By Jenny Blackford
Editor in Chief
Six months after learning that he would appear before the Honor Council, senior Haslyn Howard was found not guilty at his April 21 Honor Council hearing.
With the verdict decided, Howard can focus on graduation. Since October it has been unclear whether or not he would be able to graduate. Now Howard is just happy the incident is behind him.
"I am tremendously relieved that this case has been resolved in my favor. However, I must also state that I am thoroughly unhappy with the system in which I've been involved," Howard said.
He said he chose to have an open hearing to eliminate rumors that had been circulating. "I want everybody to know exactly what was going on. And I wanted everybody to know how the system actually works. A fair system cannot work behind closed doors," he said.
"The fact of the matter is that you are guilty until proven innocent," he said. "The system doesn't work for the student; it works against the student."
One of the main problems Howard saw was that the process was so lengthy.
Because his case was to be heard at the end of the fall semester, after the Honor Council was not scheduled to meet, Howard opted for an interim hearing instead of waiting for a spring semester Honor Council hearing.
The interim panel, consisting of Jeryl Prescott, an associate dean, James Powell, an associate professor of classical languages, and junior Todd Liu, found Howard guilty Dec. 10 and suspended him for a semester.
Howard said he was upset with the way the original hearing was handled. "The day of the hearing was when they told me the evidence against me," Howard said. An appeal hearing took place before the Judicial Council Jan. 19, and the council upheld the verdict. Howard said that the council made it clear he was to be suspended immediately. "They were trying to get me off the campus as fast as possible," he said.
"That case should have never made it past the interim panel," Howard said. He maintained that he was innocent even after the appeal and chose to seek outside help. "I had to hire lawyers to fight my case in front of (the Judicial Council)."
His lawyer and a student counselor, senior Matt Silversten, on Howard's behalf, requested another hearing Feb. 2. Howard was informed Feb. 6 that he would be granted a new hearing, which was April 21.
Usually the Honor Council tries to hold the hearing a couple of weeks after the charges are made, but the complicated nature of the case extended the period of investigation, according to junior Matt Jamison, the chairman of the Honor Council. "We had serious trouble contacting witnesses," he said.
Silversten said he was happy that the Honor Council reached a not guilty verdict, but was disappointed that it took over 100 hours of work to get to this point. "I'm very happy for Haslyn that this can finally be put behind him. It's kind of sad that it took seven months of his senior year."
Howard is looking toward the future now, waiting to see if he will be accepted to the two law schools to which he applied, he said. He had planned to apply in the fall, but he decided to delay applying until this case was resolved, he said. "It has destroyed every iota of faith I had in Wake Forest and the Wake Forest system," he said.
After two and a half hours of testimony, it took 20 minutes for the Honor Council to come back with the verdict of not guilty.
"I think it did work for Haslyn Howard. This is proof positive the Wake Forest judicial system is not a toy of the administration. ... It was a very positive note to go out on," freshman and member of the Honor Council Brian Sumner said.
"The system worked well tonight; that can't be said for any other time during this case," Silversten said after the hearing was completed.
Howard was charged with cheating on an Oct. 2, 1997 exam in British Romantic Poets taught by Ed Wilson, a professor of English. Wilson said he was not directly accusing Howard, but that it was his responsibility to forward the matter to the Honor Council. "I was simply reporting what happened," he said.
Junior Jim Childs said he believed he saw Howard pick up a test as he entered the room and then leave a few minutes later with the test in hand. Howard said that he had a few papers in his hand when he walked in the door and it was those papers the student saw him with as he left a few minutes later.
Five witnesses testified in the hearing: Howard, Childs, senior Hollie Stevenson, senior Kiana Aaron and Wilson.
The Honor Council hearing under the current system ended well for Howard, but he hopes that the new system will treat accused students better. "I'm very glad the system is reformed and hopefully those reformations will serve the students," he said.
Managing Editor Theresa Felder contributed to this story.
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