Late one night my freshman year (don't all stories start like this!), I was in the hall talking with a couple friends, and a guy in our dorm said he was going to hold a lighter under a sprinkler in another hall. We thought it was a bad idea, and told him not to, and went to our rooms to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, the fire alarm started ringing, and we all went outside, knowing what had happened. While outside, he found us and told us not to tell anyone.

We discussed it and decided the best course of action would be to talk to the guy and have him turn himself in. The next morning, before we were able to talk to him, one of my friends was questioned because he had used his ID to come into the hall not long before the incident, and he told the officer to go talk to the perpetrator. Later that day, we talked with him, and the next morning, the kid turned himself in, and we thought it was all over with.

Then, my friends and I got called to the Honor Code office. I went first and was given an official warning for not turning him in. When I asked the gentleman what I should've done, he said, "you should've told him not to and walked away" - exactly what I had done. We wanted to allow the kid to turn himself in rather than being ratted out, believing there is more of a chance for sincere remorse in being able to admit to doing something wrong rather than being turned in.

My friend who was questioned ended up no honor code probation through the duration of his mission. His crime - not turning the perpetrator in right away.

I sincerely love BYU, but I have always thought the way this was handled was wrong.