The need for strong leaders

January marked the 113th year since the creation of Princeton's student-run Honor Committee. What Woodrow Wilson, a member of the Class of 1879, once called a "movement of the students themselves" has become one of the defining hallmarks of a Princeton education. Unfortunately, over the past few years, events have led the Honor Committee to believe that steps to strengthen the defining student-only characteristic of the committee must be taken. Last month we introduced, and the USG approved, a critical reform to the Honor Code Constitution, which will hopefully be the first step in maintaining the integrity of Princeton's Honor System for another 100 years.

The most difficult aspect of explaining the reasons for these reforms is the fact that the events leading up to the proposed changes involved confidential cases and meetings with administrators that cannot be fully disclosed. In general, the past chairs of the Honor Committee have performed professionally and superbly. Unfortunately, just one bad chair has the potential to undermine the credibility and trust built up over time with students, faculty and administrators. It is the belief of the current Honor Committee that having a fair and responsible chairperson is one of the most critical components of having a strong committee and maintaining its unique student-only characteristic.

Currently, the chair of the committee is chosen in the spring of his or her freshman year. The freshman chosen to be sophomore class president is expected to serve as clerk during junior year and chair during senior year. Unfortunately, these elections often have nothing to do with how the candidates will fulfill their duties as the chair of the committee but instead on what kinds of study breaks and fun events he or she can offer their class. We believe it is important for undergraduates to elect some members of the committee. We also believe, however, that the selection of the chair would be better handled by those who have worked with the future chair: the committee members themselves.

Under the changes adopted by the USG last month, elected class presidents will still serve as members of the committee. Effective from the sophomore year of the Class of 2009, every academic year, a subcommittee consisting of the senior class members of the Honor Committee and the USG president will convene after the first of April to select a sophomore member of the committee to serve as clerk for the upcoming academic year. This subcommittee will interview all interested sophomore members of the committee and will appoint one sophomore by a unanimous vote to serve as the clerk of the Honor Committee for the upcoming academic year and chairperson during his or her senior year. If that sophomore member of the committee is an alternate, he or she will automatically become a full member of the committee the following year.

This critical change reflects a culmination of years of discussion and was unanimously agreed upon by the current members of the committee. Some may argue that putting the selection of the committee chair in the hands of a few rather than an entire class is flawed because it is important that the Honor Committee be an open body. We believe, however, that putting the selection process in the hands of seniors experienced with the committee, rather than students who've only been on campus for eight months, will strengthen the committee and transform it into a more open and fair body.

The Honor Committee will continue to meet regularly and look at ways to strengthen the Honor Code and ensure that students remain in control of the process. Jim Williamson is the clerk of the Honor Committee. He is a politics major from Plains, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at jjwillia@princeton.edu.