THE PAST few days have seen an alarmed University and Asian-American community react fervently to The Cavalier Daily's Feb. 14 article, "Honor finds 13 Asians investigated." On behalf of alpha Kappa Delta Phi sorority, I write not only to clarify the context of the quoted statements, but also to hopefully shift the focus of the ensuing discussion entirely.
Asian-Americans have always been actively involved at the University in activities that range from service oriented organizations to religious fellowships to cultural programs. However, at a recent meeting of the Asian Leaders Council, Honor Educator Kate Murphy urged the ALC to encourage members of its organizations to participate in Honor tryouts, citing the fact that Asian-Americans are traditionally not as active in the Honor Committee.
In this context, I want to elaborate on a comment printed on Feb. 14. Traditions tend to be self-perpetuating; any attempt to change "tradition" requires a conscious decision and active effort to break an established trend. The U.Va. colony of alpha Kappa Delta Phi therefore took a proactive step by organizing a forum entitled, "Honor and the Asian-American Community." On Feb. 8, Murphy and Committee member Ginny Rothschild were invited to speak to an audience of almost 50 students, who learned about the history and logistics of serving on the Committee.
The forum was a success; many felt the purpose of the forum had been met, and that newfound awareness might soon lead to active involvement. Such was the story I believed The Cavalier Daily sought to cover when Jennifer Na and I were approached for an interview.
Upon reading the article, however, I came to the unfortunate realization that we had been interviewed on an entirely different subject matter. I strongly caution readers of the Feb. 14 article against misinterpretations of the word "honor" in quoted comments. Through the course of the article, discussion of the forum became lost, and comments that were made in reference to the forum were re-framed within the context of honor offenses.
I am extremely disappointed that a university-level news article would be so carelessly written that "honor" in terms of involvement in the Honor Committee could be misconstrued to readers as "honor" in terms of a "core value," as Brian Mitchell proved in his Feb. 19 letter to the editor, "Honor for all races."
Mr. Mitchell, I am Asian-American. I, too, signed the honor pledge when I applied to the University; I can pledge all my tests by heart without using those classroom plaques you referred to. I am glad you feel this means both of us are aware of the honor system, but I believe we share different definitions of the word. I want to emphasize that "awareness" as used in the Feb. 14 article referred to having minorities understand the importance of their presence on the Honor Committee.
Awareness refers to the knowledge required to initiate action; it is understanding the process of trying out for Honor positions, learning about the duties of an Honor investigator, and finally, determining whether it is a role that an individual might want to take on.
The most disturbing part of the resultant article, however, was the way in which the story was centered on a set of statistics that I feel was not only irrelevant to the purpose of the organized forum, but also particularly damaging to the Asian-American community. By highlighting statistics that attempt to group together entirely unrelated cases into racial categories, the article leaves room for interpretation that the only motivating factor of an honor offense is just that - race.
An uninformed person viewing a column of numbers next to a specific race might easily leave with a prejudice that could last long after the statistic has been forgotten. On Feb. 14, a set of statistics was placed on the front page of The Cavalier Daily; I take issue when the headlines and the scope of the story focus on one race in particular. In doing so, the article at once calls into question the integrity and character of Asian-American students. I am afraid that, now, in the event of any suspicious circumstances, Asian-American students will be unfairly spotlighted by teachers or classmates.
The ignorance and racial misconceptions still present in our society have led to well-documented accounts of racial spotlighting and profiling that minorities face in the workplace or in dealing with authority. In correlating Asian-Americans with honor offenses, this article may have spurred yet another myth, so that racial spotlighting also may affect minorities at U.Va.
Racial statistics can't be taken lightly or used carelessly because of the dangerous implications they can hold. If and when they must be portrayed to the public, they must be objectively framed to prevent the onset of possible racial stigmas. While I urge readers of the article to interpret the the statistics cautiously, I also strongly urge The Cavalier Daily to find this frame, so that no single race is unjustly portrayed.
(Jane Luu is a fourth-year College student. She is vice president external of alpha Kappa Delta Phi sorority.)
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