Introduction: Crew members Jo and Al approached the Honor Council chair out of concern that Smee, during his time as treasurer on board the U.S.S. Haverford, had violated the standards and trust of all the crew members in the flawed execution of his duties, including the allocation of money. Honor Council reached consensus on a suspicion of violation and, due to the gross administrative concerns involved, the issue was sent to a Joint Administrative/Honor Council Panel.

Who's Who

Smee: co-treasurer on the ship, also co-head of the deckswabbers' union

Jo and Al: crew members and confronting party

Wendy: co-treasurer with Smee

Larry: friend of Smee

Sailor Bob: co-head of the deckswabbers' union with Smee

Buttercup: co-treasurer after Smee and Wendy's term

Bluebeard: crew member who worked closely with Smee on the ship

deckswabbers: organization of crew members on board the U.S.S. Haverford

Statements of Confronting and Confronted Parties

Four Honor Council members, two deans, Jo, Al, Smee, and Smee's support person convened for the statements.

Jo and Al's Statement: Jo and Al presented the panel with their understanding of specific events which led them to believe that Smee had violated the expectations of the crew members in his actions as treasurer. They made it clear that Smee's actions demonstrated not only carelessness but also malintent, and that these events show that he attempted to use his position as treasurer to his own advantage. Specifically, Jo and Al believed Smee had not adhered to the duties given to him by the crew members concerning the allocation of funds, nor had he kept proper records of his financial activity (an indication to Jo and Al that he was trying to cover up his wrongdoing). They also felt that Smee's efforts in clearing up these errors were unsatisfactory because he had made untrue and conflicting statements about his behavior, thus continuing his deception of the crew. In addition, Jo and Al raised concerns that any steps Smee had taken to repair the breach of trust with the community were taken only as a result of pressure from other people.

The specific events that concerned Jo and Al were Smee's allocation of funds to the deck swabbers' union without the notification of anyone, and Smee's appropriation of funds for his own personal use on several occasions.

Jo and Al presented the following account:

Summer, year I: As treasurer, Smee takes a sum of money from the club's account for his own personal use, gives a portion to Larry, and he allocates 1000£ to the deckswabbers. Smee, along with Wendy, his co-treasurer, was responsible for all allocation of money from the club's account. Smee does not follow the official procedure for loan application, and he does not inform Wendy of his actions. Wendy asks Larry about the portion of money given to him by Smee, and Larry says that the money was used for dinner.

August 1, year I: Wendy asks Smee about the sum of money he had used for his own personal purposes and about the portion of money he had given to Larry. Smee states that the money given to Larry was used for dinner or to buy supplies for the club. Smee also says that the money allocated to the deckswabbers would be repaid as soon as the swabbers supplied Smee with the equivalent amount of money that they had been given.

August 2, year I: Smee deposits the 200£ he collected from the deckswabbers in the club's account. He does not keep a record of which deckswabbers have repaid him.

June, year II: Smee says the sum of money he used and the portion he gave to Larry have been repaid, although there is no record of this. He also says that 400£ of the deckswabbers' debt has been returned. The designated time in which money can be loaned without being repaid (one year) had passed, but only 200£ of the total 1000£ had been recorded as being replaced.

July 20, year II: Smee reports his actions of money allocation to all the crew members and assures everyone that the sum of money he had used personally had been repaid.

July 25, year II: Smee steps down from his duties in the club. Jo and Al confront Smee about his actions.

August 2, year II: Someone, most likely Smee, altered the ship's account records. There was a new entry of 600£ added, but no official records of this amount were available. This deposit was dated September of year I.

August 5, year II: The new deadline for the 1000£ to be repaid passes, and only 200£ of the original 1000£ has been repaid.

August 8, year II (approx.): The new treasurer of the U.S.S. Haverford, Buttercup, receives a sum of money to cover the amount Smee had used personally. Attached is a note reading, "just to be sure."

Smee's Statement: Smee began by saying he was confused and that he felt his morality was in question. He spoke about the money loaned to the deckswabbers, his personal use of ship funds, and his record-keeping.

Smee said that the deckswabbers needed mops as a symbol of group identity, and they needed the money to purchase the mops. Because the deckswabbers' union contributed to the general well-being of the ship as a whole (in part because a good number of crew members were deckswabbers), Smee felt that allocating money to the deckswabbers was important. He also felt that the deckswabbers would repay him promptly. He blamed himself for not being diligent enough in keeping track of which swabbers had paid him back and which had not. He said he had assumed personal responsibility for repaying the money.

