What is missing from the article “Honor case highlights procedures” (Jan. 13) is the abuse of the notion of honor. My daughter was the student expelled. She is the most honorable person I know. She waitressed to afford her education as well as becoming an RA. She saved her money to go to Africa to teach the poor and went to Belize for “Spring Break” so that she could work on their sewer system. While she may have over-extended herself with her humanitarian pursuits, is that something that should be punished by shunning? During the time that she should have spent reviewing her paper, she was driving drunks from Foxfields as part of her service fraternity’s outreach. Her goal was to be a special education teacher. She has been such a positive role model to others. While she will readily admit that she made many errors on her paper, she did not do so intentionally. She cited the author 7 times in 10 pages. She even contacted him after the paper was turned in. He affirmed her realization that unconscious plagiarism does happen and should not be punishable by expulsion. Honor is a very important part of University life. But what needs to be realized is, what is your true definition of honor? Is it someone that was convicted of rape that was allowed to graduate in 2003 or someone that does so much for others and made a mistake?
Barbara Pierson
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