On Our Honor In the intricate network that ties W&L graduates together in business and in friendship, the Honor System acts as a uniting thread long after the last non-proctored exam.

By Laura Lemon
January 28, 2026

The visual manifestations of the Honor System dot the Washington and Lee University campus with unassuming familiarity: bookbags slumped outside of the Marketplace, laptops lying alone on Leyburn Library desks, bikes parked with no lock. This community of trust and the expectations of integrity have defined the W&L student experience since the mid-1840s.

But just as the Honor System isn’t reduced to a code of conduct, its influence isn’t bound by the city limits of Lexington. As graduates embark on life beyond, the character that contributed and cultivated that community of trust remains. And in the intricate network that ties W&L graduates together in business and in friendship, the Honor System acts as a uniting thread long after the last non-proctored exam.

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“There is one element of our university that has proven to be just as transformational now as it was when I was a student: the Honor System.

Since its inception, the Honor System has continued to frame a lifelong network grounded in honor, integrity and civility. In fact, this factor – our commonly shared values of the Honor System – is what makes the W&L community so distinctly tight-knit, regardless of where we are in life. While students of W&L have an understanding of the benefits of the Honor System through taking assessments, interacting with faculty and entrusting in their peers, I believe the most vital use of the Honor System is when it’s extended beyond the campus of W&L.

Following graduation, the notion that there is no “real world” Honor System quickly becomes a humble reminder of life beyond Lexington. But I see this absence as an opportunity to display how our actions, beliefs and thoughts have become by-products of attending Washington and Lee.

Consistently living with honor, integrity and civility is easier said than done, especially in a world that often rewards shortcuts. Trust is not easily earned in the outside world, but, at W&L, it’s assumed because we’ve all lived under the same expectations of personal accountability.

In my own life after Lexington, I have felt and experienced lessons learned from our Honor System. One of the greatest attributes of the Honor System to me was, and continues to be, uniting our community on-and-off-campus. Specifically, the system instills a deep sense of appreciation and respect for those around us in a way that proves that, regardless of the community we find ourselves a part of now, we all have a role in supporting those around us. In other words, experiencing W&L’s Honor System serves as the bedrock in becoming a member of future communities that value trust and accountability.

In an academic setting, the Honor System exemplifies that if you choose to seek an unfair advantage during an assessment, not only are you undermining yourself, but you are also actively eroding the bond between fellow members of the W&L community. In a post-graduate setting, if you choose to undermine those around you – whether that be colleagues, friends or family – for your own advantage, you are abrading these delicate connections with people in your own life. I have come to intentionally lean on the supportive values of the Honor System as a method to uplift those around me. Though my days sitting in Lexington classrooms are over, I have had the privilege of entering new communities where I feel a strong sense of belonging and appreciation, something I attribute to the Honor System’s core understanding of personal accountability and fellowship.

My love for this system continues to thrive and is arguably even stronger than it was while a student. The W&L community has proven that no matter what stage of life we may find ourselves in, the bonds of honor, integrity and civility will last a lifetime. Looking forward, I’m confident that as long as there is a world where these values prove valuable, the Honor System at W&L will prevail in bonding our unique community.”

– Harris Stripling ’25

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“Washington and Lee students and alumni, we naturally form connections with each other on the merit of our shared experiences. To this day I have not met a graduate of W&L who assumed anything except the best from me, and I have not assumed anything less in return. The shared experience of spending four years living and learning in Lexington allows us to transcend generations to form these connections — because though the school is different today than it was a few generations ago, the essence of W&L and its culture have endured. I believe the Honor System is central to our connection because its principles extend far beyond the reaches of campus and define us wherever we go.

This unique facet of the W&L experience grows ever more important as society’s emphasis on honor and integrity seems to fade. W&L graduates have a long history of inherent trust in one another because we know what each graduating class has committed to and accomplished. Though we did not all spend time together in the classroom, all who hold a W&L degree understand that obtaining this degree is not as simple as it is elsewhere. Every W&L graduate knows they truly earned their degree, and every W&L alum remembers the feeling of walking across the stage knowing they completed their degree completely on their own merit. Nearly everyone has a story about accepting a lower grade on a self-proctored exam rather than taking a shortcut to a higher GPA, and all of us can remember leaving our doors unlocked on campus or our belongings unattended in the library. There is good in this world still, and the W&L Honor System offers us a framework to see it.

In the months since graduation, I have learned that one thing is certain: trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. Honest mistakes aside, in the real world second and third chances can be hard to come by. For W&L graduates, this is rarely an issue. After spending four years learning the importance of honor, integrity and civility, we are prepared to offer our best, honest effort in all that we do. In conversations with fellow recent graduates over the last few months, we reflected on how fortunate we were to experience college the way we did. The real world provides many opportunities to choose between an “easy wrong” and a “hard right,” but we are well equipped to make these decisions. We had an incredible opportunity to discern between right and wrong in college, and we are well prepared to make challenging decisions for years to come.

One alum who worked on Capitol Hill for several years told me once that it was much easier to work with those across the political aisle if they were a fellow W&L alum because, even though they might disagree on key issues, at least they knew the other person could be trusted. In instances like these, W&L graduates uphold the importance of integrity over momentary success, just like we all once prioritized academic honesty over higher grades. The stringency of the Honor System may not apply post-graduation, but the lessons and values it taught us are timeless. This is the importance of the Honor System; it is not a list of rules that apply for four short years, rather it is the underpinning for a life well lived.

The Honor System meant so much to me during my four years at W&L, but I can appreciate it more now that I am removed from campus. It taught all of us how to think with excellence and live with character. It is this foundation that allows us to connect after graduation, and it is this that allows the W&L community to remain so strong.”