In regards to his personal use of ship funds, Smee said he was surprised that it was questioned. He explained that other officers on board the U.S.S. Haverford, while working on ship business, used the ship's account. He continued that he had occasionally used his own money to purchase supplies for the ship, and repaid himself out of the ship's account. (There was no established petty cash fund for the ship). Smee gave the new treasurer a sum of money to cover any discrepancy in the balance.

Smee admitted that his record-keeping was shoddy. He and Wendy had missed several money deposits, and his own personal records were almost nonexistent. The portion of money he gave to Larry, Smee said, happened so long ago that he couldn't remember why he'd done it. Smee accounted for the changes in the account records (namely the entry of 600£ dated Sept. of year I) by explaining that he was trying to do anything he could to make the records reflect the amount he thought he had already deposited. He remembered depositing money into the account without documenting it, and his later entries in the account records were made in attempt to rectify any imbalance that resulted from his previously poor record-keeping. He later changed the 600£ deposit entry to 400£ in order to more accurately reflect what he believed had been deposited.

Thus Smee explained his actions from his point of view. He said he felt like everything he had done was to try to make the ship's account records reflect the actual amount of money in the ship's account. He felt he had acted in the best interest of the deckswabbers, and the crew as a whole, by allowing the swabbers to purchase their mops, even though he did not follow proper loan procedure. He stated again that he had assumed personal responsibility for the money allocated, and would repay it all as soon as possible. He said he had already begun to do so and gave the new treasurer additional money to apply toward the debt. Smee also explained his reasons for stepping down from his duties on the U.S.S. Haverford. He said it was in an attempt to repair the breach of trust between him and the other crew members. He was trying to take steps on his own to rectify the situation.

Questions: In this portion of the procedure, the panel members asked clarifying questions of both the confronted and confronting parties to better understand their feelings and concerns regarding the events that took place. (Much of this information has been incorporated in the summary of statements above).

Witnesses

The parties involved presented the panel members with a list of pertinent witnesses, from among whom the panel invited several to either come before the panel to answer questions or to write a statement to be submitted to the panel.

Wendy (co-treasurer with Smee):

Wendy discovered records indicating that Smee had taken a sum of money from the ship's account. Within the records, she also found that Smee had given a portion of money to Larry, and she discovered that 1000£ had been given to the deckswabbers' union without proper documentation. Wendy was concerned about her findings, but before confronting Smee, she found out more information on her own. Wendy did not immediately confront Smee about her concerns because she felt it "looked bad" and because she did not want to accuse Smee of any wrongdoing prematurely. She said that she had had no previous reason to question Smee's integrity. Wendy found that the deckswabbers had been allocated the 1000£ to purchase mops. Then she confronted Smee.

Wendy said that she felt Smee had brushed off her concerns, acting dismissively. Smee told Wendy he had used the sum of money while working on club business, and he said that the portion of money given to Larry was used for dinner while also working on club business. After the confrontation, Smee gave Wendy 200£ towards repayment of the deckswabbers' debt to deposit in the ship's account. About a year later, Wendy was still concerned that the debt had not been repaid, so she and Smee went to mediation to try to resolve her concerns.

In response to Wendy's account of events to the panel, Smee replied that he was sorry Wendy felt brushed-off when she had first raised her concerns to him. He said it was so long ago he could not really remember exactly what their original conversation had been like. Both Wendy and Smee agreed that the communication between them during their partnership as co-treasurers had been poor.

Wendy also explained to the panel how she and Smee had been introduced to the job of treasurer. The previous treasurer had explained the procedure to them, but mostly they learned on the job.

Sailor Bob (co-head of the deckswabbers' union along with Smee):

Sailor Bob explained that the chief deckswabbers had decided that new mops would add to group unity and identity. Because they were about to start a new voyage, they felt that it would be best to get the mops right away. The deckswabbers needed money to purchase the mops. Smee and Sailor Bob initially thought of putting up the money themselves, but then Smee suggested using the ship's supply of money, assuming it would be repaid promptly. Since they had only limited funds of their own and there wasn't enough time for them to gather the money from the deckswabbers before the voyage began, Smee and Sailor Bob decided that Smee would use the ship's supply of money to get the mops. Sailor Bob figured that it was okay to use the ship's money for purposes that would benefit the ship. He and Smee did not discuss loan procedures because Smee was treasurer and, thus, in charge of money allocation. The chief deckswabbers agreed to collect money from their respective squads in order to pay back the loan. Sailor Bob thought that the ship's money would be repaid within a few weeks.

