
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 7, 1995                   TAG: 9502070099
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

BOARD OF VISITORS PLANS TO REVAMP UVA HONOR SYSTEM

The University of Virginia Board of Visitors has asserted its control over the school's student-run honor system following the controversial retrial and exoneration of a student expelled for cheating.

In a five-page statement released Sunday, the board said the Honor Committee ``is accountable for its actions to the board, just as the board is accountable to the General Assembly.''

The statement also said the honor system is ``laden with ambiguities'' and needs to be restructured.

Critics said the UVa administration pressured the Honor Committee to grant the rare retrial of undergraduate Christopher Leggett after he threatened to file a lawsuit. Board members and administration officials countered that Leggett's rights of due process had been compromised.

In Sunday's statement, board members said state law required them to oversee the ``government and discipline'' of the students.

``The fact that we have ultimate responsibility is clear ... If something was to go wrong and a lawsuit was filed, they would look to us, not the Honor Committee,'' said Robert G. Butcher Jr., a member of the board's Executive Committee.

Board members said they hoped to revamp the system by the end of the academic year. They said the new process likely would result in the formation of a grievance panel as a ``last resort for students'' not satisfied with how their honor case is handled.

by CNB