The Vanderbilt Honor System was instituted in 1875 with the first final examinations administered by the University. Dean Madison Sarratt summarized the system as follows, “Let every individual who contemplates entering Vanderbilt University ask himself[/herself/themselves] first this important question: ‘Am I strong enough to give my word of honor and then live up to it in spite of every temptation that may arise?’”
The purpose of the Honor Code is to preserve and promote academic integrity. Ideally, a student’s personal integrity is presumed to be sufficient assurance that in academic matters one does one’s own work without unauthorized help. The Undergraduate Honor Council and the graduate and professional school honor councils are organizations that seek to preserve the integrity of the Honor Code at Vanderbilt University. Each council aims to secure fundamental fairness for any student under suspicion of dishonesty, to determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether not responsible or, if responsible, to protect the honor and standing of the remaining students.
The Honor System is one of the many layered structures provided to Vanderbilt students to aid in the development of creative thinking, intellectual maturity, personal accountability, and respect for honesty, integrity, and truth. The goal of the Honor System is to have all students leave Vanderbilt not only as graduates, but also as citizens of integrity.