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A committee of students and deans called the Judicial Task Force has been working since May to redefine our honor code policy. On Thursday, September 30, J-Board Chair Conor Walsh ’11 introduced the first of many public conversations on separating illicit drug and alcohol infractions from infractions the College considers violations of the Honor Code.
Currently, illicit drug and alcohol violations are under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Board, and, according to the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, are Honor Code violations. This means that students written up strictly for committing drug or alcohol infractions are sent through the same J-Board process as students charged for violations of academic integrity and civil conduct, violations that include plagiarism, vandalism, discrimination and sexual misconduct.
Last fall, a group of deans and students traveled to Haverford College to meet with its dean of student life, its judicial chair and its honor council to compare procedures. Another group visited Wellesley College in September for a similar meeting, and the Task Force had a conference call with Davidson College last week. “At other colleges, Judicial Boards meet between 20-30 times a year. We see 400 cases a year,” Walsh said in his presentation to SGA on Thursday.
“Wellesley did a review 10 years ago, and they’re extremely happy,” he continued.
“The judicial board we have is an amazing aspect of this school,” said Walsh in a later interview. “Are we really utilizing it in the right way? I don’t think we need nine students in a room to figure out many of these sanctions. I think one dean can do the same work we do. With more serious violations, the student opinion really matters. But when it comes to drugs and alcohol, there’s not much leeway.”
The new Task Force is made up of Walsh, SGA president Nathan Cornell ’11, SGA Chair of Residential Education and Living Katherine Nadelberg ’11, Dean of Student Life Jocelyn Briddell, Associate Dean of Student Life and J-Board advisor Sarah Cardwell, Director of Campus Safety Stewart Smith, and Director of Residential Education and Living Amy Gauthier.
Said Randy Lovelace ’11, the Winchester/River Ridge senator, “The main problem that we’re seeing is that the Honor Code is being undermined on a daily basis. Every time you see someone drinking underage, you are making it less and less strong. When more important issues arise, it’s easy to say, I break the Honor Code every Thursday and Saturday night, why not break it now?”
The policy change is still not completely solidified.
Currently, the adjudication process for illicit drug and alcohol infractions runs as follows: a complaint case is filed, often by the Campus Safety officer making the charge. Next, the J-Board chair notifies all students involved, who, if they plead not responsible, are required to submit a written statement to the Chair 24 hours before their hearing, as well as names of any witnesses they want to speak on their behalf. At J-Board, the accused are asked to read their statements and respond to questions from Board members and their advisor. This hearing is tape-recorded. The dress code is business-casual.
“I think there’s value in students coming to the Board,” said Cardwell at Thursday’s SGA meeting, “but I think a lot of times there are critical conversations that are absent from the hearing. If drug and alcohol violations are dealt with separately, we could create a space for those conversations to happen.”
“It’s not easy to go in front of your peers to talk about drugs or alcohol,” Walsh said in the interview. “You’re really revealing a personal side of your life, and because we’re dealing with policy, we’re not giving you an option. We need to determine a sanction. Some of these alcohol and drug cases should really be dealt with an administrator. A student is not likely to go in front of 8 other students, for example, and discuss their drinking problem.”
The Task Force suggested that illicit drug and alcohol infractions would be called issues of “college policy” instead of Honor Code violations, and would be handled administratively instead of through the traditional J-Board process. Most likely, it will entail a one-on-one meeting between student and dean.
They also hope to put a framework in place that dictates how violations are handled, even within these meetings, which will maintain a student say in various issues. “If we use our voice to implement some structure and framework – like what happens after your first alcohol violation, your second, etc. – then we can feel more comforable handing off the reins,” said Walsh.
The Task Force hopes to vote in SGA by Thanksgiving and pass on their recommendations to the Board of Trustees by February. Currently, they are reaching out for the general student body response to this potential change. They will be having open forums in different sections of campus after Fall Break.
“Ask your houses whether we should distinguish between college policy [drugs and alcohol] violations and Honor Code violations,” Walsh told the senators on Thursday. “Whatever changes are made, I don’t want any backlash from the student body. I want them to be behind it one hundred percent.”
I’m sorry, since when are alcohol and drug violations NOT breaking the law… it is illegal to drink if you are under 21 and it is ALWAYS illegal to use drugs. People who choose to do this are breaking the law just as vandalism and sexual misconduct, so they should be sent through the same review process. Stop trying to pretend it is different. Is Connecticut College except from CT state laws? NO.
I think I speak on behalf of a great deal of the school in agreeing that drinking is not as an egregious an offense as cheating.
I think when we as students sign the honor code the vast majority of us sign it intending only to uphold the parts of it that don’t concern drug and alcohol consumption. Is it illegal for anyone under 21 to drink? Yes, and no one at Conn denies that (we are a prestigious liberal arts school, right?).
That being said, I don’t think that kids who get caught drinking should face the same sanctions as those who do more severe things such as hurting other students (emotionally or physically) or cheating on exams. I feel like the current system acknowledges that. After attending one of Simon Feldman’s Honor Code workshops last year (to which many students who had been sent to J-board attended and shared their stories) I walked away with a sense that the current system is as fair as it could be.
Four or five freshmen get caught playing beer pong in their room on a Saturday night? Give them a slap on the wrist and send them on their way. Some kid bashes in the windows of someone’s car? Maybe he shouldn’t be on campus for a while.
What confuses me, however, is Mr. Walsh saying students don’t want to “discuss their drinking problem” with other students. Though some may beg to differ, I don’t think that drinking underage necessitates a drinking problem.
(Ever notice how the drinking age in other countries is as low as 16? Are all of those between the ages of 16 and 21 who drink in those countries confronted with a drinking problem?) Breaking the law does necessarily mean you have a drinking problem either; does pirating movies and music constitute kleptomania?
If so, we have a college filled with alcoholic bandits.
On the other hand, I agree entirely that including drugs and alcohol in the honor code chips away at its integrity. I’ve heard (underage) students say, “To the honor code!” before taking a shot of hard alcohol.
The Honor Code is not something that should be the butt of a joke.