In the Student Disciplinary Process, a student charged with an alleged violation of the Honor and Student Conduct Codes is provided the opportunity to submit one character reference to the board or case specialist to consider prior to determining any outcomes should the student be found responsible for any policy violations.

A character reference must be a current University of Lynchburg student, faculty, or staff member who is not participating (or did not participate) in the disciplinary process in another capacity. Unlike a witness, a character reference does not have first-hand knowledge of the incident addressed during the hearing. Instead, a character reference knows the charged student in a broader context, and therefore, can comment on the student’s citizenship, achievements, and contributions to the campus community. Information provided by a character reference is not considered in the determination of a charged student’s responsibility or lack thereof for alleged misconduct. Information contained in a character reference written statement is considered only in the determination of outcomes assigned to a charged student who has been found responsible for violating the Honor and Student Conduct Codes.

Also, when a charged student elects to appeal the results of an Administrative Handling or Board Hearing, the written appeal request may include one letter from one character reference. The character reference letter submitted with an appeal request may be the same as or different from the character reference statement provided to the hearing panel, if one was provided.