Handbook Changes Redefine Student Government
At the beginning of the 2022–2023 school year, Western Reserve Academy put several new handbook policies regarding student government in effect. Last year, breaking the rules in the handbook meant presenting your case to a group of students and faculty to determine your punishment. At the beginning of this school year, however, changes in the student handbook depicted a student government that looked very different: Honor Council (HC) and Student Advisory Council (SAC) combined to create Honor Advisory Council (HAC). Sherry Chlysta, Director of Studies and former HC faculty advisor, states, “At the end of last school year, I thought I was still running HC this year.” Emily Barth, Dean of Student Affairs, announced the change to the new HAC members before orientation.
Once HAC started meeting, it became clear that it had a different purpose than the HC and SAC. “Our role within the school’s disciplinary system has shifted, if not become non-existent,” said Keven Gong, sophomore class officer, former HC member and current HAC member. The original purpose of the HC and SAC was to give students a voice in the disciplinary process; students listened to disciplinary cases and helped determine the appropriate consequences.
Although the student government cites a loss of power, the recent developments also came with some positives. “I feel like we get to connect more with Student Council regularly,” said Sehar Mahesh, sophomore HAC representative, and former HC member. Although the new handbook did not abolish Student Council—like HC and SAC—it significantly altered the group. “The biggest change is our [Student Council’s] ability to propose role changes within our revised handbook,” said Gong. Taking advantage of this power, freshman class officer Addie Mendelson expressed that she enjoyed her role in the Student Council. “Although I haven’t been a class officer for a long time, I think that we can discuss many different areas of growth for the school at each meeting, and I’ve been able to express many student concerns and questions,” said Mendelson. However, not everyone feels like they have a voice in these discussions. Mahesh emphasized, “We [HAC] meet less often [than last year]. Student Council gets to meet every single week while HAC only meets twice a month, and we have no say in anything they talk about.” This view does not reflect the feedback HC received before the handbook changes. “A surprising percentage of kids came back later and thanked me for what we had done for them in the process,” remarked Mrs. Chlysta on HC.
Before this school year, HC had a significant impact on the WRA community, and it is unclear if students on HAC have the power to contribute to the community in the same way. “I would like to see the return of a student group within WRA’s disciplinary system,” said Gong, “we still have a voice, but it is only a fraction of what it was last year.”
– Riya Hegde ’25
The Reserve Record 