The Maclay Honor Council plays a vital role in the Maclay community by establishing the importance of following the rules. The Honor Council is a student based council that consists of four seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen. Students are chosen by their classmates to be in the Honor Council at the beginning of each year based on their honesty, respectfulness and accountability. Like any school, Maclay has a handbook that describes all of the school’s rules. If a student were to palagrize, for example, a faculty member would send them to the Honor Council for a hearing. This system is a great way to keep Maclay students in check and follow all the rules that Maclay has implemented.

When a student breaks the honor code, they will receive disciplinary action for their wrongdoing. If sent to the Honor Council, students get the chance to explain their point of view. During the proceedings, students on the Honor Council discuss and decide if a violation has occurred and assess an appropriate penalty for that particular student. This system is beneficial because a student will have the opportunity to have their voice heard, as well as understand their consequences and be a part of deciding their punishment. 

“If someone gets in trouble or does something wrong, it is the adults that are always giving them feedback,” upper school Academic Dean Angela Croston said. “But, it is important that students are giving feedback here so that the student who is in trouble feels like it is a fair and reasonable punishment.”

One of the many ways Maclay prepares students for their next levels of education is by having similar disciplinary actions. Many colleges, like Maclay, have an Honor Council. For example, Harvard has an Honor Council made up of students, faculty members, graduate students, teaching fellows and administrators. The main purpose of Harvard’s Honor Council is to teach students to learn from their mistakes, which is Maclay’s purpose as well. Even though Maclay’s Honor Council is not as rigorous as the ones on college campuses, it still teaches students the grave importance of the honor code and prepares them for what possible disciplinary action will look like in the future. Honor Council allows students who have broken the honor code to learn from their mistakes in a setting that is less intense then what it could be in college.

The Honor Council is good not only for students, but for the entire school community as it keeps students in check by enforcing the rules. If a student knows that they will have to go to the Honor Council for breaking rules, then they will most likely follow the school’s principles. The students of the Honor Council are the ones who decide what happens to the student when there is a violation. Thus, students could feel uncomfortable or embarrassed that their peers will know their wrongdoings, so they will be less likely to break the honor code.

The Honor Council can be awkward at times, but its importance is far more essential to the process than any moment of tension. If there happens to be a small violation between the student and teacher that is brought to the Honor Council, some believe this could cause unnecessary tension. Although this can be true in some cases, the Honor Council is almost always beneficial to the student in question. Many would prefer to receive feedback from their peers, and because they are students themselves, their feedback could be sympathetic and better than criticism from an adviser. The proceedings in the Honor Council are confidential, which allows students to feel safe where nobody is judging one another.

Although the focus of the Honor Council is on the actual proceedings, the student and teacher involved should have a conversation before and after the trial. The Honor Council is supposed to help students move on from their mistakes. When the student has a discussion with the teacher about the hearing, they should have the opportunity to talk about and learn from their error so they make better choices in the future and re-establish trust and honor.