Saturday, August 26, 2006
Honor Principle
At Reed we have an honor principle. This means that we don't have an official code of conduct for a lot of policies--such as academic cheating, drugs and alcohol, and sex. We define what the community is comfortable with, what is safe, and what is appropriate and won't get the insituition in trouble.
Today we had a meeting discussing the Honor Principle, and I have to say, it is an ambitious, idealistic decision for Reed as an institution to utilize it as a method of enforcement (Reed has successfully had an Honor Principle since it was established and it is a defining characteristic of the school). People do take advantage of it, and it isn't perfect, but it works remarkably well. I guess I am very proud to be part of an institution that feels that it entrusts its students enough and that I'm in an environment where (with a few exceptions) students look out for each other. Where the community safety officers are friendly with us, and no one is afraid of them. It upset me a bit that some students felt it was appropriate to miss the honor principle meeting, because the honor principle is something that already--after four days, I can tell--pervades the campus and allows us to create an identity by establishing our own values. I feel like the same jerks that missed the meeting are the ones most likely to ruin it for the rest of us.
There is a lot of grey area and some disputes already in our dorm (the bathrooms were changed from co-ed to single sex due to someone feeling uncomfortable). But I really love that the environment is one of talking through problems articulately and coming up with compromises. We have a broad variety of backgrounds, which makes decisions very difficult since everyone has different needs, but there is a lot of diplomacy and direct confrontation of any issues. Loud music late at night in particular has been dealt with very well.
Today we had a meeting discussing the Honor Principle, and I have to say, it is an ambitious, idealistic decision for Reed as an institution to utilize it as a method of enforcement (Reed has successfully had an Honor Principle since it was established and it is a defining characteristic of the school). People do take advantage of it, and it isn't perfect, but it works remarkably well. I guess I am very proud to be part of an institution that feels that it entrusts its students enough and that I'm in an environment where (with a few exceptions) students look out for each other. Where the community safety officers are friendly with us, and no one is afraid of them. It upset me a bit that some students felt it was appropriate to miss the honor principle meeting, because the honor principle is something that already--after four days, I can tell--pervades the campus and allows us to create an identity by establishing our own values. I feel like the same jerks that missed the meeting are the ones most likely to ruin it for the rest of us.
There is a lot of grey area and some disputes already in our dorm (the bathrooms were changed from co-ed to single sex due to someone feeling uncomfortable). But I really love that the environment is one of talking through problems articulately and coming up with compromises. We have a broad variety of backgrounds, which makes decisions very difficult since everyone has different needs, but there is a lot of diplomacy and direct confrontation of any issues. Loud music late at night in particular has been dealt with very well.
