The Student
Court’s role is to protect the interests and reputation of Hampden-Sydney
College. During an Honor Code trial, this philosophy doesn’t leave us with a lot
of room to be empathetic; that’s just not our job. However, this is not to say that ‘punishing’
is the only way of protecting our college.
In fact, when it comes to code of conduct issues, and separation from
the college is not being considered, ‘punishing’ is not the only means of
sanction that the court willing to utilize- we are willing to advocate
‘supportive’ sanctions that aim at reforming individuals who need help, and even
reward them for doing the right thing.
Perhaps the
types of sanction that would pay the biggest dividends from utilizing an
approach that includes more than just punishment are those involving substance
abuse- specifically illegal drug use. Stricter punishments against illegal drugs
would only encourage students to be more discrete about using drugs in an
effort to avoid being caught. Furthermore, tougher punishments for drug use
certainly do not encourage student’s to recommend friends with addiction
problems to a counseling center, since, after all, those with a chemical
dependency are unlikely to quit ‘cold turkey’ and if they slip up just one
time, they would face strict punishments. Ultimately, I fear that tougher
sanctions against drug use make it harder for students to be their ‘brother’s
keeper’ while also failing to actually decreasing drug use.
Instead of
stricter punishments, the student court has chosen to play a much more
productive role in reducing drug abuse at Hampden-Sydney by incentivizing
students to seek out help, and by offering them statutory protection against
further disciplinary action for doing so.
Specifically,
the student court has agreed to adopt the following philosophy regarding the
sanctions for substance abuse violations: “Any student who seeks help from the
College’s Wellness Center, or other Center approved by the College, for
substance abuse issues will be exempt from subsequent disciplinary sanctions
(related to substance abuse) from the Student Justice System as long as the
student remains in compliance with the treatment recommendations of the
Director of the Wellness Center or the Assistant Dean of Students for Substance
Education. Failure to comply with those recommendations will result in
disciplinary action by the Student Justice System. Any student referred to the
Student Justice System for a drug violation, not enrolled in a
substance abuse program, will be subject to disciplinary action by the Student
Court.”
This
procedure offers drastically different punishments for those caught abusing
drugs and those caught abusing drugs who are seeking help for substance abuse,
and asks those who have substance abuse problems to voluntarily enroll
themselves in a substance abuse program. Under this policy, students with
legitimate substance abuse problems would be incentivized to seek out help for
their problems since doing so would grantee them statutory protection from
harsher punishments. Furthermore, with
this procedure, the court would be able to identify which students are serious
about tackling their substance abuse problems, and which are not interested in
becoming honorable men.
In no way
is the court trying to minimize the role of punishments or the importance of
separating someone from the college in a situation involving an Honor Code
violation. Just as the court utilizes suspension to best protect the well-
being and reputation of our college in light of an Honor Code violation, we can
achieve the same with substance abuse violations by following the procedure
above. Furthermore this procedure helps
the student justice system distinguish between those who are taking
responsibility for substance abuse from those who are not.
Most
importantly, the sanction procedure outlined above allows the Student Court preserve
the self governing culture and personal accountability aspects of
Hampden-Sydney student life while simultaneously encouraging a cultural change
away from drug abuse.
