Catherine Anne Daley and Brian O'Neill were appointed to the two vacant seats on the Honor Committee after a debate before the Arts & Sciences Council last night. Council members voted by secret ballot to advise Council President Erica Siegmund, who was given the authority to make the appointments under the organization's constitution.
Students entering Garrett Hall , where the debate was held, encountered a sign from the 21 Society asking third-year student Daniel Lautzenheiser and second-year student Douglas "DJ" Lewis -- the sixth and seventh runners-up in the spring election -- to drop out of the race.
Lautzenheiser stated his decision to drop out of the race in an e-mail sent yesterday morning, though he did not cite a reason for doing so.
Lewis was unable to attend the event because of a prior commitment, leaving Daley and O'Neill as the only candidates participating in the debate. Lewis did, however, submit a statement outlining his position on issues including transparency and the single sanction.
ASC decided to hold the debate after the Honor Committee asked it Sunday to select representatives to fill the recently added College representative positions.
"The reason for the debate is I want people to get the chance to hear the issues," Siegmund said. "I'm really so happy that there are so many people from so many organizations discussing issues."
In the debate, which was open to the public, candidates answered questions prepared by the Council and then participated in a question-and-answer session.
Both candidates in attendance proposed new programs to improve the Committee's functions, including a system of benefits to strengthen the community of trust and a U.Va. 101 course to educate students about University programs such as Honor and the University Judiciary Committee.
O'Neill, author of the referendum adding the two Committee positions in question, also emphasized the importance of student-made electoral decisions as a means of student self-governance. He cited the debate resulting from the single sanction referendum as an example.
"I think it was great that students had the opportunity to talk about something like that," O'Neill said. "I think it's really about student inclusion in the system, that's the way that we're going to revamp Honor -- make them feel like they really own Honor, because they do."
Daley noted the importance of good leadership given the increasing debate that surrounds the honor system.
"I think we all have seen that Honor is at a crossroads," she said. "It needs committed individuals with a lot of experience to lead Honor through a rocky point. I think that people like Brian and I would be definite assets to the Committee"
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