Washington and Lee and the Honor Code

I thought I would include this letter I wrote to the President of Washington and Lee University in response to a letter he had sent to the alumni concerning safety efforts on the campus in response to the incident at Virginia Tech.

Dear President Ruscio:

It is always sad that in the wake of events such as this that our freedoms have to be curtailed. I know I couldn't have felt safer or freerer on campus when I was an undergraduate back in the late 70's. I would hope that the implementation of any plan would take into consideration, as much as possible, the preservation of the atmosphere on campus which sets W&L apart from other institutions. If we are expected to act as ladies and gentlemen at all times, hopefully that will engender the kind of culture which avoids this type of incident in the future. We should also attempt to preserve a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood on campus among the students which would cause us to treat each other with respect, dignity and concern. In this regard, the preservation and implementation of the Honor Code on campus is probably the most important effort we can undertake to protect ourselves and our community.

I know that it is impossible to weed out a potential threat such as this completely and we have little control over people who come on campus from the outside. This is particularly true on a historic campus such as W&L where tourists and others are frequent visitors. However, as concerns the students themselves, I think this really calls for more vigilence in considering the personalities of the students who enter W&L, and an attempt to assess the emotional and psychological problems of the potential and present students. I know it is difficult to monitor every student's mental health as they go through their four years on campus, even for a campus as small as W&L. However, I think some vigilence is called for in this case. Simply keeping the professors and instructors open to look for any signs of problems before they erupt might be helpful.

Finally, we need to pray for those students at Virginia Tech, both the ones who were victims of the acts of this student, but also those who live on with the pain and stress of the incident. And we should pray for our own institution that we would keep safe and respectful of each other in the future.

Thomas E. Baynham, III

I'm afraid that like 9-11, the fallout of this incident will remain with us for some time. The atmosphere of collegial endeavor for education and mutual respect and dignity are so important to a college. In times like these, perhaps the Honor Code is the best response to the threat of danger from within.