To the Editor:
The March 6, 2014 article in The Cavalier Daily regarding the percentage of Honor offense reports filed against minority students sets forth a view by the Honor Committee Chair as follows:
“Speaking to the possible causes of higher reporting against minorities, Berhle pinpointed three distinct problems: a lack of understanding among international students, spotlighting of minority offenses and dimming of offenses committed by white students.”
The Chairman’s comment regarding “spotlighting” and “dimming” is at best a disingenuous assessment of the cause of the problem. The discrepancies are what they are: disproportionate suspected Honor offenses observed and reported to the Honor Committee. The notion that somehow faculty and others reporting Honor offenses are discriminating against minorities is a foolish and misguided assumption. Maintaining the Honor System at the University requires an ongoing educational effort amongst entering students and vigorous reporting of the outcome of Honor trials to ensure that the student body is well aware of the ongoing effort to combat violations of the Honor Code in a fair, unbiased and equitable manner.
Harry R. Marshall, Jr, ’61
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Read More
EDITORIAL: Student self-governance deserves our confidence
By Editorial Board | YesterdayNow, just a month into the semester, new officeholders appear to be delivering results.
YOUNIS: SJP’s criticism is not hysteria — it is a challenge to U.Va.’s standards
By Ayat Younis | 4 days agoAny leader deserves scrutiny for their professional past, regardless of their background and especially if they have ties to brutal military-industrial complexes through the IDF.
ELJAZZAR: Do not be fooled by the Vanderbilt Report
By Farah Eljazzar | 6 days agoA report chaired by a philosopher that aims to invoke objective inquiry is hypocritically holding itself to a lower evidentiary standard than it criticizes.