– Frankie Maloof ’25

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“What I value most about W&L is the Honor System. In business, what most people focus on is, “Do I trust this person?” And I think one of the reasons our alumni network is so strong is because it’s a community built on trust, and it has fostered so many connections. Washington and Lee is a remarkable place, and it’s remarkable because of the students, faculty and alumni who have this sense of shared community and trust built around the values that have served us for almost 300 years.”

– Robert Balentine ’79

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“If I had two students that I was looking to hire, if one of them went to W&L and one of them didn’t – and otherwise they were equal in talent, aptitude and potential – I have no hesitation because I know what the integrity of the W&L student is. Integrity, and character, is something you can’t put on a resume. You can’t read it; you can’t learn it overnight; you can’t put it on falsely. So, to me, the Honor System, the integrity, really underlie the network. And as a result, W&L students benefit from alums all across the country and all across the world. There are some big universities that have great networking skills, but I’ll put our little small university networking opportunities and benefits up against anybody.”

– Guy Kerr ’75

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“One of the most impactful experiences I’ve had at W&L has been immersing myself in a community shaped by the Honor System. It’s not just a set of rules — it’s a shared commitment that influences how we treat each other, how we learn and how we grow. Being surrounded by peers who hold themselves to such high standards of integrity has inspired me to do the same, both academically and personally. This culture of trust and accountability has completely reframed how I think about leadership and the kind of workplace I want to be part of after graduation.”

– Martha Greer Walker ’27

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“I have found that when I meet a Washington and Lee graduate, we don’t have to go through the process of ‘do you trust this person?.’ The person you trust, immediately. And I’ve never been disappointed.”

– Charlie Tomm ’68, ’75L

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“The Honor System created for me, and I think for most of us, the foundation of a how to live life, which was that doing it with integrity and honesty was a successful way to live. It also bonded us together because we were invested in living that way together.”

– Jeff Hamill ’81

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“It sets a tone for the rest of your life, and it sticks with you. I know people that hire graduates that want a W&L person because they know they’re getting a person of integrity. You hire people that you trust, and people hire W&L people. They can write, think, speak – and with integrity. It’s tough to beat.”

– John Nolan ’70

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“When I encounter another alum, whether they are my year or 20 years younger or 20 years older, there’s a certain mutual respect and trust. And I think that’s part of what makes our alumni network so powerful. At least every three weeks, I probably have some kind of a networking call with a young student or young grad who’s looking for a job. … And while I may not have a written recommendation from their philosophy professor or looked at their GPA, I know that they’re going to be a critical reader, a good writer and that they’re going to be someone whose word I can take at face value. … That’s why we’re so good at hiring and helping our alums because we believe in them, and we know that, within that process, they’ve lived in that community and see the benefit of it.”

– Kevin Batteh ’95, ’98L

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“When you run across somebody in the business world that’s from W&L, you share something in common: the Honor System, which essentially boils down to doing the right thing when no one’s watching. I was always delighted to find W&L people on whatever other team because I knew what to expect. And they knew what to expect from me.”

– Phifer Helms ’74

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“A few years in the Army have shown me that people generally live up or down to your expectations of them. If you treat people like they are reliable and trustworthy, they generally will act that way. And I think one of the best parts about W&L and the Honor System is that it teaches you to assume people are trustworthy. I’ve found that I work with others best when I approach things that way.”

– Will Bolton ’20

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“They teach you values that you don’t necessarily recognize the importance of when you’re in your early 20s. These are things that people would go, ‘Oh, it’s because you went to W&L and have the Honor System; that’s what makes you a person with a lot of integrity and character.’ When your foundational educational experiences are rooted in those values, then when you run across a new ethical quandary – such as what’s going on with A.I. – you’re part of the solution to how do we use that in our society in an ethical and moral way.”

– Kate Jenkins Howard ’99

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“I came in just really thinking it was something special about this place, and I loved the fact that it wasn’t limited to academics here at W&L – that it really encompassed all of student life. I feel like whenever I meet somebody who I know graduated from W&L, we have this connection, because we have a shared experience of living in a community of trust. And I know that they at least spent four years of their life immersed in this place where integrity mattered, and for most of us I think it’s something we carried with us through the rest of our lives.”

– Jerilyn Farren Teahan ’93

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“I chose to come to W&L because of the excellent academic opportunities, but, most of all, for the community in and surrounding the school. Our Honor System binds all of us together as members of the community and ensures that we will all be set to live honorably after graduation. In addition, it’s also no surprise that the network from W&L is so extensive that I meet members of our community all the time when back in Florida, showing how unique and far-reaching a W&L education can be.”

– Tytus Boston ’26

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“I have a memory of being in [the University Chapel] listening to John Wilson, president of Washington and Lee University, during my freshman convocation, challenge us to leave Washington and Lee better than we found it, introducing us to the idea of the Speaking Tradition, civility, the Honor System. … And I can honestly tell you that that has been with me since the day I heard it, and I have always approached every organization, every professional circumstance, with the idea that it is my opportunity to leave that thing better than I found it, and that goes all the way back to John Wilson.”

– Rob Aliff ’91, ’97L

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“Entertainment is a hugely relationship-based business, and the world of music is small. So, the biggest things I take from W&L into my day-to-day life now are things like the value of community, the need to carry yourself with honor and integrity (even if no one is watching) and also the importance of clear, reliable communication. A well-rounded, liberal arts education is great as well, but being smart isn’t really enough if you can’t back up the competence with soft skills, and I think my time in Lexington helped a lot with that.”

– Ainsley Daigle ’13