events such as the Ethical University conference are needed to get students thinking about how to develop a better student culture by facilitating the moral growth of individual students. It may sound idealistic, but if people understood the moral responsibilities they had to their fellow students, it would perhaps hit home in a way that top-down regulation from the Honor Committee could not.
The Ethical University conference, then, is a great way to promote a more morally proactive student body. Or at least it will bring up some points which could be later used for learning. While it may not even be attended by many students, it seeks to teach an important message which can be applied to all. There need to be other talks about ethics around Grounds to compete with all the promotion of the University's honor system, which has a tendency to sound more like a unique historical facet of the University than something from which students should take positive messages.
The deterrence function of the Honor Committee should lessen its role as the major force holding the honor system in place. There can always be a greater sense of ethics upheld by individual students. The Ethical University conference will underscore the important message that students do not have to rely only on faculty or Honor Committee members to uphold the University's honor system. Nor is it a mere practical concern for students to abstain from individual violations and to report the violations of others while attending the University. Students can use their time in college to build their own moral foundations and collectively make the University a better place.
Alex Yahanda is a senior associate editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at a.yahanda@cavalierdaily.com.
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