Student Body Elects Final Eight for DC

After a week of campaigns and signature collecting, eight of the original 23 lowers were voted Tuesday to move onto the second round of Discipline Committee selections.Lowers Yena Cho, Chudi Ikpeazu, Nick Madamidola, Tierra McClain, Heather Nelson, Jun Park, Rex Tercek and Pranay Vemulamada will now stand before the current students and faculty on the Discipline Committee to be interviewed, and four of them will finally be selected to serve as Discipline Committee members for the Class of 2016.Prior to the election, Student Council hosted on Feb. 11 a Q&A session in order to provide an opportunity for the candidates and the student body to clarify the roles and expectations of student Discipline Committee members. The session included a panel composed of Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove, Discipline Committee head and science instructor Jeffrey Ward and senior Nik Bergil.Cosgrove said that the questions candidates asked during the session were insightful and constructive. He added that students were eager to learn about the role of the DC in the Academy, as well as the process of a DC case. “Based on the number of questions, and the quality of the questions, I think it was helpful,” Cosgrove said. “There were many thoughtful questions presented by students.”Ward expanded upon Cosgrove’s views and said that the Q&A session provided an opportunity for members of the Student Council to learn more information about the DC community, such as the confidentiality of the cases. “I hope that they walked away with a better appreciation of how the DC works and the balance between the privacy of the student who appears before the committee and the education of the community at large,” he said.Candidates who attended the Q&A session agreed. Lower Jessica Zhao said that she was able to learn not only about the Discipline Committee itself but also other students’ opinions and expectations.“I think knowing the transparency of the cases, especially for faculties and also knowing the expectations that the other students have towards the DC are helpful,” Zhao said. “The panel helped me to learn more about how it feels like to be in the committee and that made me insist on running for the election.”On the other hand, several candidates voiced their opinions that the information provided during the meeting was not as helpful as they had expected, as it seemed redundant of the matters that are stated in the E-Book. “The StuCo meeting seemed like a reiteration of what was already in the E Book regarding the discipline process along with information that isn't explicitly stated. It was not as helpful as I hoped it would because it didn't offer information regarding the role of students on the committee or the election,” Ikpeazu, one of the eight finalists, said.Despite the opposing opinions over the Q&A session, Cosgrove said that the time set aside to narrate the role of the DC seemed to be helpful for most of the students who were present and that Student Council will continue to host it either “annually or biannually.”In addition to the different views on the Q&A session, candidates had varying reasons for their candidacies.Zhao said that she ran for the election in order to “help my peers that have made some misjudgments.” She explained that everybody deserves a “second chance” and be able to learn and grow. “I believe that everyone makes mistakes and every mistake has a reason,” she said. “The point of being in the DC committee for me is to help students learn and grow from their mistakes and to help the others to be clear about what are the right things to do.”Cho said that her candidacy originated from her desire to immerse herself further into the student community and help each student in DC cases receive a fair opportunity. “I wanted a chance to communicate with more members of our community,” Cho said. ‘As a student member [of the Committee], I'm hoping to listen to each person carefully and to provide a helpful reflection to the faculty.”Similar to Cho, Ikpeazu explained that he ran for the election to provide fair judgment for all students charged with a DC case. He also said that he wanted to aid the voting members of the committee to make rational decisions. “While many believe that the voice of students on the DC is not heard, I say that the students can influence faculty decisions because of the fact that they see each case from the perspective of a peer,” he said.With the student election completed, the eight candidates chosen are now awaiting their interviews. Regarding the interview process, Discipline Committee member and history instructor Giorgio Secondi commented on the qualities the committee seeks for in candidates. “What I look for when I choose the four candidates is maturity,” he said. “[And through interviews,] we are able to see their level of self-confidence and whether they are arrogant or not because often excessive self-confidence is a sign of lack of maturity.”Faculty members also shared their hopes for the new members.“I think students need to be thoughtful, good listeners, able to avoid rushing to judgment, willing to ask questions and to share their thoughts with the committee,” Secondi said.Secondi continued and emphasized that the presence of student members in the committee is not to promote “students vs. teachers” atmosphere, but rather allow students to voice their opinions. “They need to be able to have the trust of the student body, and I think and often students think of the students on DC as somehow being the defenders of the student, but really it’s not like that. The role is to really provide a student perspective,” he said.Ward echoed Secondi’s sentiments and said that student members are an essential element of the committee.“Their input is very valuable. Although they do not vote for a specific outcome on major DC cases, they give the student's perspective on the issues that the committee is thinking about which may be different from how the faculty is thinking,” he said. “It is a valuable piece of the puzzle that the committee uses in their decision making.”