At their meeting Sunday, the Honor Committee announced third-year College student Lillie Lyon as their new chair for the 2019-2020 school year. The chair and vice-chairs were selected during a closed session at last weekend’s annual retreat.
Lyon will be succeeding fourth-year medical student Ory Streeter as Honor Committee Chair. Lyon and the new vice-chairs will begin their term on April 1, with their first official open session meeting on Sunday, April 7.
As a previous support officer and member of the the Alternative Sanction Working Group, Lyon has experience working within the Honor System. The Alternative Sanction Working Group has been responsible for addressing potential changes to the Single Sanction policy at the University.
If a student is found guilty of an Honor offense, they are dismissed from the University. This single sanction policy has been under review by the Honor Committee, which through this working group has been gauging community opinion on the single sanction and discussing different potential methods for sanctioning.
During the election cycle this year, Lyon advocated for overhauling and streamlining outreach and education in addition to creating an internal organizational culture that gives individuals more agency to improve the organization.
The Honor Committee vice-chairs were also announced at the meeting. Third-year Engineering student Sally Greenberg will serve as the vice-chair for investigations. Third-year College student Mary Beth Barksdale will serve as vice-chair for education, third-year College student Alex Spratley will serve as vice-chair for hearings, and third-year Commerce student Lucy Krasker will serve as vice-chair for community relations.
All of the vice-chairs have also had prior involvement with Honor as support officers.
In an email to The Cavalier Daily, Lyon provided an overview of the Committee’s goals for this term.
“Speaking broadly, we hope to improve the experiences of students and reporters within the Honor case process while also strengthening the community's understanding of the Honor System and how the concept of honor applies to daily life,” Lyon said.
Lyon also provided plans for internal and external goals for the Honor Committee in the 2019-2020 academic year.
“Internally, we plan to restructure the support officer pool to increase specialization and accountability for our advisors, investigators, and counsel,” she said. “We also aim to evaluate our investigative procedures to determine ways in which we can improve the clarity and efficiency of our investigations.”
Lyon said the Committee’s external goals include further implementation of education and outreach initiatives. She emphasized the need to educate students and other community members on the meaning of Honor beyond its traditional definition of not lying, cheating and stealing.
“In regards to education, we want to ensure that we're reaching all sectors of the University, communicating the purpose and functions of the Honor System clearly and encouraging an understanding of honor beyond not lying, cheating, and stealing,” Lyon said.
One of Honor’s first educational opportunities is the plan to speak at Honor Convocation at the beginning of fall semester. Lyon commented that past educational initiatives and co-sponsorships would be continued, while also “broadening our reach to work more closely with international students, faculty, and corner businesses.”
Lyon also mentioned the use of case-related demographic data from Honor’s Bicentennial Report, released Feb. 2018, to “facilitate productive conversations about students’ experiences with the Honor System and continue our commitment to incorporating this data in our understanding of the Honor System.”
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