Sailor Bob told the panel that about half way through the semester he realized that the money was not being repaid. There was no real plan developed for money collection; Sailor Bob and Smee simply pressured deckswabber chiefs, who in turn were supposed to collect from their squads. Sailor Bob told the panel that he was under the impression that half of the money had been repaid, based on what he had heard from the chief deckswabbers. There were no written reports of which individual deckswabbers had actually repaid the money.

Buttercup (the new treasurer):

Buttercup explained the job of treasurer to the panel, the responsibilities involved, and communication issues. She discussed her working relationship with her co-treasurer. She explained that only one treasurer at a time could allocate money, and that they tried to keep as accurate records as possible, thus being accountable to each other and the crew members who had elected them. Buttercup explained that she and her co-treasurer learned money allocation procedures on the job, as had Smee and Wendy. She also told the panel that Smee and Wendy had used a different loan procedure than that used by her co-treasurer and herself.

When Buttercup became treasurer, she was aware of the deckswabbers' debt. She also said that she knew Wendy was handling the situation. She was concerned about Smee's incorrect entry in the club's account record showing 600£ had been deposited toward the deckswabbers' debt. She couldn't understand how Smee could possibly have entered the wrong amount in the account records, and this led her to question Smee's integrity.

Larry (crew member and friend of Smee):

Larry explained in his written statement that the portion of money Smee had given him was used to purchase supplies for the ship. Larry felt that the deckswabbers' failure to repay the money to Smee was a breach of trust between the deckswabbers and Smee, and not between Smee and the crew as a whole. Regarding Smee's personal use of ship's funds, Larry's statement echoed sentiments already expressed by Smee and others present. Larry also wrote, of Smee, "His integrity, sincerity and commitment to his community . . . have been his defining characteristics. . . [he] made a mistake, and nothing more."

Bluebeard (crew member who worked closely with Smee on the ship):

In Bluebeard's written statement, he wrote about Smee's character. He said that he did not question Smee's integrity, and felt that Smee had devoted his life to the well-being of the crew and to the Honor Code.

Bluebeard did not write to justify Smee's actions, "but rather to justify his intent." Bluebeard wrote that by allocating the deckswabbers the money with which to buy the mops, Smee was doing something to better the ship. Bluebeard felt that Smee's actions were mistakes in procedure only, and were not in violation of the Code. Smee's stepping down from his duties as an officer had already separated him from the ship, Bluebeard felt. He reiterated that most of the ship's officers learned on the job, receiving little, if any, formal training.

Panel Deliberations

After meeting with the witnesses and sharing final comments, the panel met together to privately review and discuss the issues raised during fact-finding.

When the panel first met together for deliberations, members tried to establish reasonable motives for Smee's actions as presented by both the confronting and confronted parties. The group's general sentiment was that Smee had been honest in his account of his actions; however, in the interest of giving equal consideration to both sides, the panel members attempted to understand Smee's actions in light of the motives as presented by the confronting party.

The panel members discussed the issue of the money used by Smee for personal purposes and how they might be interpreted as indicative of misuse of ship funds. Upon first appearance, it would seem that the use of this use of money was suspicious. However, the panel took into consideration that Smee had signed over the money directly to the stores where supplies were purchased because he did not have an account of his own; and, thus, he could not follow the usual procedure of signing the money over to himself to be reimbursed for payments out of his own pocket. Smee had been accustomed to using a petty cash fund in past employment experience; and panel members were also familiar with the common practice of having such a fund in administrative environments. Therefore, the panel did not find the use of the money to be out of the ordinary.

