By ELYSSA RENEE MADSEN
erm@email.byu.edu
The Student Honor Association's office and the Honor Code Office are just a few feet from each other, yet the two organizations are miles apart in purpose and procedure, according to Jeannie Papic, faculty coordinator for the Student Honor Association.
Most BYU students, however, can't distinguish between the two organizations: 72.6 percent of the students surveyed by The Daily Universe said they didn't know the difference between the Student Honor Association and the Honor Code Office.
This is a constant source of frustration for Papic, who said a clear distinction between the two needs to be made. While the Honor Code Office deals with Honor Code infractions, the Student Honor Association aims at promoting and explaining the Honor Code commitments students make upon entering BYU. The SHA does not report Honor Code violations, nor does it discipline noncompliant students, Papic said.
'We don't meet with the students who are in noncompliance at all. Our total focus is student advocacy. We present the commitment to honor from a positive viewpoint -- not as a punishment but as a wonderful blessing,' Papic said.
She also said student misconceptions about the SHA perhaps stem from its history and changing focus. The SHA evolved from the Honor Code Council, a student organization that dealt with some Honor Code violation issues like dress and grooming and Word of Wisdom infractions.
Under the old system, students would sometimes discipline students, which was a source of occasional tension and awkwardness, according to SHA President Karen Mitton.
Mitton, a senior from Richmond, Va., majoring in construction management, has, like Papic, been with the organization since it was the Honor Code Council.
She said administrators saw that a change needed to be made in Honor Code enforcement, and in 1997 the Honor Code Council was changed to the Student Honor Association, gaining a new name and a new focus.
'The change took place because (BYU) needed student advocates. Students need someone promoting for them, and that is our role: We are for the students,' Mitton said.
A department of student life, the SHA now works on helping students understand and feel positively toward the Honor Code through poster campaigns, firesides, video presentations and student activities, Papic said. SHA's stated mission is to 'inspire individual students, empowered by a spirit of honor, to lead with a strong moral character.'
With just under half of the BYU students surveyed having a positive reaction to the Honor Code (49.6 percent) and saying they understand it completely (46 percent), the SHA faces a formidable challenge. But Papic thinks her staff of 13 part-time employees and over 100 volunteers is up to the task.
'The biggest challenge has been that we have had to overcome a negative perception, and we still face that some. But the difference between two years ago, when we first started, and now is that everyone is so positive and open and friendly to us,' Papic said.
Already during the 1998-1999 school year, 13,000 students have seen an Honor Code video featuring BYU football player Setema Gali. In the video, Gali explains how the principles espoused in the Honor Code relate to the challenges he faces in life. The SHA has arranged for the video to be shown in general education classes in hopes of reaching incoming freshman who may not understand the specific details of the Honor Code.
Like its videos, the SHA's poster campaigns serve as positive reminders of the commitment involved in signing the Honor Code. The SHA's latest poster campaign aims to remind students about the importance of shaving. Directed to the men on campus, the posters read, 'Don't let your commitment get fuzzy. At BYU, a clean shave is more than being smooth; it's part of the promise we all made when we decided to come here. So take the time to fight the fuzz and show the ladies we're not all afraid of commitment.'
Do the videos and poster campaigns work? Papic says she realizes those things alone won't change behaviors, but they may help to bolster the Honor Code's image.
Ruth Cuervas, a freshman from Santa Monica, Calif., majoring in communications and a SHA volunteer, said campus events are one of their best ways of reaching students.
'With events we bring a lot of people in so they can feel important, involved and loved,' Cuervas said.
In February, the SHA sponsored its biannual Honor Week, billed as a week-long celebration of the Honor Code. This semester's theme was 'Hearts of Honor' and featured events like 'You're a heart breaker,' where students could break pinatas; 'Put your heart out,' a putting contest; and 'Honorpalooza' a weekend jam session featuring local bands. During Honor Week the SHA handed out laminated quotes from LDS church leaders and BYU officials as another reminder about the student's commitment to the Honor Code.
Participating in these kind of events is an education in itself, according to William Varner, an assistant to the president of the SHA.
Varner, a junior from Azusa, Calif., majoring in illustration, said his work with the SHA has changed his perception of the Honor Code.
'When I first came to BYU, like a lot of people I viewed (the Honor Code) as something that was to be put up with while I was here, so that I could get my education and get out. Since I have been here at the SHA I have gained more appreciation for the Honor Code. I see it now as something not just to put up with so I can get my education, but as a part of my education,' said Varner.
And slowly, in part because of SHA, many BYU students are coming to see the Honor Code as a blessing to the university and to their own lives, according to Papic.
'Students are understanding that the Honor Code isn't a list of rules to make their lives miserable. Instead, they see it's about commitment -- about learning to live by commitments and learning to be a good person,' she said.