Fall Honor Committee Update

From the Chair

Dear fellow students,

Congratulations on completing another semester at the University. As we wrap up the calendar year and head into winter break, I want to extend heartfelt congratulations to those of you completing your degrees this December. On behalf of the Honor Committee, I wish you all the best in your next chapter. Please remember that you will always have a home at UVA. Your membership in our Community of Trust does not expire, and we hope it continues to guide your values and decisions wherever life takes you.

Over the past few months, the Honor Committee has remained hard at work. We’ve continued to improve our case processing procedures, deepen engagement with students and faculty, and reflect on the ways we can continue to meet the evolving needs of our student body. These efforts are rooted in our belief that a fair, transparent, and student-led system is essential to preserving the academic and personal integrity of our community.

In that spirit, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the extraordinary contributions of our trained Honor Support Officers. These students volunteer countless hours each semester advising and representing their peers, conducting outreach, and shaping the work of the Committee. Their commitment, professionalism, and compassion exemplify the best of what student self-governance can achieve.

Honor’s work is strongest when it is collaborative and reflective of the community we serve. To that end, please plan on voting in the upcoming spring 2026 student elections, organized by the University Board of Elections (UBE). If you are interested in running to represent your school of enrollment on the Committee, more information will be available on the UBE website in the coming weeks.

Every semester, we strive to ensure that our proceedings remain transparent, consistent, and grounded in fairness. Below, you will find a summary of our case activity for the summer and fall terms, covering cases fully resolved between May 10, 2025, and December 17, 2025. Please note that a number of cases reported in that window are ongoing.

As always, we welcome your input. Please don’t hesitate to share your ideas, questions, or concerns with your Honor representatives or by reaching out directly to me at [email protected].

Thank you for your continued trust in the Honor System. I hope you enjoy a restful winter break and a wonderful start to the new year.

Wishing you my best,

Thomas Ackleson
Chair of the Honor Committee

Structure of the Honor Process

In summary, the Honor case process is initiated by a report and can result in sanctioning if a student is found responsible. The Honor Committee does not file reports; rather, all reports are filed by community members, such as students and faculty. All parties involved in a case receive a trained Honor Advisor to guide and support them through the process.

After a report, a student may file an Informed Retraction (IR), through which they admit to the offense(s) alleged, make amends with the affected parties, and recommit themselves to the Community of Trust. This contrasts with a Conscientious Retraction (CR), which must be filed before a report is received. A CR allows a student to admit to an Honor Offense before it comes under suspicion by anyone and serves as a fully exonerating defense if a report is subsequently filed. A student who is considering filing a CR should consult with an Honor Advisor.

If a student does not file an IR, an investigation and hearing process commences. At an Honor hearing, Committee representatives and randomly selected students serve on the Panel for Guilt. If found guilty, sanctions include, but are not limited to, amends, education, temporary removal, and permanent removal.

The Contributory Health Impairment (CHI) process is intended for students who believe they may have had a health impairment at the time of the reported conduct that contributed to their commission of an Honor Offense. If a student claims a CHI, their Honor case is placed on hold and their CHI determination process is conducted by the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs.

Conscientious and Informed Retractions

IR 1: “A student in the School of Education and Human Development was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized collaboration on three assignments in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar and write a letter committing to review every syllabus in future classes.”

IR 2: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating by copying another student’s work on two homework assignments and a quiz. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar and a semester-long mentorship with a Professor.”

IR 3: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on four homework assignments. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to write a reflection essay on the Honor process.”

IR 4: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on two homework assignments in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to complete an independent review/analysis on the topics from the relevant assignments.”

IR 5: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating via copying off of another student’s work on an assignment in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar.”

IR 6: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for two instances of Cheating and two instances of Lying by submitting fabricated work in two assignments in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offenses and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to write a letter of apology and participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar.”

IR 7: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating via plagiarism on an assignment in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar and write an anonymous apology letter to future students in the class.”

IR 8: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating via unauthorized collaboration on an assessment in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar and write an apology and reflection letter.”

IR 9: “A student in the School of Engineering & Applied Science was reported for Stealing from the UVA Bookstore in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar and to complete 50 hours of volunteer work.”

IR 10: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating via use of artificial intelligence on a research assignment in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to write a letter of apology and meet with their academic advisor.”

IR 11: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating via false citation on a paper in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar, write a letter of apology to the Reporter, and re-complete the relevant assignment.”

IR 12: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating on a midterm via unauthorized use of generative AI in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar and write a letter of apology to the reporter.”

IR 13: “A student in the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on three assignments in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a mentorship with a faculty member.”

