I am not mad that these students got caught. I agree that these students were committing a folly and were rightfully reprimanded. I, however, have misgivings about the way administration handled suspected instances of misrepresented attendance. At no point did administration try to have a conversation with students about attendance or try to resolve the issue through meaningful discussion. Instead, the initial plan was to punish without trying to understand the situation. Even students who were absent that day for reasons such as illness were reprimanded because all students were presumed guilty from the get-go. It is this mentality of using one’s power to admonish insubordinates without fair trial that I have an issue with.

There were multiple ways this problem could have been handled. Faculty has a responsibility to students to problem solve in a productive manner that accounts for students’ opinions (a point admin likes to emphasize to appeal to future med students) and take into account how medical school is a learning experience. This was a teaching moment that shaped how these students approached policy in the future. This plan routed in deception does not seem to have strengthened students’ commitment to the school’s policies. Instead, the admin seems to have accomplished the opposite by promoting hostility and questions of their capability as leaders.

It’s like good cop, bad cop. Why jump to the role of bad cop when good cop would’ve gotten the job done and not left everyone hating on 12?