What to Expect at Plenary, According to Its Emcees

It’s that time of year again. Temperatures have dropped, Halloweekend is over, and Plenary is around the corner. The Clerk sat down with Students’ Council Co-Presidents Sarah Weill-Jones ‘26 and Ben Fligelman ‘26 to discuss the details of this semester’s IKEA-themed Plenary, colloquially titled “Rebuilding the Honor Code.”

Upon arrival at the Gardner Integrated Athletic Center (GIAC), students will receive physical copies of Plenary packets, which they will raise during informal voting periods. There will also be a Plenary zine, produced by the student-run club Compendium. Students can also expect to see the usual merch, stickers, tabling groups, and dance performances. Quorum will be reached when 942 students, accounting for two-thirds of the student body, populate the GIAC, the satellite location in Sharpless Auditorium, and Zoom.

Unfortunately, the customary boba will not be served at Plenary. Weill-Jones and Fligelman cite increasingly strict regulations from Athletics regarding cleanliness as the reason for this choice. To compensate for the loss, there will be, according to Weill-Jones, “thousands of dollars worth” of packaged snacks, including Bilar gummies and IKEA chocolates, available at the event. They excitedly explain that plushies will also be distributed to select early-comers, although the stuffed animals will not count towards quorum.

Snacks and entertainment will be especially appreciated at this Plenary, as the student body must consider six resolutions, each concerning the Honor Code. The new, revised Honor Code was written by the Committee for Student Community, Agency, and Responsibility (CSCAR) with input from students and the Co-Presidents. Each section of the Code has been separated into its own resolution, in which Haverfordian concepts like confrontation, the Academic Code, and the Social Code are discussed. The rationale for separating amendments is that it facilitates more precise modifications to the Code. Weill-Jones says, “If we break it into chunks, that’s an easier and more manageable way to actively compromise and make changes.”

This Plenary is about preserving the essence of the Honor Code, a characteristically Haverfordian document, in terms that abide by the current constraints on higher education. The ideal outcome, Weill-Jones reasons, would be to amend the Honor Code with CSCAR-advised changes. If every proposed resolution were to fail, then the temporary Honor Code imposed in May by Haverford College President Wendy Raymond would remain in effect. “Ultimately, that would be a real shame because it would mean that the Code that we’re living under is not the product of student agency,” Weill-Jones explains.

The Spring 2025 version of the Honor Code was prompted by a combination of factors, including but not limited to President Raymond’s participation in the congressional antisemitism hearings led by the Republican House Committee on Education & the Workforce and increased scrutiny of higher education at the federal level. Concerns that the Code may influence federal funding of the College are omnipresent.

Explaining the edits made to the Code, Weill-Jones stated, “On our behalf, a lot of it was language changes, especially in the surrounding certain vocabulary, that could be seen as ‘controversial’, especially in our current political landscape. So we were tasked with finding ways to work those values into the Code without using explicit language that might be flagged.”

These changes may seem arbitrary, but they have real consequences. Fligelman adds, “If you call it Tweedle Dee, the federal government will not have it. If you call it Tweedledum, they will not bat an eyelash.”

To those hesitant about attending Plenary, the Co-Presidents have a message: please come anyway. Weill-Jones and Fligelman stress the importance of participating in the process of making historic changes.

“One of my big hopes is that people will come out of this Plenary with a sense of ownership of this new Honor Code,” Fligelman says. “The hardest thing is inscribing the Code onto people’s hearts. And I hope that that is a process that begins at this Plenary and continues as the year progresses.”

Weill-Jones agrees. “Haverford is starting to be revived and reinvigorated with a spirit that hasn’t been in the student body for years. I’ve seen an enthusiasm this year that’s been really refreshing. I think that people’s investment in the Honor Code, investment in Plenary, is a big part of that. And I think it’ll only continue to make campus life better.”

Weill-Jones promises that they “genuinely value your opinion.” “As a member of this community, you have just as much a right as anyone else to give feedback on a policy that will directly impact you and others around you.”

“It’s one of the amazing ways to exercise your student agency at Haverford,” Fligelman says. “People talk a lot about how they want to make their voice heard, how they want Wendy to hear what they’re saying. The best way to do that is to go to Plenary because it isn’t just speaking to the abstract administration or to Wendy, but it’s also speaking to all of your peers.”

So pack some snacks, dress comfortably, and get to the GIAC early on November 9th. It’s time to exercise the Haverfordian values of trust, concern, and respect.