I take serious issue with Amanda Karim’s assertion that “suspicious excuses” in “a pass/fail one-credit class” amount to “triviality” (“A failure of honor,” 3/30/2009). Since graduating from the University, I have taught at two universities and interacted with faculty at many others. At communities without trust, I have observed faculty requiring doctors’ notes, death certificates, and boarding passes to document students’ claims. I have heard of faculty prohibiting bathroom breaks during exams and checking IDs at each desk during finals.
Students may certainly choose any level of effort for any course, but honor is, simply, accepting responsibility for those choices. I agree with Karim that missing an assignment in a one credit course is not a major breach.
Tearing at the fragile fabric of trust is.
Read More
A statement from 201 concerned faculty about U.Va. President Beardsley’s appointment
By Concerned Faculty | January 16, 2026By acting in bad faith, the Board has flouted its fiduciary duties to the University and has violated its own bylaws calling on it to protect the University from outside interference.
LETTER: When everything is labeled hazing, nothing is
By Scott Gleason | January 4, 2026Worse still, over-policing benign practices risks driving genuinely harmful behavior underground.
LETTER: An alumnus and parent’s perspective on U.Va.’s presidential search process
By Tom Neale | December 15, 2025The critiques of Mahoney and the Board of Visitors are egregious double standards that I believe are motivated by political differences with Mahoney and the Board.
