The following are the letters that were sent to students brought before the Honor Council during Term II of 1998. The council would like to comment on the high number of cases. During the 1997-98 academic year there has been a large increase in the number of cases that have come before the Honor Council. While this is an issue that we have discussed at some length, it is a problem that we are unable to solve. We feel that it is essential to the integrity of the Lawrence University Honor System that students realize the importance of the Honor Code to our campus and continue to uphold the ideals that it sets forth. We encourage you to discuss the importance of the Honor System with your peers, professors, and other members of the Lawrence community. Without concerted efforts by everyone, the system will be unable to continue to provide us with all of the benefits that we are now afforded.
You have not been found in violation of the Honor Code in your exam in Term II, 1997-98.
Though you have not been found in violation of the Honor Code, we hope you understand that it is every Lawrence community member's responsibility to uphold the Honor System. This means that when professors encounter suspicious material when grading student work they are obligated to bring the case before the Honor Council. By doing so they protect every student's right to a fair and honest academic environment. Please keep in mind that the Honor System allows Lawrence students to enjoy such freedoms as unproctored take-home exams.
The council also wishes to remind you of the importance of confidentiality. Details from the hearing may not be released without the consent of all individuals involved. This includes students and professors.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
The Honor Council has not found you in violation of the Honor Code in Term I, 1997-98.
Thank you for your cooperation in the matter.
You have not been found in violation of the Honor Code in your exam in your exam in Term II, 1997-98.
Though you have not been found in violation of the Honor Code, we hope you understand that it is every Lawrence community member's responsibility to uphold the Honor System. This means that when professors encounter suspicious material when grading student work, they are obligated to bring the case before the Honor Council. By doing so they protect every students right to a fair and honest academic environment.
We are disturbed by your attitude prior to the hearing and feel that it reflects an incomplete understanding of your obligations as a member of the Lawrence community. The council also wishes to remind you of the importance of confidentiality. Details of the hearing may not be released without the consent of all individuals involved. This includes students and professors.
The Honor Council has found you in violation of the Honor Code in Term I, 1997-98. The council has decided to assign you a sanction of F in the course.
This sanction is based on the extensive plagiarism of both papers in question. In addition, you stole another student’s paper and attempted to pass it off as your own, thereby jeopardizing the academic credibility of the other student. The council is also concerned that you plagiarized on the second paper, despite repeated reminders from the professor about the parameters of the assignment.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter. Please be advised that should you appear before the Honor Council a second time, this letter will be used as evidence in determining a sanction.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
The Honor Council has found you in violation of the Honor Code during Term I, 1997-98.
By your own admission you stole and copied other students’ work to hand in as your own on two separate assignments. In doing so you obtained an unfair academic advantage, infringed upon the academic rights of other students in the class, and abused the trust implicit in the system of assignment submission created by the professor. Therefore, the council has decided to assign you a sanction of F in the course.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter. Please be advised that should you appear before the Honor Council a second time, this letter will be used as evidence in determining a sanction.
The Honor Council has found you in violation of the Honor Code on your paper in Term I, 1997-98. The council has decided to assign you a sanction of F in the course. This decision is based on your negligence by plagiarizing this paper, even after repeated warnings and explanations of your plagiarizing on previous papers. In addition, the council does not believe that you have been completely honest in your explanations of what happened.
The Honor Council does not believe that you understand proper documentation procedures; moreover, the council does not feel that you understand the principles of academic honesty underlying these procedures. As a member of the Lawrence community, you have a responsibility to understand and abide by these principles. The council strongly recommends that you meet with the director of the Writing Lab to ensure that you do not continue to violate the Honor Code.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter. Please be advised that should you appear before the Honor Council a second time, this letter will be used as evidence in determining a sanction.
The Honor Council has found you in violation of the Honor Code for your research paper in Term II, 1997-98. The council has decided to assign a sanction of zero on the paper.
We are concerned by the apparent lack of effort in thoroughly researching and appropriately acknowledging the work of others. Members of the Lawrence community are expected to be diligent in maintaining the spirit as well as the letter of the Honor Code.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter. Please be advised that should you appear before the Honor Council a second time, this letter will be used as evidence in determining a sanction.
The Honor Council has found you in violation of the Honor Code for plagiarism on your paper in Term II, 1998. The council has assigned a sanction of zero on the assignment in question. Also, because this is the second time you have been found in violation of the Honor Code, the council has decided to suspend you for the remainder of this term, as well as for Term III, 1997-98.
The Honor Council is concerned by your apparent lack of understanding of your responsibility as a member of the Lawrence community in regards to the Honor Code. Every Lawrence student must accept full responsibility for upholding the Honor System, and you do not appear to have accepted this responsibility. Therefore, the council encourages you to evaluate what you consider to be your role as a Lawrence student. If you find it to be in keeping with the standards of the university, which among other things means you must fully accept and adhere to the Honor System, you may opt to enroll for the fall term of 1998.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter. Please be advised that this letter will be used as evidence in determining a sanction should you again appear before the Honor Council.
The Honor Council has found you in violation of the Honor Code on your paper in Term I, 1997-98. Due to the extensiveness of the plagiarism, the council has assigned a sanction of a zero on the assignment and a one-letter grade reduction of your final course grade.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter.
The council appreciates your cooperation and honesty in this matter. Please be advised that should you appear before the Honor Council a second time, this letter will be used as evidence in determining a sanction.
The Honor Council has not found you in violation of the Honor Code for your midterm exam in Term II, 1997-98. Your attendance at the hearing provided you with a forum in which you could adequately defend yourself. However, we feel that you do not understand the importance of this case or the Honor System. When professors encounter questionable material, they have a responsibility to bring it before the Honor Council. This protects the academic work of all students, as well as the academic integrity of the university. All members of the community, students as well as faculty, have a responsibility to uphold the Honor System as well as abide by it.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
You have been found in violation of the Honor Code for your exam in Term II, 1997-98. You copied another student's exam without his knowledge, thereby endangering that student's academic progress. You violated the explicit written instructions on the exam which stated that any communication with other students about any facet of the exam was a violation of the Honor Code. You used an outside source on your exam without citing it properly. Furthermore, you lied to the Honor Council about copying another student's exam, thereby further endangering the other student's academic progress. Your failure to attend this hearing demonstrates a complete disregard for the Honor System at Lawrence and lack of concern for the effects of your actions on the other student involved.
The council has decided to assign you a sanction of suspension for the remainder of this term and for Term III, 1997-98, with a recommendation of separation to the subcommittee on administration. Your actions in this case, combined with the fact that this is your second violation of the Honor Code, indicate that you are no longer deserving of the rights and privileges of the Lawrence University Honor System. You were found in violation of the Honor Code and professed your belief in the code and your intent to adhere to it in the future. Within ten days you violated the Honor Code again, and this time to such an extent that the council feels that you cannot be trusted to uphold the ideals of the institution and that you are not worthy of a degree from Lawrence University.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter.
The Honor Council has found you in violation of the Honor Code for your paper in Term I, 1997-98. The council has decided to assign you a sanction of a two-grade reduction on the paper in question.
By obtaining an extension for false reasons, you obtained an unfair academic advantage over the other students in the class. In addition, your actions undermined the trust between students and faculty on which the Honor Code depends.
You may appeal this decision to the president of the university within one week of your receipt of this letter. Please be advised that should you appear before the HonorCouncil a second time, this letter will be used as evidence in determining a sanction.
These letters were written by Emily Walton and Shelby Bowser, Honor Council Chairs.