Students are provided a copy of the Commitment to Community annually in the form of a link on the Earlham College website. Students are responsible for reading and abiding by the provisions of the Commitment to Community. Members of the College community also have responsibilities to federal, state, and local laws. The College may, at the discretion of the Dean of Students or designee, report possible felonies to proper authorities. For this document, a “student” is defined as any person who is admitted, enrolled, or registered for study at Earlham College, both undergraduate and graduate, for any academic period and/or those who may attend other educational institutions but reside in an Earlham residence facility. Those who are not officially enrolled for a specific term but who have a continuing relationship with, or an educational interest in, Earlham College are considered “students.” A person also shall be regarded as a student during any period in which the student is under suspension from the institution or when the person is attending or participating in any preparatory activity before the beginning of a school term – including but not limited to: pre-orientation experiences, orientation, placement testing, and residence hall check-in.
Earlham College retains conduct jurisdiction over students who choose to take a leave of absence, withdraw, or have graduated for any misconduct that occurred before the leave, withdrawal, or graduation. If sanctioned, the College may hold the student’s ability to reenroll and/or obtain official transcripts and/or graduate. All sanctions must be satisfied prior to re-enrollment eligibility.
The Student Handbook – Commitment to Community: Principles and Practices applies to conduct on campus, at Earlham College-sponsored events, and may also apply off-campus when the Dean of Students or designee determines that the off-campus conduct affects a substantial College interest. A substantial College interest is defined to include:
- Any situation where it appears that the conduct may present a danger or threat to the health or safety of the student or others; and/or
- Any situation that significantly infringes upon the rights, property, or achievements of self or others; significantly breaches the peace, and/or causes social disorder; and/or
- Any situation detrimental to the educational mission and/or interests of the College.
Expectations of the Student Handbook may be applied to online behavior, via email, text messaging, or other electronic media. Online posts, including blogs, web chats, and social network posts in the public sphere, can subject a student to allegations of conduct policy violations if evidence of such violations is posted online. Earlham College does not regularly search for this information but may take action if and when such evidence is brought to the attention of College officials.
These expectations also apply to guests of community members, and hosts may be held accountable for the misconduct of their guests. Earlham’s Student Handbook expectations may also be applied to resident non-students, campers, and high school bridge/extension/partner/dual-credit and continuing education programs by contractual agreements.
Visitors to and guests of Earlham College may seek resolution through these procedures regarding offenses by students of the College community. There is no time limit on reporting violations of the Commitment to Community; however, the longer someone waits to report an offense, the harder it becomes for College officials to obtain information and witness statements and to make determinations regarding alleged violations. Anonymous complaints are permitted; however, this may limit the College’s ability to investigate and respond to a complaint. Those who are aware of misconduct are encouraged to report it as quickly as possible to the Office of Student Life or Public Safety.
Students facing an alleged violation (“Respondent”) of the Student Handbook cannot be barred from leaving Earlham College. However, no student who withdraws pending disciplinary action will be readmitted until all allegations are resolved. Students leaving/withdrawing under these conditions will have a pending allegation memorandum placed in their student file. The Registrar’s Office will be notified of pending disciplinary actions under these conditions.
Any member of the Earlham community bringing a complaint involving a faculty or staff member may do so by reporting it to the Human Resources Department, located in the basement of Carpenter Hall. The College protects students’ civil rights, including the right to a degree of privacy as outlined by federal and state law, freedom from discriminatory harassment, access to a fundamentally fair conduct process as defined in these procedures, access to information, and participation in College governance.