The Honor Committee held its first meeting of the semester Sunday. The committee discussed the creation of an informed retraction working group and its outreach efforts.
Vice Chair for Investigations Sarah Wyckoff, a fourth-year College student, said the informed retraction working group would meet over the course of the fall semester.
“The purpose of this group is to essentially review current policies and procedures, and then the proposed changes to bylaws and practices,” Wyckoff said.
Wyckoff said the working group will not examine constitutional changes, which is the responsibility of Honor’s recently created Honor Audit Commission.
The group will consist of executive and committee members who want to participate in examining the current Informed Retraction policy.
Honor Chair Matt West, a fourth-year College student, said the group also hopes to work with those involved in the administration of IR, as well as former students who have gone through the IR process.
The informed retraction allows a student accused of an Honor offense to admit to committing an honor offense and prevent expulsion from the University. Students who file an IR are required to confess to the honor offense and to take two full semesters off as an “Honor Leave of Absence.”
West said that IR is not meant to be a plea bargain for students.
“There are enough checks in the system and our due process is substantial enough where we encourage students who believe they’re innocent to go through the system, because we’re completely confident that the correct outcome will be reached at a hearing if a case did proceed,” West said.
The committee also discussed the successes and failures of previous outreach events, such as Lawn chats, student activity fair booths, dorm discussions, as well as their first significant education effort of the semester.
“The first major event that we will coordinate and hold will be quad chats, which will happen in the next couple weeks,” West said. “They'll provide first-years and anyone living dorms an opportunity to meet with support officers and committee members in small groups to discuss the Honor System with them and ask support officers any questions they may have.”
West hopes these outreach efforts will help educate students about the honor system and encourage them to participate as active members of the community.
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