Dear Class of 2028 and transfer students,
I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Lou Bullock, and I have been elected by the student body to serve as the Chair of the Honor Council for the upcoming academic year. I am so psyched to welcome you to Sewanee. While it’s been a minute since I was in your shoes, anxious but ready for my first semester on the Domain, I remember it like it was yesterday. I had no idea about the beautiful community, formative relationships, or the robust traditions I was preparing to be a part of. The vast majority of the traditions here at Sewanee — from the “passing hello” to tapping the roof of your car to collect your Sewanee angel as you pass through the gates to membership in the Order of the Gown — are rooted in supporting the formation of relationships and the strengthening of our community. The most impactful of these traditions is Sewanee’s honor tradition, which takes form in the Honor Code.
Sewanee’s Honor Code, which every student signs upon matriculation, is often remembered by its succinct declaration that its signers will not lie, cheat, or steal. Beyond those statements of what honor is not, the Code acknowledges what honor is. It states that honor “is an ideal and an obligation” that “lives in the relations between human beings” and that “one can know honor with our defining it.” Living according to the Honor Code is more than following a set of rules thrust upon you by the institutional authorities; it is keeping a promise to your peers, friends, professors, and community not to break a century-old tradition of trust and camaraderie.
Sewanee’s Honor Code is written, signed, and enforced entirely by students and students alone — a practice unlike that of any other university I know of. The Honor Code is upheld by the student body, with the Honor Council as the student group charged with responding to violations. The Council comprises four seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, and one first-year student elected by their respective class annually. When a suspected violation of the Honor Code is submitted to the Council, the Chair appoints a council member to act as an impartial investigator. After the investigation, the investigator presents the case details as a report to the Council's Executive Committee and the party accused. If, upon reviewing the report and speaking to the accused party, the Executive Committee finds that there is not sufficient evidence of a violation of the Honor Code, the case is dismissed, and the details are held in strict confidence. If they do find sufficient evidence, the case is either resolved in the Executive Committee meeting or proceeds to a full meeting of the Council, depending on the details of the case. If a student is found responsible for violating the Honor Code, depending on the nature of the violation, the Code calls for that student to serve a penance ranging from a probationary period to a two-semester suspension.
The most common violation of the Code brought before the Council is academic dishonesty. To be clear, all forms of cheating, including plagiarism, are violations of the Honor Code and will be treated as such. As the Code states, “plagiarism is a form of cheating because the plagiarist copies or imitates the language and thoughts of others and passes the result off as an original work.” The “others” mentioned in the above statement include, but are not limited to, your peers, published authors, and responses from artificial intelligence processing programs (for example, ChatGPT). To preserve the integrity of our degrees, a violation of academic dishonesty results in an immediate F in the course in question, with the very real possibility of suspension. Thus, the Council reviews each case with immense care and discretion; we understand how deeply impactful and upsetting the consequences of a violation can be. If you ever have a question about an assignment or need additional help, please ask for assistance rather than jeopardize your academic career.
Please look over the Code before your matriculation. It can be found under the following link: https://new.sewanee.edu/academics/the-honor-code/. The Code is not in place to burden us; it was instead made for students and by students to help us hold each other and ourselves accountable in every role we’ll serve in during our time here at Sewanee and beyond. I promise, if you let it, it will take you far.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at honorcouncil@sewanee.edu if you have any questions about the Council or Code. Finally, welcome home from the entire Sewanee community.
Lou Bullock C’25
Chair of the Honor Council
