Honor Council President Finds Moral of the Story at Mary Washington

UMW senior Hannah Lee, a biochemistry major with a practical ethics minor, also holds the office of Honor Council president. In that role, she spreads the word about Mary Washington's Honor Code and campus values. Photo by Sam Cahill.

When University of Mary Washington senior Hannah Lee bought her first pair of scrubs at the start of her college career, she couldn't have known that - wash after wash - she'd be pulling them on four years later, for the same volunteer job.

"Being able to provide care for people who are unable to access it was something that touched my heart," said Lee, a biochemistry major who donates her time at a free clinic.

As her moral compass synced with her medical work, it clicked on campus, too. She joined the Honor Council, trumpeting UMW values and rising to the role of president this year. Her drive took a similar direction in the classroom, where she discovered the sociological side of healthcare, added a practical ethics minor to her course load and gained early admission to med school through the Honors Program.

Her capstone project - a study of how people's health affects their propensity to do the right thing - brings together her passions, she said. "It's really a culmination of everything I've learned at Mary Washington so far."

Lee poses inside a lab at the Jepson Science Center, where she's spent much of her Mary Washington career as a biochemistry major. Lee received early admission as a UMW sophomore to The George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Photo by Sam Cahill.

From Fairfax, Virginia, Lee had been eyeing out-of-state schools, but with COVID covering the globe when it was time to commit, she wanted to stick closer to home. Her brother, then a UMW junior, helped her explore campus, especially the Jepson Science Center, which was undergoing a state-of-the-art renovation. That, coupled with Mary Washington's strong pre-health program and small size, won her over.

"I thought it seemed like a great place to build a community," Lee said.

Joining Honor Council was the first step. She began championing UMW's Honor Code promise - not to lie, cheat or steal - across campus and weaving the charge into her personal life. As president, she speaks to new students preparing to make the pledge, attends conduct hearings and reports to the Board of Visitors. All with a sense of care.

"It's my job to make sure that no one is letting their emotions overtake them and that everyone understands that this isn't so easy," said Lee, who's also active with Circle K International and COAR, and plays violin in the Philharmonic Orchestra.

In class, she plunged into research with a first-year Phage Hunters course, presenting UMW's findings at a national symposium. "Being able to do that as a freshman is something I could have never imagined," said Lee, who also took part in the Summer Science Institute.

Electives in ceramics, piano and digital studies gave her a break from biochemistry and a chance to recharge. But it was a sociology course exploring moral considerations in healthcare that led to her minor in practical ethics. "I wanted to learn more about dilemmas in life in general," she said, "not just in medicine."

Yet healthcare - especially providing for the underserved - is what's in her heart. This fall, she'll head to The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, to pursue both a medical degree and a master's degree in public health.

Sometime during her college career, Lee also splurged on a second set of scrubs. Good thing; she's going to need them.

"At the center of her inquiry is a sincere concern for the mental health of her fellow students," said Professor of Sociology Tracy Citeroni, Lee's capstone advisor. "She approached the material with the eye of a future clinician whose practice will be explicitly grounded in ethics and moral considerations."

Hannah Lee is the recipient of the Judith A. Crissman Scholarship in Chemistry and the James E. Baker University - Community Orchestra Scholarship.

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