This Saturday, Honor will be hosting its first public trial since February 2013 — a rarity for a system whose main focus with students is public outreach. Few students get to see what Honor actually does, since public honor trials can only take place if a student elects for an open hearing. In so doing, the student waives the right to confidentiality and allows University students to sit in on the hearings. Whatever the merits of the accused student’s specific case, this upcoming trial provides the Honor Committee with an excellent opportunity to publicly demonstrate the inner workings of a system that has long faced scrutiny and efforts at reform. In order to make sure every student has the chance to intimately understand one of the University’s most powerful institutions, Honor should livestream the trial on its website.
As currently designed, the trial setup only allows students to attend after they agree to a specific code of conduct, email the Honor Committee’s executive secretary and hope they get one of what Honor has described as “limited” spots. While this procedure will still provide students with more direct access to the system than they have had in a long time, it falls short of ensuring the process will be truly open to the student body. There are many students who would likely be interested in what an Honor trial is actually like, but given the steps students have to take just to attend, they may not take the time to sign up. By the same token, other students might not want to show up in person to the trial out of a desire not to make the accused uncomfortable during what is surely a stressful process for all parties. Students who have conflicts when the trial is taking place should have access to the livestream’s recording so they don’t have to give up other commitments to take part in a valuable educational process. The same can be said for future University students, who can educate themselves with this important document.
Live streaming would be an effective remedy for all these concerns, as well as providing Honor the chance to live up to its highest ideals. For those seeking to reform the system, the ability to watch the trial in the privacy of their homes will deepen their understanding of it while elucidating its strengths and weaknesses. We wouldn’t recommend that Honor stream all of its hearings — the utmost privacy should be available for those who request it. At the same time, for those students who do not mind their trials being open to the University community, Honor should do everything in its power to let the sunlight in.
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