The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-04-15
STUDENT BODY RULES DISCIPLINE
 OF UNDERCRADS

Princeon, N. J.,April 1S.-Univer
 sal faculties throughout the United States are watching with keen inter
 est the experiment put in effect at Princeton to have the undergradu- ateS handle the situation with regard to the morals of the student body.
 The ruling marks the beginning of an epoch in student government in American universities. The profes-
 sorS of Old Nassau have decided the time has come when the undergrad | uate is better able to handle the ques- ton of his morals than the discipline
 committee of the faculty itself. Ac- cordingly they have placed in the Se- nior Council the power to recommend the punishment of students for facts tending to injure the good name or | the moral tone of the university without giving reasons for evidence to the faculty.
 Princeton has an efficient proctor
 ial system under the guidance of Henry Bowie, known to Princetonians in song and story as Hank the Cop"
 The duty of the University Proctor has dated from the days before rha American Revolution when all the Princeton students lived in Nassau Hall, and, as the old records show, indulged in smuggling roast fowl and beer into their rooms through the medium of the negro slaves residing in "Princetown." But with the in troduction of the Honor system into
 University life in the 'nineties, much
 of the duty and importance of the Proctor was absorbed by the various
 und dergraduate bodies, chief of which is the Honor Copmittee itself. Al most all phases of undergraduate ac- tivity come under this system, from cheating in examinations to the use of plants in the seats of the ab-
 sentees in lecture rooms.
 The Princeton Senior Council re- gently came to to conclusion that at infrequent intervals acts occur on the campus that nsed punishment. and which escape the notice of the Proc tor, but not of the undergraduates themselves. The mental state of an undergraduate is such that his con
 science does not allow him to report his fellows to anyone even remotely connected with the Faculty, but he is willing to report such proceedings to the Senior Council with the proviso
 that it shall go no farther It was to deal with this situation that he
 new ruling at Princeton was passed.
 The Council, an elective body of
 seniors usually including the class officers, the major sport captains ana
 the heads of the important campus activities, meets every Monday night Dodge Hall to consider the affairs of
 the University In case charges of a serious nature are brought against any student by his fellows the pro
 
 cil sits as a jury on the case. Tn
 offender is brought into the room and seated at the shead of a long ia ble and informed of the accusations. He has the right of stating his case and he may bring in wifnesses-and while the defendant is at liberty tc call upon anyone he desires in his defense the testimony of the Faculty or of the Proctors' force would not be admitted against him.
 Witnesses "for the State" are then | questioned, and while their testimony may cause anguish to his friends l they have never been known to refuse | it, though the council has no means of forcing students to appear in the | witness box |
 The whole proceeding is carried | on under the honor system, and the | word of the defendant carries more weight than circumstantial evidence | After the testimony IS completed, the i Council goes into deliberat1on. Points | of law do not exist and the purpose is to reach a decision in equity. A three quarter vote is necessary to conviction, any smaller majority amounting to acquittal. A similar
 ma iority is necessary in fixing the nenalty. The President of the Coun- ell then reports to the Faculty that his colleagues have recommended certain penalties to be inflicted upon the defendant, a recommendatloh which is accepted without question.
 A student has the right to appeal to the Discipline Committee or tEe Faculty, in which case all the evil dence is presented