The Honor Education Council works to uphold Archer’s core values of empathy, integrity and responsibility. Representatives from grades nine through 12 collaborate to teach community members about the student handbook and what it means to act honorably. Leading these council members is senior Natalie London.
As the senior chair of HEC, London facilitates and organizes all HEC meetings and hearings. She serves as the primary evaluator of reported honor code violations and collaborates with deans of culture, community and belonging on whether they should prompt a hearing.
The Oracle sat down with London to reflect on what she has learned from being senior chair and to reflect on her time on HEC.
What initially motivated you to run for the Honor Education Council?
Natalie London [NL]: It feels so long ago. I mean, I was in eighth grade. I really wanted to be on StuCo, but I was never elected, so then I went for HEC. But I really have come to value the empathy that it teaches and the core pillars of HEC, which I feel are the beating heart of the Archer community. Definitely, we prioritize and try to communicate empathy, integrity and respect as much as possible. And I feel like that starts with how we handle when students make mistakes because that is inevitable and it’s never supposed to be a punitive process. Our goal is to initiate repair in all ways that we can. I feel that really resonates with how I want to conduct my life and how I think a school should. So I really liked the principles of it, and I have absolutely loved my past four years on it. It’s just been invaluable.
How do you think your perspective on empathy, integrity and responsibility has changed since joining HEC?
[NL]: We just had HEC elections, actually. You have to run every two years, and all of our rising juniors all talked about how their view of someone who is honorable is someone that comes before HEC and is brave enough to talk about their mistakes and their experiences. So I think that empathy, integrity and responsibility feel like very separate areas, but I feel like I’ve come to see them all pertain to people who make mistakes and come before the council more than I do as pillar stones and maybe exemplar students in our community, because those are the people that are putting in the work and wanting to grow from their mistakes.
What are the biggest lessons you have learned that have come with leading HEC?
[NL]: Really just reading a room. I think also another big responsibility of being chair is that when a student is in a hearing, it is your job to facilitate that process and read the script. And I feel like something as little as your tone of voice — it can be a big element in helping them feel comfortable because we are asking a lot of them and we are asking for a lot of trust in those moments. So I think I’ve realized that it is my job to help take that first step and saying this is a — kind of cliché — safe space for them and that we want to hear without judgment. So I think going into the future, I feel I do that more when I enter a room and think about what it necessitates from me, and what the environment is asking for, and how I can help make it feel like a better place for all people.
What has been the most rewarding part of your time as chair?
[NL]: I’ve loved being chair. I think I’m filled with so much pride and admiration for the other people on the council, and it is such a privilege to be able to call myself the chair and now have the ability to lead them and take on that leadership role. I think my favorite part has just been being able to see all of them grow during my time as chair and also just feel proud of the position I have because they’re all such amazing people and to be able to lead them feels like a massive privilege.
As your time on HEC comes to an end, what impact would you like to leave behind?
[NL]: I have been really thinking about this a lot lately, but leaving a legacy of kindness. I feel like kindness is slowly becoming more obsolete in recent years, and I was talking to Ms. Keelty about this, but talking about “leaving behind any mean bones” is what I called this. So I want to leave behind mean bones and I hope that my legacy on HEC is as a kind and compassionate leader, probably remembered for that first beyond any, more than “she won this or she did this” — more who I was as a person.
