This is the pro argument on the Honor Council. To view the con click here.

The Honor Council has been long in coming. Finally, the student body is getting what it has been so deprived of for years.

Honor councils are a staple to many private schools and universities. When they are managed effectively, they instill in the student body a broad sense of school pride. Students can be pleased with the fact that all their peers are upstanding and honorable without exception.

If there was pressure on students from other students to not cheat, steal, or lie, then overall quality of life at JC would improve.

JC should not be a school where one runs the risk of getting their belongings stolen if they are accidently left out.

With the old system, all of these offenses were handled by the administration. There is a disconnect between the students committing the offense and the administrator judging them.

The Honor Council resolves these issues. It is far more shameful to be judged by a panel of peers for stealing a chicken patty than it is to be judged and punished by the administration.

The Honor Council’s job of recommending which students deserve expulsion and which deserve a second chance is hard, but it’s good that students have a hand in the decision. The students on the Honor Council will have a better handle on the logic of the offending students and will provide insight into which cases deserve leniency and which are unacceptable.

It’s possible that students who participate in offenses that go before the Honor Council are an embarrassment and a sad misrepresentation of the student body and should be treated as such.

Adding the Honor Council is a good way to improve student life. Students will not only feel safer about having their possessions in school, but they will also gain more pride as JC becomes a universally upstanding and honorable community.

Bryan Doherty is an Opinion Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.