This year, The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board endorses three candidates for the Honor Committee, each of whom is running for College of Arts & Sciences representative — third-years Genny Freed, Annie Linley and Sree Pamulapati. Over the past year, the Honor Committee underwent internal change to evaluate the efficiency of its executive positions, panel systems and guilt admission procedures. However, one of the most significant shortcomings of this past Honor Committee has been its limited external engagement with the University community — a gap which these candidates acknowledge in their vision for a more proactive and accessible Honor system across Grounds. We are confident in these three candidates’ ability to creatively expand the reach of Honor and restore genuine buy-in to Honor by grounding it as a universal value, rather than a distant ideal.
Freed is the current vice chair for sanctions, possessing intimate knowledge of the Honor process. Reflecting on her role’s work surrounding students who have committed Honor offenses, Freed hopes to change the perception of Honor from a punitive institution to a more proactive and supportive one. Freed also recognizes the need for increased efficiency in case processing and proposed the use of quantitative measures to accurately ascertain areas of inefficiency within the processing timeline. But beyond quantitative measures, Freed also thoughtfully articulated that evaluation should go beyond the numbers, and wishes to incorporate qualitative feedback from students who have gone through the process. Additionally, Freed transparently noted an increased need for collaboration between the major student self-governance organizations on Grounds, and emphasized that initiatives such as the formation of a coalition with Student Council could further support student engagement and feedback. Freed’s dynamic proposals lay the groundwork for a supportive and engaged Honor Committee, with her meticulous and mindful initiatives for increased trust and student engagement making her a highly capable candidate.
Linley currently serves as Senior Investigator Counsel and firmly grasps the vital necessity for buy-in to the Honor system. Serving on the Policy and Procedures Subcommittee, Linley focuses on the ways in which the Informed Retraction must be legitimized for students and faculty interacting with Honor. This ideal of accessibility also guided her dynamic vision to advocate for the needs of international students, identifying that these students are disproportionately represented in Honor cases and proposing a system to translate Honor’s bylaws into various languages. Linley’s proactive proposal to increase buy-in expands past typical measures like Grit Coffee tabs. Alternatively, Linley hopes to deliver a more systematic approach to expanding Honor — revising modules to increase faculty understanding, developing rapport with Contracted Independent Organizations through co-sponsorships and creating bylaws that allow proportionality to shape Honor’s multisanction system. Empowering the Honor Committee’s vision for an accessible future, Linley demonstrates the intentionality necessary for an ever-evolving multisanction system.
Also a member of the Policies and Procedures Subcommittee, Pamulapati serves as a pre-hearing coordinator, which guides her passion for Honor to function as a more efficient system. This efficiency stretches beyond successful case processing timelines to improving Honor’s reputation on Grounds — making it a trusted part of the University community that more students engage with, rather than a stigmatized space. Similarly, Pamulapati emphasized that students should be able to proactively contact Honor representatives and members of the Honor Committee to access academic development support and resources. She also provided thoughtful reflections on Honor’s role in working with the Board of Visitors. Pointing out that the Honor System is written on the first pages of the Board manual, she expressed excitement to leverage that relationship through conversations with the Board to protect student self-governance as an independent cornerstone of the student experience. With her historical and robust understanding of the Honor system, Pamulapati establishes herself as a notable candidate who knows what Honor must do to further engage the community.
As the multisanction system continues to be refined, there is an implicit understanding among Freed, Linley and Pamulapati that Honor must be an organization that is not only reactive, but proactive, one that engages with the University community and is viewed as a trusted apparatus on Grounds. All three candidates, possessing a deep understanding of the Honor process from within, have turned their attention outward, seeking to create a more accessible and restorative Honor, in addition to further iterating upon internal processes. We believe that the initiatives propounded by these three candidates are worthy goals, and are confident that they possess the tenacity and skill to ensure that they are achieved.
The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board is composed of the Executive Editor, the Editor-in-Chief, the two Opinion Editors, the two Senior Associates and an Opinion Columnist. The board can be reached at eb@cavalierdaily.com.
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