The next task of the panel was to try to understand how Smee may have acted in bad character in loaning the 1000£ to the deckswabbers' union. The question which the panel tried to answer was: How could Smee personally have benefited from allocating the money to the deckswabbers? The suggestion most obvious to the panel was that Smee had used ship funds to purchase the mops, but had intended to keep for himself the money collected from the deckswabbers. The panel decided that this suggestion was unlikely to be true because 1) Smee had not done a good job of collecting the money; 2) the money that Smee did collect, he eventually deposited; and 3) Smee continued to deposit money, although he did not keep accurate records. The panel also considered that perhaps Smee had used the money to purchase mops in order to raise his image in the eyes of the deckswabbers. Considering witnesses' descriptions of Smee's character, combined with the reasons that Smee gave for loaning the money for the mops, the panel found this suggestion implausible.

The panel then moved to the question of the poor record-keeping and altered records. Jo and Al thought that the altered records (i.e. the incorrect entry into the ship's account of 600£, later changed) indicated that Smee was attempting to cover up some questionable activity. In the eyes of Jo and Al, this was further proof of Smee's overall malintent. The panel felt that if Smee had been acting with malintent, he would have been more aware of how conspicuous his record-keeping might look to others. Smee's account -- that he was trying to make the record accurately reflect what had been deposited -- seemed plausible. However, the panel noted that the specific act of inserting a record which was seemingly 1) dated somewhat arbitrarily and 2) an undocumented estimate of the money already deposited could been seen as a questionable act, and was further evidence not only of Smee's poor record-keeping but also of his extremely poor judgment in this case.

The panel considered the issues raised by both the confronting and confronted parties. The main issue of concern throughout the process was the question of whether or not Smee had acted out of malintent. The panel members could not justify the confronting party's conclusions based on the evidence that they were given. The panel could not see how Smee would have benefited from his actions. Without proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Smee had acted untruthfully or maliciously, the panel could not assume that Smee was lying during the proceedings, especially given that the Honor Code requires that we maintain "a climate of trust, concern and respect" in our community.

In deciding on resolutions, the panel took into account the fact that Smee had already made himself accountable to the entire crew making them aware of his actions and by stepping down from his elected position on the ship when asked to do so; and he had already taken personal responsibility for the rest of the deckswabbers' debt. The panel did not feel that Smee had violated the Honor Code. However, the panel felt that there was validity to the confronting party's concern that Smee had violated the crew's expectations and trust. Inasmuch as Smee had acted out of poor judgment in his capacity as treasurer, he had breached the crew members' trust that he would follow the proper procedures for that office as outlined in the ship's constitution. Since the panel members felt that Smee had learned quite a bit through the whole proceeding, they decided that the most constructive resolution would be one which would allow Smee to impart the knowledge he had gained from the experience and, in turn, create ways of improving how the office of treasurer is run. In addition, the panel resolved that Smee should pay back the remaining deckswabbers' debt by a near date.

Panel Statements and Resolutions

Statements: The panel reached consensus on the following three statements:

1) Smee showed no malintent in his actions as co-treasurer; and, therefore, he should not be found in violation of the Honor Code.

2) In his handling of the deckswabber money, Smee violated the crew's expectations regarding the treasurer's adherence to procedure as outlined in the constitution of the U.S.S. Haverford.

3) Smee's approach to securing reimbursement for personal use of ship money in ship's business, his inconsistent record-keeping, and his lack of communication within the office of treasurer raise concerns about the operating standards and practices within that office.

Resolutions: The panel reached consensus on the following resolutions:

1) By failing to follow established loan guidelines, Smee took personal responsibility for the deckswabbers' debt; therefore, Smee will repay the remaining deckswabbers' debt by a date set by the panel. He will report this payment to the co-chairs of the panel.

2) Smee will consult with the Vice President for Finance and Administration to evaluate and make recommendations for revisions to current treasurer guidelines and develop a training/orientation program for incoming treasurers which he will complete over a period of time set by the panel and submit to the co-chairs of the panel by a date set by the panel.

These statements and resolutions were presented first to Smee and his support person and then to the confronting party. The panel then officially ended.

Discussion Questions:

1) Do you agree with the resolutions on which the panel reached consensus?

2) What does it mean to violate the expectations and trust of a community?

3) What is the difference between violating the Honor Code and violating a community's expectations or trust?

Your additional comments and concerns are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated:

Please drop this questionnaire in the abstract response box in the mail room. Thanks!

Note: If you have further comments or questions about this abstract, Honor Council offers the opportunity for you to discuss this abstract with a panel member. Please contact the Honor Council Chair for more information. If you have general comments about this or any other abstract, please contact your Honor Council Representative.