From Oct. 24-28, SGA’s Student Judiciary Council(SJC) hosted Honor Week, a series of events designed to increase student awareness of Samford’s Honor Code and the role of the SJC on campus.
In addition to information tables erected in the quad throughout the week, SJC hosted three events as a part of Honor Week: Trivia Night in the Caf, the “Honor Thy Neighbor” discussion and a “Lunch and Learn” collaboration with the Office of Intercultural Affairs.
On Monday Oct. 24, SJC presented Trivia Night in the Caf. Students scattered throughout the tables competed in a Kahoot trivia quiz with questions from a variety of topics ranging from Samford sports, to Honor Code knowledge, to traffic violations. Top prizes included an SGA coffee mug and koozie, 25 dining dollars and a free parking pass that would allow the recipient to park in any color zone on campus for three days.
The next part of Honor Week was the “Honor Thy Neighbor” event hosted on Wednesday Oct. 26.
Chief Justice Dionna Davis shared that “Honor Thy Neighbor” included information and discussions about how the Honor Code addresses interpersonal conflicts that could affect students’ friendships or relationships with their professors.
“The purpose of the ‘Honor Thy Neighbor’ event was to give you different scenarios about what it looks like to live on campus, stuff you or your friends might go through and what you might have already gone through. And to talk about how you can handle this or how something like this could make you feel,” Davis said.
On Friday Oct. 28, the SJC hosted a “Lunch and Learn” event with the Office of Diversity and Intercultural Initiatives. The panel at the event discussed what it looks like to honor different communities and answered questions relating to diverse experiences.
According to Student Justice Cole Foreman, the Honor Code is a student-made document designed to create an academic environment in which both the university and the student body respect each other and that people can flourish both on campus and academically
Foreman explained why it was essential to raise awareness of the Honor Code.
“Everyone who is a student of Samford is bound by the Honor Code. It dictates how you live in Res Life, it dictates academic integrity, it dictates a whole bunch of things,” Foreman said. “It’s important for people at Samford to know how this justice happens and how these laws are enforced and how we seek to create a more harmonious community by honoring each other. That’s why Honor Week happens.”
The Samford Honor Code replaced the old values system in Spring 2020 and combined the values system with the academic code of conduct into one document that seeks to describe the standard of conduct for Samford students.
Davis outlined how the Honor Code improved upon the values system by specifically demonstrating what each tenant means for the students and the university for the betterment of both groups.
“When you combine the academic conduct and values system into one (document) and add the basis to it with each tennant, it makes it seem more like honor is a two way street. You have to honor Samford by living here and following the rules, but Samford also has a duty to you to honor you right back,” Davis said.
In addition to handling parking ticket appeals, the Student Judiciary Council hosts hearings if a student breaks the Honor Code and requests an audience.
Davis explained that the benefit of a Judiciary Council hearing is that it offers students the opportunity to explain their side of the story and used an example to demonstrate.
“For example, with a visitation violation, the RA types up an incident report and we only have that one perspective. Hearings give students the chance to explain things and provide information that wasn’t present in the incident report to provide clarity in those types of things,” Davis said.
According to Foreman, the SJC is dedicated to educating students on how to live out the values of Samford University.
“We try to be very restorative in our justice. We’re not here to just punish people all the time. We’re here to encourage and educate people in how honor and honoring others is super important to creating an inclusive and just community at Samford,” Foreman said.
For more information on the Honor Code, visit https://www.samford.edu/departments/student-conduct/
Staff Writer
