The article about a student seemingly wrongfully expelled for an “honor offense,” (“Honor case highlights procedures,” Jan. 13) and the letters to the editor that have followed it raise an issue regarding our honor system that is all too often ignored. In my five years as an honor counsel, however, I have seen much to tell me that this poor student’s case is neither unique, nor extreme.
Don’t get me wrong, the vast majority of Honor’s cases are handled properly and professionally, and the overwhelming majority of convicted students are guilty, with the only legitimate debate being over whether or not expulsion was the proper punishment. But, in the end, we have a fallible system run by fallible students. These students, be they from Honor or from juries, do not have the life experience to be able to judge each case and the application of Honor’s rules perfectly every time, and we have a deeply flawed appeals system that does little to nothing to fix these problems when they arise.
Former Honor Chair Carey Mignerey’s attempt in a letter to the editor to pretend that Honor never screws up and innocent students are never expelled is laughably ignorant, just as much so as pretending that this student’s case is the typical one.
At the end of the day, however, innocent students have gotten expelled by our honor system, continue to be expelled by it, and will continue to be expelled by it. This is yet one more reason to bring the single sanction to an end. While multiple sanctions will not stop wrongful convictions, it will at least alleviate their impact on the affected student’s life. How different would last week’s article be if this student had been wrongfully given an F in her class instead of expelled from the University?
As long as we have a fallible system, which we almost definitely always will, and as long as it is run by fallible students, as it always will be, we cannot maintain a punishment, the single sanction, that pre-supposes perfection in handing down punishments. That, if nothing else, should now be clear.
Sam Leven
LAW II
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