Honor Council Minutes

November 12, 2000

“You may be a former Honor Council member someday.” - our guest, Matt

“OK . . .what are we talking about now? . . .our feelings?” - Andrew

“Honor Council, if anything, is a tool.” - Ben

“The whole point of Customs is exploitation” - Tyson

Present: Ben Huebner (secretary), Lucy Lyon (co-chair), Sarah Waring, Caitlin Costello, Jenn Louie (co-chair), Tyson Oberndorfer, Ari Worthman, Hannah Dickinson, Celeste Moore, Ethan Sorrelgreen, Amelia Winchester, Gayathri Ramabadran , Elizabeth Sullivan, Rachel Werner

Guest: Matthew Spigelman

I. Moment of Silence.

II. Concern over Honor Council’s Blatant Seizure of Power - Hey, that got you reading. Seriously, though, our guest Matt came to the meeting with deep concerns over something he had read in last week’s minutes. He was surprised to see the Council Breaking the Code Committee discussing possible Plenary resolutions. Since Honor Council is an administrative/judicial body, Matt felt that they should not cross the line into the legislative realm, which is the prerogative of students acting through Plenary. Hannah replied that in situations like her SFP Committee, Council members who had gone through the process were the ones most likely to make changes. Matt responded that Council should be a conscience-raising group, and should therefore inform the community that there is a problem, but not try to create solutions as a body. Caitlin believed that any resolutions created in a subcommittee would always be presented to the community by specific individuals, not by Council collectively, and not endorsed by Council. Many Council members expressed agreement with this statement throughout the rest of the meeting.

Ari pointed out that all of these subcommittees are open to the community, though no community members have volunteered to join them. Hannah remarked that Council needed to find solutions to problems like the SFP, but agreed with Matt that they needed to do so in a way the community finds acceptable. Jenn turned this into a question for all of us: How can Council become a better conscious raising body? Matt thought that through forums and a letter to the community describing the problems that Council felt needed to be dealt with, Council could stimulate discussion and debate. Caitlin said that while Council has done this is in the past and will continue to do it, the fact that no one ever comes to these forums is discouraging.

Ethan disagreed with Matt. Because Council meetings are always open to the community, he felt that it was perfectly acceptable to discuss Plenary resolutions in Council, and in fact thought that as an administrative organ, Honor Council should help to facilitate anyone considering Plenary changes to the Code. Tyson slightly disagreed with Ethan, saying that some people are intimidated from coming to a Council meeting. Sarah pointed out that Honor Council minutes are a way we communicate with the community, and thus are an opportune way to inform the community of problems. Matt responded that Council should raise these issues, but offering solutions by discussing possible Plenary resolutions was going too far. At the very least Plenary resolutions shouldn’t be mentioned in the minutes, because it gives them the added weight of implied Council support. Ari directed our attention to the Code, which seems to say that while Honor Council is an administrative body, its work is largely judicial in nature.

A quick little side discussion about distinguishing Council members acting as Council members, as opposed to acting as just a community member, ensued. Ben cited a part of the Code that said Council is charged with “discuss(ing) current issues involving the Code”. He went on to say that while he philosophically believes that Matt is right, realistically no one has made any progress on issues like the SFP or Council Breaking the Code until the subcommittees were created. Ethan said that he was struggling with Matt’s concern in terms of the Quaker concept of servant-leadership: the idea that as a leader you give up your own voice in order to help the community find its own. Elizabeth asserted that as Council members we have to clearly delineate when we are acting as community members and when we are acting as Council members. Hannah asked Matt what he wanted as a resolution to this problem, and Matt responded that he didn’t want a retraction of Council’s comments in the last minutes regarding Plenary resolutions, but in the future Council should keep in mind considerations about the separation of powers. Council agreed and thanked Matt for bringing his concern to us.

III. Randy’s Resignation - Randy gave Council his resignation for personal reasons and is planning to write on the Comment Board giving a further explanation. We thanked him for all he has done with us and for Haverford. His position will be filled in the coming elections . . . .

IV. ELECTIONS!!! - Believe it or not, election time is coming up soon for Honor Council Chair(s) and now also the filling of one Senior representative spot. The newly elected Honor Council Chair(s) will serve until the end of this academic year only, due to the changes in the terms approved at the last Plenary. Here’s the exciting election schedule:

Nominations open: Wednesday, November 15th, 12:01 AM, e-mail: sc@haverford.edu

Nominations close: Tuesday, November 21st, 11:59 PM

Speeches: Wednesday, November 29th, 10:00 PM, in Stokes Auditorium

Election opens: Wednesday, November 29th, 11:55 PM

Election closes: Sunday, December 3rd, 10:00 PM

Questions? Then its time to hit code@haverford.edu, baby.

V. Other Events -

Discussion of the Multicultural Juror List -

Monday, Nov. 13th, 10:15 PM, Campus Center 205

Christina, Britney, and Jessica SFP Abstract Discussion -

Thursday, Nov. 16th, 9:00 PM, Campus Center 205

IV. Confidential Portion, Moment of Silence HC Minutes do not necessarily mean anything at all.