Prompt
You sit on your university's student council. Hannah, 21, was elected student union president last month with 60% of the vote. A classmate has now circulated screenshots of posts Hannah made at 14, in which she mocked another student's appearance and used a slur. Hannah has posted a public apology saying that she is ashamed of what she wrote and has changed. A petition with 400 signatures asks the council to hold a recall vote that could remove her. Many students say the posts show who she really is. Many others say no one should be judged for what they did at 14. The council must decide this week whether to hold the recall vote, and yours is the deciding vote. How would you vote?
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After you practice: what this question tests and how to approach it
What this question tests
- Ethical reasoning
- Critical thinking
- Empathy and compassion
How to approach this question
This MMI station tests whether you can weigh accountability for real harm against the chance that a person has changed, when your vote decides what a whole student body gets to do. Name everyone with a stake: Hannah, the student she mocked, the students who elected her, the 400 who signed, and the council's credibility. Separate three questions: whether the posts were wrong, whether a 21-year-old should answer for her 14-year-old self, and whether a recall vote is the right tool. Consider options between a flat yes and no, such as a vote paired with a forum where Hannah answers students directly, then commit to a vote and say what would change it. When new information arrives about the person who was harmed, explain how it shifts the weight you give the apology instead of flipping without a reason.
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