A while ago, The Cavalier Daily published a tweet (followed by a full article) on two students who were expelled for cheating, after being found guilty by a student jury on a public Honor Committee trial. To have an open honor trial is rare; honor trials are usually held behind closed doors. The tweet was circulated across groups of students immediately after it was published; people were discussing the expelled students fervently because their full names were disclosed. One of the expelled students shut down his Facebook account, probably to avoid the onslaught of social repercussions and the slew of potential questions.
There is nothing wrong with publishing an article detailing the facts of a public honor trial. The Cavalier Daily is not wrong to do this. In some cases, it might even be the right thing to do, because transparency and accountability to the community are values that we as University students should uphold. If the students waive their right to confidentiality, telling the entire University community about it has not violated any rights.
However, we have to think carefully about the purpose behind the act of publicizing the names of expelled students. What message are we sending to the rest of the University when we fully disclose the names of the expelled students blown-up on the front page of the November 19 issue of The Cavalier Daily, with a picture of the face of one of the students taking center-stage in the article? What is the purpose of putting a face to the name?
Informing the community about an objective fact; deterring potential cheaters and upholding the honor code; shaming the students because this is not something we tolerate at the University? What is the purpose?
Respecting the waiver of a student’s right to confidentiality is one issue. Using this forgone right to establish a widespread, public contrast between ‘us and them,’ between the ‘honorable’ and the ‘un-honorable,’ is another.
Transparency perhaps begets graciousness. It is no doubt our duty to release and publish the truth, and to reflect reality like it is. But while we may aspire to be a transparent, responsible and accountable community — are we a gracious community? Are we imposing a collective judgment on the act of cheating, or are we imposing a judgment on the people?
How we react to members who have violated the norms of our community is an indicator of how mature we are as a community. How we, as a community, treat forgone rights is also another indicator. While there was no distinct wrong on The Cavalier Daily’s part to publish the results of the public honor trial and the names of the students who got expelled, the manner in which it was published leaves a lot to be desired.
Jonathan Lim is a third year in the College.
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