The Honor Committee voted against a proposed constitutional amendment last night, which would have allowed an "informed retraction" as an alternative to expulsion in honor violation cases.
The amendment would have given students brought up on honor violation charges the option of filing a retraction, admitting to the offense and accepting a three semester suspension from the University.
The amendment, which required a two-thirds majority vote to pass (16 of the 23 Honor Committee members), received 14 votes, falling just short of advancing to the entire student body for ratification.
"I think [the amendment] would not have solved the problems we want it to solve," said Honor Committee Chairman Thomas Hall, who voted against the amendment.
Serious disagreement arose among Committee members, who have discussed the proposal since its creation last October.
"I am very disappointed that some form of this amendment is not going before the student body," Engineering representative Petronella Lugemwa said. "There needs to be some kind of change."
Committee members presented arguments on both sides in debate leading up to the final vote.
"Basically [the current system] only gives motivation to lie, and I am tired of it," said Architecture representative Brian Winterhalter, who wrote the amendment. "Also, a lot of faculty do not like the single sanction, so they do not bring honor cases about."
Committee members who agreed with Winterhalter also discussed additional benefits to the amendment.
"In some cases it is unfortunate to expel students for an event which they could very likely learn from," Darden representative Lamont Soverall said.
Several students also attended the meeting to express concern about altering the penalty for single sanction events. Such individuals questioned whether doing so might increase the chances of students committing honor violations.
Though no amendment to alter the punishment for single sanction offenses has been successful in the past, Honor Committees have sought to solve problems with the system for some time.
Informal email surveys showed that faculty supported the amendment. In the past, students have indicated they were against altering the existing rules.
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