The University of Virginia’s 2016 Student Elections are being held from February 19-25. Each student will have the opportunity to vote for Student Council, Honor Committee, and Judiciary Committee Representatives for their school of enrollment. University-wide elections are also being held for Student Council chairs, as well as for two proposed Honor Constitution amendments. All ballots may be cast electronically through uvavote.com. In order to orient our readers, the WUVA staff has reached out to each individual running to be an Honor Representative for their school. The following guide conveys what each candidate, in their own words, will bring to the University’s Honor Committee.
HONOR REPRESENTATIVE ELECTIONS
School of Engineering Candidates
Cameron Kiddy“I am really excited and hopeful to serve the engineering community in my final year at UVa and am certain that the Honor Committee can make strides toward a better system in which the students will be proud to have it as the moral grounds of their University life. I am a big believer in serving the people who elect me and will accurately and honorably reflect their views to the committee and create a transparent feedback network in reporting back to SEAS students. I hope you will consider me as your SEAS Engineering Representative to Honor.”
Samuel Kesting“Having served as an Honor support officer for the last two years, I have gained not only important experience with and an understanding of the system through case processing, but also a passion for it and what it represents. I have also noticed that while engineers are passionate about Honor as well, they also tend to be underrepresented in both the support officer pool and in the voice that they have on Committee. I am running to change this. I hope to increase not only engineer’s participation in the system through events and education but also the magnitude of their views and opinions on Committee.”
William Rainey“I plan to make honor symbiotic with the university identity. One can only thrive if the other is giving life to it…One of the most important aspects of UVA’s Honor System is how it is applied by the very people who must abide by it, the students. And the best way to ensure that is through community outreach and education about the principles and the reasons we at UVA treasure such a system. We know that an ideal year would be one without any cases reported because, statistically, that would mean there were no incidents of lying, cheating, and stealing. No system is perfect but having a community that respects the Honor System and each other is what sets UVA apart from its peers. If elected I will strive to incorporate through community outreach and social media a more thorough understanding of what the Honor System means to all incoming first year students (and all students) and most importantly the pride that is associated with such an honorable tradition.”
Sarah Rogers
“As a member of the Honor Committee for the past year, I have represented SEAS well in discussions and decisions, and worked to bring Honor to SEAS by being a visible presence there, so that students and faculty know whom to contact about anything Honor related and feel comfortable doing so. I have also worked, with the rest of the Committee, on structuring the Proposals on the ballot and have done a huge amount of research on various ways and methods of possibly successfully implementing a multi-sanction system, which included listening to and carefully considering many different students’ views. As a Representative next year, I would continue to be a presence in SEAS and expand our outreach to faculty and grad students, and use my experience this year to provide a smooth transition for the Committee and University into whatever may result from the Proposals on the ballot, currently.”
Other Candidates: Daniel Hoerauf
College of Arts & Sciences
Matt West“As a Committee member, I hope to develop Honor into a platform for building a stronger, kinder, more inclusive UVa community. To achieve this goal, I will work with other Honor representatives to expand efforts to transform the nature of Honor’s outreach from education to engagement, focusing on facilitating meaningful dialogue with the student body. While doing this, I will also work to improve numerous elements of Honor case processing to ensure that the Committee can credibly interact with all members of the community.”
Other Candidates: Chad Hogan, Katie Deal, Sarah Wyckoff, VJ Jenkins
McIntire School of Commerce
Alexandra Rossi“I’m running for Commerce Honor Representative because I know that I can help drive the Committee forward, no matter the results of the two proposals in the polls this year. I have extensive experience from my three years as a Support Officer for Honor, and I believe that Honor at UVA has great potential to become more inclusive, more accessible, and more applicable to everyday life.”
Kasey Groves“I have been an active Honor support officer since my first year. During this time, I have conducted educational events to inform students about Honor and faciliate dialogue about the system. I have also served on several task forces within Honor including one which sought to increase the tangible benefits of Honor by establishing relationships between Honor and the merchants on the Corner. Additionally, I have worked extensively as an impartial investigator of Honor reports, a sympathetic advisor to accused students and reporters, and an advocate at Honor hearings.” – Official Statement
Other Candidates: Corinne Thomas
School of Architecture
Caroline Herre“I currently serve on the Honor Committee, so I’m running for re-election because, simply put, I truly care about this organization and all it does and can do for the community of trust here.”
Other Candidate: Katharine Graham
