To what extent can a school in the US discipline campus visitors?

In My Humble Opinion
1

To what extent can a school in the US (college, university, high school, etc.) discipline visitors?

For students, faculty, and staff, there is generally a contractual agreement that, for example, by enrolling at the school, you subject yourself to the student code of conduct.

Obviously, any adult who commits a real-life crime on a college campus (vandalism, assault, etc.) can be arrested and prosecuted regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with the school or just stopped by on a lark.

I suppose that some schools (especially private ones) can ban a visitor from campus if they are misbehaving, under threat of arrest for trespassing if they return, but I’m guessing that the first time, they can only give the warning and escort the person off campus.

I was considering applying to a grad program a while back, and one of the questions that it asked was whether the candidate had ever been subject to discipline at a previous school. I had this weird fantasy about visiting the campus of an ultrareligious private school and obviously flouting the dress code or something and getting “disciplined”. If a university were to try to “write up” a visitor as part of their internal “justice” system, does it have any effect in the minds of other schools?

E.g.:

Admissions officer: Have you ever been disciplined by a school?
Candidate: I took my girlfriend on a trip to South Carolina, and we stopped by to see Bob Jones University. We were walking around campus holding hands when we were busted by the Morality Police. They were pretty upset when they found out that we were not affiliated, but they wrote us up anyway for “sexual immorality”, and the Dean of Conduct found us guilty, and wrote us a letter telling us that we were going to hell if we didn’t shape up real fast, and that if we ever enrolled, we would start with the 50 demerits he had given us. I don’t know if this incident counts or not, does it?

2

I’m pretty sure they can’t do anything. I mean, even if you are a student, the worst the school can do is kick you out, or maybe withhold transcripts or other school services unless you accept whatever other punishment they have in mind.

In college, I and a former student were involved in some mildly questionable destruction of school property activity, and while I had to go through the normal student-breaking-the-rules adjudication process, the former student was basically told sternly that such conduct was unbecoming of a graduate, and that while he wasn’t forbidden on campus, don’t think they wouldn’t do that if he didn’t shape up, etc.

I claimed then (and still claim, now) that the whole thing was absurd and stupid on many levels, and I eventually avoided any punishment on a technicality. So the system works.

3

In a practical sense, if you were never a student at BJU, they will not want a transcript from them and I would see no reason to mention it? Are you lying? I suppose so, but it is not under oath.

When I go into the door of my building there is a little sign that says that if you are not a student, staff or invited visitor you are trespassing. Of course, there is no way to enforce that. If it makes them happy…

4

I was a student and later a staff employee at BYU, one of the largest private religious schools in the US, so I think I have a little knowledge on this subject.

The University Police function much the same as other police organizations. They can issue parking tickets and arrest you for legal violations if needed. When it comes to things like enforcing the University dress code, or other university policies, the most they can do if you’re not affiliated with the university is to ask you to leave the campus, and charge you with trespassing if you refuse.

If you are a student or employee, they can take other actions, including expulsion or termination.

5

Thanks. This was basically what I was after. Anyone else have any support to this?

There was a little spat in Virginia over the fact that a major public college here forbids students to carry firearms on campus, but that there was apparently nothing barring members of the general public from doing so. So, in theory, you could be a student there walking with a friend who is unafilliated, both of you carrying a handgun with a valid permit, and you get stopped and written up (but probably not arrested since you only broke the student code of conduct, not the criminal law), and the other guy gets to walk away.

6

That’s not really different from say a corporate campus or offices.

If the sign at the door says “This company does not allow swearing on its premises.” and a non-employee visitor start cussing, the company can require the non-employee to leave, but as long as no law was broken, that’s about all they can do (except call the police if the offender refuses to leave). On the other hand, if an employee does the same thing, then the company has options like requiring “Sensitivity Training” or job termination.

7

I think that they want to know if you were kicked out of a school for plagiarism, not gotten a parking ticket while visiting.

8

Some old friends of mine encountered this rule when they brought alcohol into their dorm room, which is forbidden by campus rules, even though all were of age. They had some visitors who weren’t campus residents, and of course nobody got in any legal trouble. But the 2 dormers involved lost their right to live in university housing.

9

For K-12 schools in my area, and I suspect throughout the country, adults on the grounds are usually trespassing by definition, unless they’ve obtained permission from the principal’s office to be there, or are proceeding directly there to obtain such permission.

AFAIK universities and colleges are usually free to order you off the premises if you’re making some kind of trouble, and require you to stay away. And some facilities on campus are closed to visitors as well.

10

I work at a private college, and we can ban a visitor from campus at the discretion of the administration. There isn’t any disciplinary process, it just happens (unlike in the case of an enrolled student, who would be given an opportunity to explain or justify his or her behavior). Back in the day when everything was kept on paper, this wasn’t too threatening because it was easy enough for the banned person to try a few different entry points and wait for one to be busy enough to slip in, if they were so inclined. Now that everything is computerized, it’s more difficult. It doesn’t happen that often, you would have to behave pretty disruptively to get yourself banned.

Obviously, anything that is an actual crime gets bumped immediately to the local police.

In a fairly long career, I can only think of one instance where information about a non-student’s behavior was shared with other institutions (the same person was causing similar problems at several local colleges, and he was really good at getting close to, but not crossing, the line to breaking the law). We were careful to keep a good record of the reasoning and process in the event we were sued by this guy, although it turns out that there isn’t much legal right to privacy in that situation.

11

Ooh, ooh! I have a story!

While at work (on campus) last Thursday, I noticed two campus safety officers speaking to a man sitting at a table near my workplace. He obviously wasn’t a student and had a sort of creepy look to him as well. (It is currently interterm at my school, so the campus is relatively empty. Non-students probably stick out like sore thumbs.)

I saw the officers search the guy and ask him to show them the contents of his backpack. Later, I overheard him explaining to the officers that he didn’t have any ID with him because he was recently charged with a DUI and the cops took it away. Ha…

The scenario took quite some time. My guess is that the officers were holding him there till they could somehow get him off campus. He was giving them lots of attitude, which totally helped his case. :rolleyes:

I never got to see how they escorted him off campus (if there was an escort)! Talk about an anticlimax.