The Earlham College community is committed to fostering a campus environment conducive to academic inquiry and a safe, productive campus culture that promotes integrity. The Division of Student Life is committed to an educational and developmental conduct process that balances the interests of individual students with the needs of the College community. At its core, the College is committed to providing opportunities for Earlham students to grow as ethical, culturally competent life-long learners committed to respectful engagement and shared responsibility for the world around them.
A community exists based on shared values and principles. Earlham’s students are expected to uphold and abide by certain standards of conduct that form the basis of the Commitment to Community. These standards are embodied within the core values outlined in Principles and Practices, which include integrity, peace and justice, respect for persons, community, and simplicity.1
All members of the College community bear responsibility for their conduct and assume reasonable responsibility for the behavior of others, consistent with Principles and Practices. When student members of the community fail to demonstrate these five values, we share the responsibility to challenge one another respectfully and peacefully. More structured dialogue and intervention will be implemented when violence or criminal behavior occurs or any conduct that may violate standards designed to uphold the College’s academic purpose and the community’s right to an environment free of harassment.
The Earlham College student conduct process is fundamentally focused first on education and support; it exists to protect the interests of the community and to challenge those whose behavior fails to respect others. Sanctions are intended to challenge students’ moral and ethical decision-making, develop empathy and personal responsibility, and help them navigate the wider world safely and respectfully. When a student is unable or unwilling to be accountable to the community’s standards or repeatedly disrupts the academic mission, the student risks the privilege of participating in this community.
In voluntarily choosing Earlham, students agree to a way of living and learning that upholds Principles and Practices and supports the community’s need for reasonable expectations of safety, respect, and the orderly operation of the College. Freedoms in decision-making and community life are accompanied by the responsibility to hold one another accountable when expectations are unmet.
Students should know that the student conduct process is not a criminal or civil court proceeding. Student conduct procedures are conducted fairly and consistently, but they do not include the same protections and procedures afforded by the legal system, given Earlham’s mission as an academic institution. Due process (as defined within our guidelines) does, however, provide for written notice and the right to be heard. No student will be found in violation of Earlham College policy without information showing that it is more likely than not that a policy violation occurred, and any sanctions will be proportionate to the severity of the violation and the cumulative conduct history of the student.