(This is the second in a four-part series examining the way members of the University view the honor system.)
Foreign students are a significant minority within the University community.
The number of international students at the University has increased steadily since 1993, according to the University's online Data Digest. And applications for admission from international students are up again this year.
But when discussions of minorities and the honor system arise, international students - as a group - generally are not counted among the traditional minority categories.
"Many international students do not know much about the honor system when they come to the University," third-year College student Camila Figueroa said. Figueroa is a native of El Salvador.
Second-year College student Saket Narula, who is from India agreed foreign students "have a different, shorter orientation" and the extent of their first exposure to honor is receiving the green honor booklet in the mail, he said.
Arriving international students participate in fall orientation the week before classes begin, but domestic students receive both a summer and fall orientation. This gives domestic first years a longer orientation.
Narula, an honor counselor, said he got involved with honor as a first year because he was fascinated by such a system run entirely by students.
Third-year Commerce student Federico Avila, from El Salvador, also said international students are not as well educated about honor as others. But "most ... take it seriously because honor, honesty and trust are important values in almost every culture," Avila said. Avila attended a high school with an honor system.
"The honor system at U.Va. is overwhelming for international students because for most of them [honor] is an unsaid value ingrained in their culture," second-year College student Sharad Jhunjhunwala said. "At U.Va., the honor system is a formal system enforcing honor rather than letting it come from within."
Jhunjhunwala, who is from India, is the coordinator for the International Center's International Student Host Program, which helps international students adjust to University life.
"Cultures and morals vary all over the world. In some places, it might be considered 'honorable' for a person to help a classmate with school work and highly disgraceful to refuse," Jhunjhunwala said, explaining why U.Va.'s honor system might be confusing to international students.
Some students said the honor system is more harshly applied to foreign students.
Avila said he feels "some people do not trust international students."
"I feel other students and teachers tend to discriminate against us since we come from different backgrounds," he added.
International students are also at a disadvantage in the honor system, "especially in trial, because they might not be able to articulate themselves as well as native English speakers," he said.
"International students stand out" for many reasons, and "people who are different are looked upon with suspicion or doubt," Jhunjhunwala said.
There are not many international students in honor officer positions, Narula said. "Because of [minorities'] lesser representation ... they are not as concerned" with honor issues, he said.
But the honor system does not affect international students any differently from other students, he added.
Some international students noted the benefits the honor system affords.
"I especially like the fact that teachers can trust us when taking an exam," said second-year College student Maria Teresa Armijos, who is from Ecuador. "In other countries, teachers have to be so careful with exams and papers. Copying is seen from a different perspective."
"I feel [honor] is an important aspect of the University community," Figueroa said. "I feel honored and respected when professors trust their students."
The system "encourages [students] to act in an ethical way and creates an environment of trust," Avila said.
Armijos said she loves the University honor code and that the "system is viable yesterday, today and tomorrow."
Controversy over race is the main issue that detracts from the system's success, Avila said.
"I think [the honor system] is kind of outdated," Jhujhunwala said, adding the proposed amendment to remove the seriousness clause was ridiculous.
"Getting chucked out of U.Va. is too harsh a punishment for a small mistake," he said.
The current inconsistencies in what people get away with are unfair, but removal of the single sanction might help the system, he said.
"I recommend that the system ... make incoming students more aware," Figueroa said.
"Perhaps [printing] reports of trials of people dismissed for violations ... would increase awareness as to how serious it is to violate the honor code," Figueroa said.
(Next week's article will look at perspectives of professors and teaching assistants.)
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