Will the Honor System Work on the SouthCoast? [PHIL-OSOPHY] In general, do you trust other people? I had accepted the job of evening anchor man on WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, Virginia, when I first found out about the honor system . It was the idea of Thomas Jefferson, founder of the University of Virginia, as a daring new experiment at a public university designed to advance human knowledge, educate leaders and cultivate an informed and moral citizenry. Imagine living in a society like that? Get our free mobile app Today, the honor system is still one of the UVA's most cherished institutions, even though trust is diminishing among people and colleges. I'm partial to UVA, and another favorite of mine is West Point. It was such a stain and humiliation for one of America's most highly-rated colleges to expel eight cadets and requiring more than 50 others to repeat a year of instruction, after their April 2021 cheating scandal.