Dear Sewanee Community,
My name is Ella Madej, and I am currently serving as Chair of The Honor Council. As a rising senior, I have been reflecting on what I have discovered that this place has to offer. Beyond the rich academics and sprawling Domain that you will get to take advantage of, Sewanee is also home to a number of traditions that make it the special place it is, such as wearing our gowns, tapping the roof to collect your angel at the University gates and offering a “passing hello” to classmates and community members. My favorite of all these traditions, however, is the Honor Code because I see it as a signifier of my favorite thing I’ve discovered here: community.
The tradition of our culture of honor here at Sewanee is best defined in the beginning of our Honor Code: “Honor is an ideal and an obligation. It exists in the human spirit and it lives in the relations between human beings. One can know honor without defining it.” In this community, we have already observed the Honor Code at play. Our professors have enough trust in us to leave an exam room. We feel comfortable enough to leave our computers or study materials on the table at the library. Of course, the most recognizable example of honor is stated plainly in our Code: “one shall not lie, cheat, or steal.”
The Honor Code at Sewanee is something that sets us apart from other institutions, not because we are the only college with an honor code, but because our Honor Code is uniquely written, endorsed and enforced by students. Our council is composed of 12 members: four seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, and one first-year. All cases brought to the Honor Council are investigated by students and are heard in front of a council of only students. If a student is found responsible for an Honor Code violation, the consequences range from a two-semester suspension to a failing grade in the course. All cases are evaluated on the standard of clear and convincing evidence and handled confidentially.
In the new age of artificial intelligence, it can become too easy for our hopes to get a 4.0 GPA to make us forget what the point of our classes really is: to teach us how to think and learn. While this new age of AI is confusing for us all, we as a community can learn how to discern when this tool is helpful and when it is harmful. Our AI Policy states, “While there are many spaces and times where using AI is advantageous, the use of AI at Sewanee must never circumvent or undermine the conditions that make for an excellent liberal arts education.” Our AI policy can help offer guidance for us as we discover how evolving AI technologies may exist alongside our liberal arts experience.
Because we treat cases on campus with a high level of confidentiality, it is not uncommon for the student body to not quite understand what the council does during the year. For that reason, we periodically publish statistics so that the student body and community know what is happening, without compromising the anonymity of students.
This school year the council is excited to engage in conversations with the entire student body about honor, AI and the role of both in our education.
In EQB,
Ella Madej (C ’27)
Chair of the Honor Council
The statistics were provided by the Sewanee Honor Council.