Last night's open Honor Committee meeting, aimed at generating discussion of Honor among first-years, saw a low turnout but valuable discussion, according to committee chairs. The meeting attracted only 12 attendees, eight of whom were first-year students, according to Vice Chair for Investigations Linda Liu.
"I would have loved if every first-year was here," Chair Ben Cooper said. "It was a better turnout compared to regular committee meetings."
Cooper added that he had hoped for a turnout of about 30 to 40 first-year students.
The meeting was intended to inform first-year students about how the Committee operates at the University.
"The Honor Committee does not go out and search for honor offenses," Cooper said. "We depend on students and faculty and community members to bring cases that they've seen to us."
Despite the low turnout, however, McCintire School of Commerce Representative Eric Flow said he found the meeting to be successful in terms of the discussion generated.
"I thought the turnout, although not huge, really facilitated discussion and feedback between the Committee and first-years both ways," Flow said.
Josh Hess, vice chair for community relations, echoed Flow's sentiments, saying the meeting was a "valuable experience."
"It gave us the opportunity to learn about perceptions and how Honor influences first-years," Hess said.
Hess cited timing, shortcomings in advertising and trying to reach an "exclusive population" as causes for the low turnout.
"It's hard to reach first-years," Hess said, adding that the committee sent out e-mails to resident advisors and posted flyers around Grounds to advertise the meeting. Hess admitted that other methods of outreach might have been more effective.
After officer, ad-hoc and outreach reports were presented, first-year students had the opportunity to speak about their experiences with the Honor System thus far.
"People seem to take it seriously," first-year College student Ned Burns said. "And the teachers take it seriously."
First-year College student Sarah Tisdale added that some students fear the honor system because of the single sanction.
"It assumes trust," countered first-year College student Trey Goggins. "That assumption is something you don't find anywhere else."
Discussion of the committee's lack of diversity arose when Hess asked about the perception that the committee is "exclusive."
"Can we do a reality check?" fourth-year College student Wyatt Fore asked. "Let's look around the room. These are not perceptions, these are realities."
Cooper said it was important that students heard the different viewpoints about diversity presented at the meeting, adding that he did not want to lose the focus of the meeting, which was to inform first-year students and generate discussion.
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