Students are required to live by the standards in the Student Handbook even if they are unaware of what it says./Triangle photo by Jesse Murray
By Jesse Murray
Staff Writer
“The Bryan College community is committed to maintaining an atmosphere that reflects our life in Christ and ultimately gives praise and glory to God. In an effort to maintain an atmosphere conducive to this commitment, certain community living standards have been established.”
If you’ve ever actually read through the handbook, you would have come across this statement in big, bold letters placed strategically at the beginning of a section called “Community Living Standards.”
Even if a student never lays a finger on the handbook, he will undoubtedly become painfully aware of all of these regulations in a short amount of time. This leads to two questions: What are the consequences of an offense and where is the line that marks the point of no return, or what we know as expulsion?
In an interview, Tim Shetter, resident director of the BC Commons and former RD of Woodlee men’s dorm, said that a distinction should be made between disciplinary caution and probation. Quoting from the handbook, Shetter said that disciplinary caution is usually accompanied by six work hours. These can be earned by committing such first time offenses as use of alcohol and tobacco and other violations of the honor code.
When asked what the line was between caution and probation, Shetter said, “That’s a hard question to answer… excessive chapel or church absences, sexual misconduct, illegal alcohol use (underage) or failure to give truthful testimony – all of those fall under disciplinary probation.”
Shetter added that as a result of being put on probation, “you also cannot represent the school in any way. In the past we’ve had SGA members make poor decisions so they had to step down.”
When asked about the issue of expulsion, Shetter suggested that students should be aware that there is a difference between expulsion and suspension.
“When it comes to expulsion, that’s a rare thing for us. In cases of extremely severe misconduct, the student may be dismissed from the college… but it would have to be pretty extreme and out there,” Shetter said. “With suspension, it can fall into immediate suspension, where the student has to leave immediately and cannot return until the following year, and there are cases when we say you’re suspended at the end of this semester, and you have to take a semester off.”
When speaking of student responsibility, Shetter said, “I can only slap your hand one time. Once you do it again, the consequences become higher.” He continued, “One of the great things about the townhouses is they have more freedom, but once your freedom rises, your responsibility rises, and the consequences to those responsibilities and freedoms rise. People don’t want the third one to come up, but it doesn’t work that way.”
At the end of the interview, Shetter commented, “Everything we do is based on grace and restitution. That’s why expulsion is very rare.”
Despite the fact that many students may take issue with some of these policies, one may always refer back to pages 58 and 59 of the trusty handbook for an answer. “While this set of standards may not be the preference of each individual, those who choose to join the Bryan community do so voluntarily and, therefore, willingly take upon themselves the responsibility to abide by these guidelines.”
Q and A from someone who’s been there…
From points to work hours and from suspension and expulsion, many students are unaware of everything that goes into making and breaking the rules at Bryan. Some insight was gained in an anonymous interview with a student who has experienced Bryan discipline firsthand. This student’s offense was breaking honor code by having alcohol on campus.
How were you caught?
“Someone on my hall went to my RD and accused me of having alcohol in the dorm.”
Did you feel violated?
“…Just a little bit.”
How did the situation materialize?
“My RA at the time informed me that my RD wanted to speak with me. I went to his apartment and he just asked me straight up if I had had alcohol in my room. I told him yes. He was loving, but maintained a certain quiet authority. I then had to meet with the dean of students who handled the situation much the same way.”
What was the punishment for your offense?
“I was put on disciplinary probation. I can’t represent the college in any way: OGL, SGA etc. I also received nine work hours.”
Do you think the consequences were too harsh?
“Not in my instance.”
How did you initially respond to the whole situation, and what have you learned?
“Honestly, I was initially mad about getting caught, but once I thought about it, what happened makes sense… Regardless of how I feel about the standards here, I did sign a contract that requires me to abide accordingly. I now have a deeper appreciation for the college and the way it handles these things.”
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