IR 14: “A student in the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on a final paper in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a mentorship with a faculty member.”

IR 15: “A student in the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on a final paper in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in mentorship with a Professor and to write an XYZ case study.”

IR 16: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on an assignment in the Summer 2025 term. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to write a personal reflection essay.”

IR 17: “A student in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies was reported for Cheating on an assessment through the use of unauthorized aid and Lying about the use of unauthorized aid on two instances. The student admitted to the offenses and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a mentorship with a Professor and expulsion in abeyance.”

IR 18: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating on an assessment through the use of unauthorized aid. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar and write an anonymous open apology letter.”

IR 19: “A student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid and Lying about the Act. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to a one-semester suspension, participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar, write letters of apology to the Reporter and affected party, and a semester-long mentorship with a faculty member.”

IR 20: “A student in the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy was reported for Lying about attending a meeting in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a mentorship with a faculty member.”

IR 21: “A student in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies was reported for five instances of Cheating through the use of unauthorized artificial intelligence and two instances of Lying in the Fall 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offenses and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to a suspension until the Summer 2027 semester, participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar, participate in a mentorship with a faculty member, create a presentation on the Honor system to be presented to the Honor Committee, and write an anonymous open apology letter.”

IR 22: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating by having another person take a language placement test and passing it off as their own in the Fall 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar, complete 10 hours of volunteer work in the Charlottesville community, participate in a mentorship with a Professor, write a letter of apology to the Reporter, write a reflection on the importance of the Honor code for student athletes, and suspension in abeyance.”

IR 23: “A student in the School of Medicine was reported for Stealing a personal item from another student in the Fall 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. Given that the item was returned, a panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to complete 20 hours of volunteer work and write an XYZ case study.”

IR 24: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on a final exam in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to write an anonymous open letter of apology.”

IR 25: “A student in the Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on a final paper in the Spring 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to participate in a mentorship with a Professor and write an XYZ case study.”

IR 26: “A student in the College of Arts & Sciences was reported for Cheating through the use of unauthorized aid on an assignment and Lying about the offense by attempting to deflect blame onto another student in the Fall 2025 semester. The student admitted to the offense and filed an IR. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to complete 25 hours of volunteer work, participate in a mentorship with a Professor, write an XYZ case study, write a letter of apology, and expulsion in abeyance.”

Honor Hearings

Hearing 1: “A student in the College of Arts and Sciences was accused of Lying about the number of guests planning to attend an event at a rental property, Lying about the number of guests at the rental property, Lying by agreeing to the rental company’s policy, Lying online about the event, and Stealing by failing to pay a fee for additional guests. The Community argued that the student agreed to policies ahead of the event and did not clarify when asked, nor did the student pay the requested fee. The student argued that they were not aware of some policies, and the fee was too steep. A panel of randomly selected students and Honor Committee representatives found the student Guilty of the second and third Acts of Lying and the Act of Stealing. A panel of Honor Committee representatives sanctioned the student to pay the relevant fee, a temporary transcript notation, participate in a 7-week Honor Restorative Ethics Seminar, give a presentation to a CIO about the importance of the UVA Honor system, and write a letter of apology to the reporters.”

Hearing 2: “A student in the College of Arts and Sciences was accused of two Acts of Stealing prescription medication from their roommate in the Summer 2025 semester. The Reporter alleged that the disappearance of their medication could only be explained by their roommate taking their medication. The accused student alleged that they were not present during the time periods when the prescribed medication went missing, so they did not take the medicine. A panel of randomly selected students and Honor Committee representatives found the student Not Guilty for both accusations of Stealing.”

Hearing 3: “A student in the College of Arts and Sciences was reported for Cheating through failing to attend in-person and the use of unauthorized aid on one exam in the Spring 2025 semester. The Community argued that the student did not attend the exam in-person because their name was not on the required sign-in sheet. Further, the Community also argued the student used unauthorized aid as Canvas logs for that exam showed the student completed the exam in a much quicker time than their peers, the student switched tabs after every question, and the student did not download any of the relevant exam content to study. The student argued that they were not aware of the sign-in sheet and that they did complete the exam in-person.

The student also argued that they were having Canvas issues during that exam that caused them to refresh the page during each question. The student argued that the Canvas logs inaccurately showed their exam start time as much later than their actual start time. The student argued that they did download exam content in contrast to what the Canvas logs show, and they supplemented that content with Khan Academy. A panel of randomly selected students and Honor Committee representatives found the student Guilty on the Cheating accusation. A panel of Honor Committee representatives expelled the student from the University.”