Trust in its students has long been an integral part of Harvey Mudd College’s (HMC) tradition.

Coupled with its Honor Code—which allows for closed-book exams in dorms and 24-hour access to computer labs and machine shops, among other things—HMC’s unique student proctor program entrusts a group of exemplary seniors to advise their fellow dorm residents and keep them safe during the academic year, all while strengthening leadership skills.

“I admire and respect the school and administration for giving us proctors so much responsibility on campus,” says Nadia Abuelezam ‘09, a mathematical biology major with plans to study epidemiology in graduate school before working for an international health organization. “It really fulfills the mission statement and shows how much trust the school has in its students.”

“Being a proctor has definitely redefined my idea of a leader,” adds Donna Phu ‘09, a biology major who plans to earn a master’s degree in biomedical engineering and pursue a career in medicine. “This past year, I have become more and more comfortable in making decisions (big and small) when our fellow students seek us for help. It has meant a lot to me because I was able to push myself outside of my comfort zone. Being a proctor has given me the confidence to pursue anything that I want.”

The program, established in 1960, has remained a respected leadership position and grown in popularity over the years.

“Sometimes there are as many as 30 people applying for the 10 positions,” says Guy Gerbick, HMC’s interim dean of students.

The selection process is just about as rigorous as the proctors’ training and responsibilities: Candidates submit a written application, are evaluated by current proctors as they work on small group projects together and then participate in individual interviews. The final step is a call to the campus community to submit comments about how well they believe applicants are suited to being a proctor.

The 10 senior proctors, chosen during the spring of their junior year, become members of the Dean of Students Office staff and then undergo training in crisis intervention, counseling, first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, conflict mediation, issues of diversity and multiculturalism, event programming, fire safety and disaster preparedness. They are on-call at all hours of the day and night during the academic year to discuss personal or academic matters and to help students resolve problems.

While their responsibilities are similar to those of resident assistants (R.A.s) at other colleges, HMC proctors have no actual “rule enforcement” role.

“The proctors have no more rule enforcement responsibilities than the average HMC student under the Honor Code,” Gerbick explains. “All students are supposed to confront people who are violating the Honor Code.”

Gerbick adds that because proctors are seniors, they are often more mature and capable of handling responsibility than younger R.A.s at other colleges.

“With Mudd’s Honor Code and really quite responsible students, the college is able to entrust proctors with handling the campus at night and knowing when to call for help,” he says.

Most other colleges have non-student, professional staff members who live on campus and directly supervise the actions of student staff.

“From serving as a proctor, I was able to become a more effective communicator, counselor and mediator,” says Jason Santiago ‘07, HMC’s interim director of residential life. “Being proctor also broadened my horizons and forced me to identify and address my weaknesses.”

“Early on, my impulse was to try to ‘fix’ things for people, even when they would probably be better off figuring things out for themselves,” adds Adrian Sampson ‘09, a computer science major who plans to attend graduate school and become a professor. “I’m learning to more rationally determine my role when I’m asked for help.”

Proctors enjoy one of the college’s most coveted leadership positions. But they must learn to achieve a delicate balance between their academic life, extracurricular activities and resident life—not always an easy task.

“It can sometimes be harder than you’d expect to find time to spend with people in the dorm you don’t often see,” explains Sampson, who proctors West Dorm. “It can be extremely time-intensive to seek out different segments of the population in a dorm without suite lounges (and therefore hard-to-find hangout places). This has been my largest time-related challenge.”

Despite the challenges, though, the proctor experience also helps these student leaders learn how to effect incremental change in a diverse community.

“One important thing I learned from being a proctor is that there is not a ‘right’ way to resolving a situation involving people, there are many ways,” says Santiago. “I always tried to keep this in mind instead of getting into the narrow mindset of trying to find the right way to solve the problem.”