<p>englishjw, psychology is fascinating, no? My regret is that I didn’t take a psych course while in college to understand the dynamics/ theories behind quirky behaviors like this. I question if it is really the “Puritan” culture of Williams at play or perhaps something more archetypal/primitive in human psychology at work given the fact that throughout history, there are too many examples of adults not speaking up during some pretty pivotal times… such as during an engineering class. 
Whatever it is, I agree that HC’s culture encourages students to develop a skill set at an early age to feel comfortable speaking their minds and occasionally questioning authority figures and social norms. For example, the Honor Code puts down in writing that it is the expectation of the community for students to not walk away from any occasions when she/he is faced with an incident that makes them feel that the community’s trust or their own has been violated by the actions of another or by their own actions as well. This is really hard to do especially when young and, in practice, sometimes depending on the incident, the student may not engage in this civil “confrontation” despite feeling it’s appropriate. The thing is that, given HC’s Honor Code*, whether a student confronts someone or not, the student at least knows the ideal and is able to reflect on why/why not they lived up to those expectations which to me makes it a valuable educational tool and internal sounding board to have.</p>
<p>*as I wrote in another post, “HC’s honor code does not make it unique IMO. There are several schools with honor codes. Each school though conceptualizes its honor code differently and, so, are differently implemented. Davidson’s and UVA’s are based upon a sense of southern honor and chivalry; military honor for the military academies; Athenian ideals of a perfect democratic society for Wellesley and Conn College; and Haverford’s is based upon its Quaker history and value of consensus and inner light. Some schools have codes that emphasize academic/social conduct 1st… Haverford’s culture encourages kids to inner reflect and think about respect and trust, which are then manifested by the freedoms and responsibilities described in its honor code. Context gives each honor code its own character.”</p>