The spring USG elections ballot will feature a referendum proposed by Dan May ’11 which would end the current practice of automatically granting the freshman class president a seat on the Honor Committee. May has proposed that a subcommittee comprised of four members of the Honor Committee and the USG president solicit applications from freshmen, interview prospective candidates and appoint one to serve a term on the Honor Committee to fill the Class of 2014 seat.
The referendum would require a three-fourths majority to pass.
“The Honor Code is something a lot of people have been discussing recently, and it’s great that we’re having conversations about it because it’s such an important part of life at Princeton,” USG president Michael Yaroshefsky ’12 said.
The Honor Committee is comprised of a chair, a clerk, former class presidents, and the freshman, sophomore and junior class presidents as well as however many appointed members are needed to bring the total number of members up to 12. The committee is responsible for summoning and questioning students who have been accused of violating the Honor Code and later determining guilt as well as the penalty for convicted students.
May said that he is concerned about the lack of familiarity that the freshman class president has with life at the University at the beginning of his or her term. A role as important as a position on the Honor Committee, he explained, should not be left up to someone who is only beginning to grow accustomed to the University.
“It’s not something inherently wrong with freshmen; it’s just that they’ve only been here a couple weeks and have other things to worry about,” May said.
In addition, he said, he is worried that the lack of seriousness in the election does not match the gravity or responsibility of being an Honor Committee member. In a guest op-ed column he published in The Daily Princetonian on April 1, May called the freshman presidential election a “farce,” noting that one candidate who made “business cards that showed a half-naked couple hooking up” had advanced to a runoff election.
“The freshman election isn’t taken seriously enough to be the selection mechanism for such an important role,” May told the ‘Prince.’ “The Honor Committee makes critical choices about the future of people’s academic careers.”
May said that, while there was no specific incident that motivated him to propose the referendum, it was something that he had been hoping to change for a while. He said he decided to pursue it now because he had more free time after completing his thesis.
Honor Committee chair and senior class president Alex Rosen ’11 said he understood May’s complaints and that he was happy that students were discussing the Honor Code.
“We’re really happy that it came up,” Rosen said. “The column that Dan May wrote for the ‘Prince’ did a pretty good job of outlining the pros of the referendum.”
While Rosen said he recognized May’s claim that some freshman voters may not be aware that their president serves on the Honor Committee, he added that the Committee tries to publicize that fact through a letter to incoming freshmen, a speech to the new class at the opening assembly and sessions with committee members in each advisee group.
Though May said he didn’t think these efforts were sufficient, he noted that improving communication about the Honor Committee position could also be useful if his reform is not implemented.
“I’d fully support a more concerted effort to inform freshmen about the importance of their vote if the referendum does not pass,” May said.
According to Rosen, the first Honor Committee, which was founded in 1893, consisted of the four class presidents and two at-large members. Though times have changed, Rosen said, especially for freshmen, having a well-known member of the class serve will assure that students remain aware of the presence and role of the Honor Committee.
“We’re always extremely concerned with making ourselves available and accessible,” Rosen said. “The chance that a freshman will know any member of the Honor Committee is much smaller than the chance that they’ll know their class president. One concern about getting rid of that position is that the Committee becomes even more inaccessible to students.”
Rosen, who joined the Honor Committee after winning the class presidency his freshman year, said he was aware of the responsibility when he ran and was prepared to serve once he joined. He also said that freshman class presidents do not join the Committee until after fall break, once they have received the same training as all the other members.
“In terms of the Committee’s ability to adjudicate fairly and uphold academic integrity, I don’t think removing the freshman class president will have a significant effect in either direction,” Rosen said, adding that he does not share May’s concern that a wholly incompetent president could serve on the Committee. Even in that case, he said, he felt comfortable in the removal procedures of both the USG and the Honor Committee should a representative prove inept.
May said he is confident in his reform’s prospects of passing.
“People I’ve talked to about it seem pretty supportive,” May said. “I’m optimistic.”
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