THE HONOR CODE AT LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY

The Honor Board

Board members are students elected each year by the student body. Open positions after elections are filled by nominations and interviews.
The Honor Board meets every Monday at 7:00 PM while classes are in session.
The Honor board hears alleged violations of lying, cheating, stealing, and plagiarism.
The Board may issue sanctions up to Permanent Dismissal.
Incidents which include alleged violations of both the Conduct Code and the Honor Code are heard by the Honor Board, which will made decisions for both Codes.
Specific information about Honor Code violations and hearing procedures is in the Student Handbook.

The Longwood University Honor System is comprised of the Honor Code, the Academic Pledge of Honor, the Honor Creed, and the Honor Code of Conduct Standards and Regulations.

The three basic provisions of the Honor Code of Conduct, which strictly forbids lying, cheating, or stealing, represent the standards of integrity and moral responsibility that all students, groups, and organizations are expected to exemplify.

The Honor Code is one of Longwood’s proudest traditions. Established by the student body in 1910, for nearly 100 years the student-elected Honor Board has protected the basic values of honor and academic integrity. The Honor Creed is prominently displayed in the University Library, and each classroom contains a copy of the Academic Honor Pledge

As one of the most respected traditions at Longwood University, the Honor System promotes an atmosphere of trust, where students are presumed honorable unless their actions prove them otherwise. It also serves as a higher-order set of moral standards and principles for all members of the community to follow and take with them wherever their lives may lead.

The Twelve Points were a result of a re-ratification of the the Honor Code by the Longwood student body in 1930. A student writing about the Code at that time said “To live our life at its best, to grow into wider freedom, to make and accept the pervasive (Longwood) college spirit, to leave (our community) a little stronger than we found it--for this the Honor system came into being in 1910". The Twelve Points are intended to define the meaning of Honor at Longwood University.

Honesty is the fiber from which any relationship is formed and is crucial to establishing personal competency and leadership. True honesty is practiced at all times, not just when convenient.

Scholarship is the essence of learning and growing, inside and outside the classroom. A commitment to academics is a valuable investment that, like an Honor System, pays dividends to both the individual and the community.

Vigilance

Vigilance is a state of mind whereby we commit ourselves to maintaining our integrity and ensuring that others do likewise. As Arthur Schopenhauer once said, “Honor has not to be won, it must only not be lost.” Our honor is tarnished by moments of indiscretion that cannot be reversed. Regard your actions with care.

Care is vital to any thriving collegiate community. Without care the masses succumb to apathy and progress stops. Without care, harmful actions are not confronted, discretion is not exercised, and the community suffers immensely.

Like care, pride is significant to fighting the effects of apathy. Pride is a personal commitment to excellence and taking joy in one’s actions. Everything we do is a reflection of ourselves, and it is essential to make decisions that we can be proud about.

The Honor Code has been a tradition of Longwood University for more than nine decades. Today this tradition is as vibrant as when it was first ratified by the student body.

As the youth of our communities, we hold great potential. We are obligated to embrace that potential and to avoid decisions that diminish our promise. There is nothing more damaging than a dishonorable reputation.

Purity is an impeccable reputation and self-image that can only be gained by identifying and implementing personal values. Dishonest actions corrode purity and lead to internal struggle.

Each individual has the undeniable right to establish their own character based on personality and life experience. Our combined personalities constitute the character of an honorable community.

In a climate of honor, modesty is important because of the role it plays in grounding ourselves so that we do not believe that we are invincible and unaccountable to each other. Humility with self-confidence is hard to achieve, but ultimately desirable.

The next point of Longwood’s Honor System is Virtue. Though similar to purity, virtue has it’s own place in our Honor System. Virtue is the essence of all that is good in humanity, and is indispensable to a noble life and community.

The final, and most encompassing point of our Honor System is Integrity. Integrity is the glue that holds our values of trust and respect together. Personal integrity involves staying vigilant, maintaining purity, and establishing a trustworthy persona. Community integrity is the pinnacle of any society, and it is what we strive for at Longwood. For honor is not merely just a personal journey, but a community expectation.

The Honor Pledge

I, ..................................., having a clear understanding of the basis and spirit of the Honor Code created and accepted by the student body of Longwood University, pledge myself to govern my life according to its standards and to accept my responsibility for helping others to do so, and with sensitive regard for Longwood University, to live by the Honor Code at all times and to see that others do likewise.

The Academic Pledge
(Recommended statement for use on academic work.)

I have neither given nor received help on this work, nor am I aware of any infraction of the Honor Code.