The recent discovery of a document outlining a January 28, 1999 meeting between the Board of Visitors and the Honor Committee has thrown the relationship between the two University entities into the limelight.
The document, obtained by The Cavalier Daily, highlighted a discussion between the Board's special committee and 1998-1999 Committee members regarding "Case #19."
A former Committee member, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said "Case #19" referred to possible litigation involving former University student Maurice Guillaume Goodreau III.
Goodreau claimed he unlawfully was stripped of his degree eight years after graduation.
At the meeting, the Board said it was "not willing to take on the defense of this case without changes in the System."
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Some of the proposed changes found in the document will appear on honor referenda that will be voted on by students later this month. These changes include eliminating of random student juries and making any act of cheating a serious offense.
The discovery of this document calls into question the role the Board may play in working together with the Committee.
"There is a special relationship," said Alexander "Sandy" Gilliam Jr., secretary to the Board. "One of our specific duties is upholding the honor system."
But after a search conducted by Board members, no formal document was found giving the Board permission to oversee the institution of the honor system.
Originally, faculty members handled student discipline, Gilliam said. But after the faculty created the honor system in 1840, upholding the new disciplinary system traditionally fell under the jurisdiction of the Board.
"The Board is ultimately responsible for everything at the University," Gilliam said.
But the lack of a formal mandate allowing the Board officially to oversee the Committee has created confusion regarding the role of each governing body, he said.
Committee Chairman Thomas Hall said the Board should be allowed to have some input into the activities and interworkings of the Committee.
"I don't think that there is any question that the Board has authority," Hall said. "Student self- governance doesn't mean that you can't take some advice."
Traditionally, the Committee chairman comes into meet with the Board just as other student organizations heads do.
The heads of all the various student groups such as Student Council and the University Judiciary Committee, give reports at the Board meetings during the academic year, Gilliam said.
Board members "always have been interested and wanted to stay abreast of what" the Committee is doing, Hall said.
But some Board members said they felt the Board has little interaction with Committee members.
"The Board itself has had almost no involvement in" the Committee, Board Rector John P. Ackerly III said.
Board member Gordon F. Rainey agreed the Board only has occasional contact with the Committee.
"Occasionally we get a report," Rainey said. "There is very little interaction nor do I think there should be."
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