Another Year of Signatures

Maclay Held Its Annual Honor Code Signing Ceremony

Photo by Maclay Yearbook Staff

23 years of signatures in the book. The honor code signing ceremony is an annual event held for students and teachers to show their understanding of the Maclay Honor Code; being honorable, respectful and accountable. However, the honor code was not something Maclay always had. It was petitioned to begin in 1996 after a group of student leaders came together with an idea to create an honor code, something they had seen at other schools and colleges. The honor code was then started in 2000. In 2015, the honor code was changed, however, to carry a more straight forward message and it has been the same since.

Every year around September, the honor code signing ceremony occurs and this year is no different. On Sept. 13, 2023, the Cartee gym was filled with the Maclay upper school students and faculty along with special guest speakers and the honor code book ready for the ceremony to begin.

Director of upper school Charles Beamer opened the ceremony, followed by the Dean of upper school Student Affairs Heather Bas who discussed the history of the honor code. Soon after, upper school Academic Dean Angela Croston swore in the honor council members. 

“It [the honor code signing] is a tradition that is ingrained in the school,” Bas said. “It is a symbolic gesture to show that you are a dedicated member to the Maclay community.”

Once the members were sworn in, senior honor council members Copeland Frazee and Sophia Krizner spoke about what the honor code means to them.

“It is important to sign the honor code to not only individually pledge to follow the core values of a Maclay student, but to come together with those who have signed before you, and those who signed with you,” Frazee said. “To make sure I follow the honor code, I ask for help when I need it, instead of plagiarizing or seeking help from AI softwares, and following the core values of being honorable, respectful and accountable.”

During the honor code signing ceremonies, Maclay brings in a guest speaker to discuss the honor code and what it means to fulfill Maclay’s honor code. This year, the mayor of Tallahassee, John Dailey, spoke about honor. Dailey is a Maclay alumni and spoke about his time at the school and how he has taken the honor he learned at Maclay into his everyday life. He then went on to discuss that the honor code will be with us every day and that’s why it is extremely important for the students to follow it.

Proceeding the speech, Maclay students performed music pieces while the upper school grades took turns signing the honor code book. The new students of the senior class, junior class and sophomore class went first. Once they were finished, the entire freshman class took turns signing the book as it was their first induction into the Maclay upper school.

“[It’s important to sign the honor code book] because it’s important to follow the honor code,” freshman Macy Cureton said. “[In the future] I’m going to follow it and not break any of the rules.”

Finally, sophomore Mya Champion sang the alma mater to bring the ceremony to a conclusion.

“The ceremony was so great in so many ways,” Bas said. “We had beautiful music played by our students and faculty musicians, we had the participation of alumni and the overall messages that were said to those in the audience were about being the best people they could be.”