From the Publisher: A Reinvigorated Honor System, a Reimagined Honor Week

For generations, we at the Alumni Association have worked to support the Honor System, a cornerstone of the community of trust that we cherish and uphold. We steward the Honor Endowment, which has been a vital resource to decades of Honor Committees. In 2022, at the request of University leadership, we launched Living Honor to help students and alumni learn from one another about Honor and how its values set UVA graduates apart. And through our ongoing coverage in Virginia Magazine, we have tied alumni back to the System in all the ways that it changes and endures.

And change and endure it does. Just two years ago, in a referendum marked with acrimony and division, students removed the potential for expulsion. Last year, students reversed that decision and instead affirmed solutions built through consensus. The shift in tone has been palpable on Grounds, and the spirit of Honor feels stronger than it has in recent memory.

This year, the Honor Committee has continued to reinvigorate the System with its very first Honor Week, a series of events that invited students and alumni to explore Honor and engage in rich conversation during the first week of February. The Alumni Association was honored, pun intended, to support this important work. 

“Collaborating closely with organizations like the Alumni Association infused the planning process with rich insights and perspectives, ensuring events resonated deeply with both current students and alumni alike,” says Honor Committee Chair Hamza Aziz (Col ’24). “As students, we are continually inspired by the unity and tradition that Honor instills within our evolving community.”

May we find a bit of that inspiration ourselves,

Lily West (Darden ’12)
President & CEO