Man up and answer truthfully.

"Yes." You decide to man up and answer honesty. "It was a stupid prank dreamed up during a stupid party. I known I shouldn't have gone along with it, but I was trying to impress these cute girls . . ." van Laar's frown makes you edit your admission, "I knew old Thayer Hall didn't have security and I have the key from working with the soccer team. I didn't think anything bad would happen, but, yes, I did open the door and I take full responsibility for that, but I didn't steal anything."

"Well if that is the case," van Laar clicks a pen open and presses the tip against a small yellow note pad, "you will provide me with the names of all those who went with you. Correct, Mr. Johnson?"

"Well . . ." You hesitate, taking a second to strengthen your resolve. "I can't Ms. van Laar. That might damage too many of my friend's future, many of them are from poor families, and this school is their best shot of getting out of the ghettos."

After intensely staring at you for a brief moment the Dean puts down her pen and looks over your file again, "Are you not yourself here on full scholarship? A child of a single mother of limited means?"

"Yes." Straightening your back, you become slightly offend by van Laar's line of questioning. "But that has nothing to do with anything."

Closing the file and taking her reading glasses off Ms. van Laar gives you another careful look over. "So you are willing to sacrifice your own future for that of your friends, Mr. Johnson?"

"I don't know who stole that money, but I know most of people at the party, and they're good people." You directly answer, "So yeah, I'm not going to rat them out. Go ahead and blame me."

"I see. That is very honorable of you." Dean van Laar leans back in her red back Victorian chair. "But you have put me in rather difficult position, Mr. Johnson. Normally your transgressions would merit expulsion and criminal charges, however, another public financial scandal at this time, especially one that might have racial overtones, wouldn't be in the best interest of the college. Yet, I was given this job to return this institution to a strict enforcement of its rules and regulation and even if you are just guilty of breaking and entering you certainly deserve punitive correction."

Crossing her arms the Dean leans forward on her table and ask rhetorically, "So what am I to do with you, Mr. Johnson?"