I am transcribing here a confrontation that I have been part of. All of the names have been changed. I am publishing this after getting consent from all of the participants.

This started with a friend of mine, Julia coming to talk to me. She said that she was concerned by one of our common friend Winston's behavior. She wanted to confront him about it but was unsure how to go about it. She did not tell me specifically what kind of behavior she found concerning but she did look scared and so I took it seriously.

I told Julia to go to her Customs Person, O’Brien, about it. Julia did just that, going to O’Brien, describing the situation, and asking for a confrontation to be organized. O’Brien then met with Winston’s CP (Custom's Person), Emmanuel, and they discussed a possible confrontation. When the confrontation was organized I was present, for I already had knowledge of the case, and O’Brien and Emmanuel thought that my presence would be helpful.

The five of us (Julia, Winston, O’Brien, Emmanuel and I) met in the common room of Winston’s dorm. Julia looked quite nervous, and both CPs were cool and calm. Winston was also calm but had an open look to him. I thought that he seemed ready for a confrontation.

I have never talked to Winston previously, although I had seen him on campus quite a few times.

O’Brien started the confrontation saying: “Winston, Julia here has been concerned by your behavior that she had accidentally witnessed a few days ago. This confrontation has been organized to help you and her understand the situation and resolve any conflict that there might be”.

Winston was nodding through the whole phrase. He frowned a bit on the word “behavior.”

At this moment Julia was supposed to say something. She then said, looking more at O’Brien: “Winston, I was walking on the Nature Trail last Friday around 10 p.m. and I heard some rustling coming from the creek. I stepped to the side of the trail and saw you hitting George with a knife”.

Here I finally understood what bothered Julia. George, you see, was a sophomore who disappeared last week. Now I knew that Julia had witnessed his murder by Winston and had decided to confront Winston about it. Now I was positive that going to the Customs People was a good idea – this was an important issue, maybe even Honor Council level.

“I ran away,” – continued Julia: “Then the next day I found out that George had gone missing”.

“Winston,” – said O’Brien: “Do you understand that you not only killed a person but also hid his body? Which means that you had betrayed not only the trust of the community but the trust of George for he cannot now be buried?”

“Yes,” – said Winston and he looked like he meant it: “I understand that I betrayed the trust of the people around me. First, I want to apologize to Julia for the fact that she had to witness such a crime as breaking of the Honor Code.” “Apology accepted,” – said Julia. “I also,” – continued Winston: “Will definitely show where George’s body is hidden and where I hid my weapon”. O’Brien nodded – for him the conflict was resolved.

Here Emmanuel said: “Winston, I think that an open, anonymous letter to the community would be quite beneficial for your restoration”. Here all of us nodded for this was a good idea. Winston said: “I will write a letter. I will do it as soon as possible”. After that we all shook hands. Julia even hugged Winston who looked relieved and happy. We all were happy. The confrontation went quite well.