Over the past few weeks, the Honor Committee has worked to organize its third annual Honor Week — a series of events taking place from Feb. 16-20 that aim to encourage discourse on academic ethics, the community of trust and the Honor system at the University. During Honor Week, the Committee will host events to discuss issues such as the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom, academic integrity and ethical research. Many of this year’s events are held in partnership with schools across Grounds, including the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Committee first introduced Honor Week in 2024 as a way to increase student engagement with the Committee. In 2024, Honor Week featured several events aimed at addressing community questions about the newly implemented multi-sanction honor system.
This year's theme specifically centers on the idea that honor is a component of community service. According to Thomas Ackleson, Committee chair and fourth-year engineering student, the theme aligns with the Committee and Student Council’s “Walk with Honor, Lead to Serve” campaign — an initiative that emphasizes how academic integrity and responsible leadership are essential to sustaining the University’s student self-governance.
The opening event of Honor Week will be a debate between the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society and the Washington Literary Society and Debating Union Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in Jefferson Hall. The resolution of the debate is “A non-toleration clause is an essential component of an honor system.” The Committee previously included a non-toleration clause in Honor statutes that stated failure to report observed violations of the Honor Code was a breach of the Honor Code. The clause was removed from the Honor Code in 1979.
AI usage and academic integrity are a cornerstone topic for many of the Committee’s planned events. Among these events is an AI and research ethics discussion and lunch for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Monday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the Thornton Rodman Room. Faculty, staff, administrators, advisors and Honor representatives from across the Engineering departments will guide small groups in discussions focused on the ethics of AI.
The Committee also organized an event called “ThAI and Generative AI: Responsible Usage of AI in the Nursing Curriculum,” featuring a presentation on AI usage specific to the School of Nursing and Thai food from Ivy Provisions for attendees. This event will take place Feb. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 1110 Claude Moore.
The College representatives on the Committee will hold “Donut Lie, Cheat or Steal” in the Newcomb South Meeting Room from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Feb. 18. Donuts will be provided to students while engaging in conversation with Committee members on whether technology is useful in the classroom during exams and whether courses transitioning away from technology — such as those returning to Blue Book, handwritten assessments — may better prevent honor code violations and cheating.
The next major event of the week will be a student leader panel in the Rotunda Dome Room from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Feb. 19 that will focus on the importance of student self-governance and offer leaders an opportunity to reflect on their experiences. Representatives from the Honor Committee, Class Council, University Judiciary Committee, University Board of Elections, as well as various athletic teams and student organizations will be on the panel.
The Committee will also host an “Honor and AI: The Future of Academic Integrity” panel at the Colonnade Club from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20. This event will be similar to the student self-governance panel, but instead will feature both students and faculty who conduct research in the field of AI or serve within the honor system.
Student panelists for the “Honor and AI” panel will include Ackleson and graduate Batten student Ella Duus. The faculty panelists will be Mona Sloane, assistant professor of Data Science and Media Studies and founder of Sloane Lab, Leo Lo, dean of libraries and advisor to the provost on Artificial Intelligence Literacy and English and AI Prof. Matthew Kirschenbaum.
According to Jack Wallace, fourth-year College representative, the purpose of the AI information panel is to engage faculty in a conversation about AI usage in academics and teaching. He said that he believes this event will help expand the Committee’s outreach to faculty members specifically.
“The faculty is the target audience mainly because we don't do a lot of faculty-centric events. In the future, it might be [possible] that we get spaces big enough to invite as many faculty and students as we want [to similar events],” Wallace said.
Ackleson shared that the full list of the Honor Week events in the coming days will be shared via the Committee’s social media and in an email to students. The complete list of events will also be available on the Committee's website.
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