Consistency is all we ask, but how far are we willing to go to seek it? Recently, meetings have been held to discuss alterations to the cluster DC system. Students complain that there is a lack of standardization from cluster to cluster. Some deans are stricter than others and the penal system varies across campus. When it comes to an issue as pivotal as our permanent records, we want to be sure that we are receiving a just sentence. And in the current system, there is no way to know whether or not we are being represented as well as we could be or if we are getting the proper penalty. The proposed solution to this problem is to instate a more centralized DC system. There are many ways that we can go about doing this. A panel will be made of committee members and a dean of discipline. Major offenses will be brought to this panel and presented and a punishment will be decided. The cluster system will not be completely disposed of, however. The DC Working Group, composed of students and faculty, is drafting the new plans for the system, and it wishes to maintain the cluster’s role in the system. A proposed method of preserving the cluster’s part is reserving the centralized panel for more serious circumstances and using the conventional method to deal with misdemeanors. Because major cases are heard by the same panel, there can be more consistency and equality expected in consequences. The benefits of a centralized system are obvious, but I’m afraid that they are too consuming. With a centralized system, we would have reliability in punishment. Students would be able to rest assured that they are getting treated the same as the last offender. The drawbacks must be taken into account before the student body decides that they are willing to sacrifice in the name of equality. The major drawback to a centralized DC system is the lack of familiarity. With the intimate cluster approach, we can talk to representatives with whom we feel comfortable and who can guide us through the process. “I have never been in a D.C., but I know that I would feel much more comfortable talking to people I know well,” said Bob Divers ’07, President of WQS. Presenting your case in front of a school-wide committee with no familiarity of the system is terrifying, and it could be even worse if we had no one to steer us through. We elect our DC representatives because we feel that they are the people who can help us through the difficulties of hearing. It is helpful to have peers on our side who understand where we are coming from. The entire process will become overwhelming without a familiar face to support us, especially if an Andover career is at stake. Along with the loss of our own DC reps, we also lose the familiarity of our own cluster dean. Our deans know us better than a school-wide committee would, and I would be more secure knowing that my judge is someone who is active in my cluster community. Our deans do more than dole out penalties; they are a present support in our lives. The school-wide approach would seem to be less understanding to a particular circumstance. Because the panel does not know me, it would give me a generic punishment for my offense. But what if there were circumstances out of my control? A cluster dean would take this into consideration, while a centralized committee would slap on the same punishment they always give to my offense. It is important to remember that while the crimes may be the same, the circumstances are always different. Without human understanding and individualization, too much equality can become a very bad thing. The magnitude of our school presents a challenge as we try to reconstruct the DC system. We have more students and more discipline cases than our peer schools. Adopting a centralized disciplinary system similar to theirs would be more difficult for us. The DC committee would have to listen to every case, and with the volume of offenses, this isn’t a reasonable option. The solution would be to present only serious offenses in which expulsion is a possible punishment to the DC system. Although this could afford for more consistency in major punishments, the ideals behind our DC systems would be sacrificed. “Andover prides itself on education,” says Michael Jiang ’07, Cluster President of WQN, “and views the DC process as a method of education, not simply a sentencing.” Although getting a DC is far from a pleasant experience, it helps students to learn to use their voice to defend themselves and own up to their mistakes. If the completely centralized DC system were to come into action, it would become viewed as ‘executioner’s block’; an automatic expulsion. The learning and growing that could result from a DC would be consumed with dread and fear of dismissal. Using the DC system solely to boot kids out the door would undermine the original idea behind the system. Student involvement in the new system has been a troubling problem in the new propositions. What will our part be in this process? “I do not believe that anyone wishes to get rid of the idea of having students on the discipline committee,” Jiang claims. But even if students were included in the process, how much influence would we have? Representatives wouldn’t be working individually with the student being DC’d, so how would the presence of students on the board be particularly helpful? When the intimacy and tightness of the cluster system is gone, the role of students becomes smaller. If a student panel came at odds with a Dean of Discipline, I have trouble believing that our influence would be as powerful as it would be in the cluster system. I do not support this change to a centralized DC system. Why fix what is hardly broken? At a recent ADAAC meeting, most students seemed to like the current DC system. Many of us trust our deans to be fair. By drastically changing the system, we are buying into the idea of comparison. This fussing about a ‘lack of consistency’ shows that we are looking at students in another cluster and whining that they got one less day of probation for the same offense. Yes, cluster deans and DC reps should be in communication to make the consequences equal for both equally guilty parties, but the solution to this does not call for an all-out school reform. I support smaller changes to improve the incumbent system. The school should post crimes and the corresponding consequences in a public forum. This would foster a sense of accountability for every cluster. As DC reps become familiar with conventional punishments, the sentencing process will become more consistent. The student body would also be able to see that deans are being consistent, and have their minds put to rest. The DC working group has been taking steps to reform and improve the system. The next steps were outlines in the October 27th meeting. The committee plans to continue to contact peer schools for information about how they run their DC systems. Deans Green and Edwards will follow up with faculty from other schools at the Deans of Eleven Schools Conference. Different systems, both from other schools and Andover’s history, will be analyzed. Eventually, more concrete plans will be presented in a school-wide forum so we can put our two cents in. Andover did not discover the cluster system overnight. It took trial and error to determine the best fit for our school. Adopting a centralized DC system will not happen overnight. We cannot determine what we should do by looking at our peer schools. Although it is helpful to consider the courses of actions that other schools have taken, ultimately we need to do what it right for us. According to Jiang, “There will always be shortcomings because there is no perfect system, but we just have to make sure that we try as best as we can to minimize those shortcomings.” Our cluster system has worked smoothly since the 1970’s. It has problems, but the alternatives have problems as well. In the search for perfect justice, we need to consider the bigger picture. Striving to make things perfectly fair is a waste of time and energy, as life can never be so. The cluster-based DC system should be preserved because it is an accurate representation of the world beyond Andover. Offenses happen, and they are dealt with. You can appeal and defer, but in the end, you will have to face up.
