Haverford College makes its Honor Code to govern its student body. The Honor Code is upheld and enforced by the College's Honor Council. The Honor Code is meant to promote good community standards and to establish a safe and comfortable learning environment for students. When a student violates the Honor Code, the process by which the situation is resolved is known as "confrontation."
Haverford College Confrontation
In spite of its adversarial sounding name, Confrontation is meant to serve as a way of encouraging cooperation between two parties. The party who reports a wrong-doing is known as the confronting party, and the party who is accused is known as the confronted party. The goal of the initial stage of Confrontation is to get both parties to reach an amicable decision to resolve the issue. Confrontation is usually mediated by a member of the Student Honor Council. Confrontation is not used for issues of Academic Integrity. If a situation cannot be resolved through Confrontation, it will move to a trial.
College Trials
The College has its own method for resolving matters that cannot be resolved through regular confrontation, this method is the College's trial system. Trials will vary depending on the type of offense. For instance, academic trials are used solely for academic matters, and the final decision is made by the professor or instructor. Primarily, behavioral misconduct is resolved through a social trial, which is both adjudicated and decided by a jury selected by the Honor Council.
Before any trial can begin, there are a few things that must happen in the pre-trial period. The Honor Council will request statements from both the confronted and confronting parties to discuss the issue at hand. These written statements must detail the events of the incident and each party's respective point of view. Next, a jury is selected from the College community by the Honor Council.
A trial begins with the chair of the jury giving a brief overview of the trial's purpose, and a time period to answer any procedural questions and ensure that the jury members can be free of bias. The presentation phase begins with the confronting party presenting their case. Following this, the confronted student presents their own case. After the presentations, the jury will then ask "fact-seeking" questions of all parties. During this time, the jury may also accept outside, written testimony, or call in witnesses to speak in person. Once the jury is done asking questions, the members will go into a deliberations phase. When deliberating, the jury can request the confronted party return for more questions; the confronting party may also be included in this session. After the first stage of deliberations is over, the jury will ask the confronted party to return. The jury's findings and discussions will be repeated to the confronted party, and the confronted party will be asked about the circumstances of the event. The jury will ask the confronted student what resolution they believe is fair. After this, the jury then discusses their potential resolutions with the confronted student; the confronting party can also propose resolutions during this time. Following this, the jury will go into a second deliberations phase to discuss resolutions. After the second deliberation, the resolution will be presented to both parties. Both parties can contest the resolutions presented by the jury, and present their own ideas. The jury will take these into account and make a final decision. The parties receive the final outcome in writing. Even if no code violation was found, both parties may still receive some form of administrative restriction or action as a response to the event.
At a trial, a student is entitled to the presence of a support person. Students who are supported by an attorney will feel confident and secure as the trial goes on. Attorneys will also enlighten students on a number of courtroom techniques that can be used to strongly influence the outcome of a hearing.
Haverford College Appeals
Should the trial process result in an unfavorable outcome, students may make an appeal. Appeals must be submitted to the President, and must suggest the desired change to the resolution. The grounds for appeal must be either substantive or procedural in nature. Students have 5 business days from the end of the trial to make an appeal.
If you or your student is facing disciplinary action from Haverford College, contact the LLF Law Firm today.
