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Rights and Responsibilities
St. Norbert College is dedicated to academic excellence and personal
development in the Norbertine tradition. The college encourages and
promotes the uniqueness of each person. However, it also recognizes the
interdependence of all members of the college community.
For
the college to accomplish its goals, it is most important that the college maintain an environment in which all members of the community
have the opportunity to develop spiritually, intellectually, socially,
emotionally, and physically. To meet this obligation, the college
seeks to provide an environment conducive to academic endeavors, social
growth and individual self-discipline for each student. To ensure that
this environment is maintained, a judicial system has been developed. This system is viewed by the college as the part of the educational
experience which occurs when a student’s conduct interferes with the college’s responsibility for ensuring that all members of the college
can attain their personal and professional goals.
The primary
goal of the judicial system is to determine responsibility and, if
applicable, to facilitate change. Growth occurs when the individual
who has made a mistake realizes this mistake and accepts responsibility
for his/her actions. The judicial system, however, plays a role
substantially secondary to counseling, guidance and admonition. Members of the college must be concerned with protecting their own
dignity and respect and that of all individuals within the community.
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| Statement of Student Rights |
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The college affirms the right of
each student to be free from discrimination of the basis of race,
color, religion, national origin, creed, gender, or physical disability.
- Students
are free to pursue their educational goals; appropriate opportunities
for learning shall be provided by the institution. The rights of the
student to be secure in their person, residence, papers, and effects
against unreasonable surveillance, searches, and seizures is guaranteed.
- Students shall have the right to establish and elect a student government and appropriate student governance organizations.
- The
student press shall be free of censorship and advance approval of
copy. Its editors develop their policies with the college
Communications Board. The paper shall explicitly state on the
editorial page that opinions there expressed are not necessarily those
of the college nor of the student body.
- The student body shall
have clearly defined means of participating in the formulation and
application of institutional policy affecting academic and student
affairs.
- No serious disciplinary sanctions may be imposed upon
any accused without notice to him/her of the nature and cause of the
charges (for exception refer to Statement of Sanctions, 6) A fair
hearing shall include the right to hear the charges and register a
plea, to confront witnesses against him/her, to present one’s own
testimony and to have the assistance of a member of the college
community of his/her choosing.
- Students shall have the right to
privacy as guaranteed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
of 1974, as implemented by the college.
- Students and student
organizations should be free to examine and to discuss all questions of
interest to them, and to express opinions publicly and privately. They
shall always be free to support causes by orderly means which do not
disrupt the regular and essential operation of the institution. At the
same time, it should be made clear to the academic and the larger
community that in their public expressions or demonstrations students
or student organizations speak only for themselves.
- The civil
rights of the student are preserved insofar as the college has any
responsibility for the maintenance of those rights. Students shall
have the right to petition the College for redress of grievances,
amendment of college regulations and modification of college policies,
according to established procedures set forth for the college
community.
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| Statement of Rights |
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The freedom experienced by all members of the St. Norbert College
community does not permit any member to interfere with the personal
growth of others.
- It is important that each member of the St.
Norbert College community be cognizant of the rights of others; each
person has the responsibility to respect those rights. Everyone must
continue learning how to respect themselves, others and the facilities
of the college. The institution functions on the basis of mutual
respect of rights and mutual responsibility to protect such rights. Each person is uniformly responsible for the continued development of
the positive reputation enjoyed by St. Norbert College.
- Students
are members of the college community and citizens of the state of
Wisconsin. As citizens, students are responsible to the greater Green
Bay community of which they are part. The college neither substitutes
for, nor interferes with, regular legal processes.
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| Freedom of Expression |
- The college assures its student body that the students’ viewpoint,
presented through proper channels, is listened to and given full
consideration on all matters affecting the lives and welfare of the
students. The college respects and upholds the right of students to
criticize, to object, to dissent, to protest and to demonstrate.
- Such
a policy may well invite differences of opinion and conflicts of ideas
which, in extreme instances, could result in actions that prove to be
disruptive to the college or the civic community. To guard against the
possibility of such disruptive action, the college insists that student
dissent, in whatever form it takes, must always show respect for:
1. Other people, college and public property and private property;
2. The rights and freedoms of others, both individuals and groups;
3. The orderly functions of the college;
4. The moral and religious concepts on which the college is based.
- College
Programs and Freedom of Expression: The objective of St. Norbert
College is education. Included in that objective is the encouragement
of free inquiry and freedom of expression. The criterion of
acceptability for a campus speaker or any other program officially
sponsored by the college (films, dramatic presentations, etc.) is that
it helps to achieve such an objective. Views expressed may, and indeed
should, frequently run counter to some opinions of some students,
faculty members and administrators, and perhaps in extreme cases, all
of them. The college cannot avoid controversy, nor does it desire to
do so.
- No educational institution preparing men and women to
live, work, and hold responsible positions in the 20th Century could
possibly live up to its responsibilities if it avoided intensive study
of all points of view on significant issues. Such a study of differing
opinions obviously creates disagreement and controversy, but it is a
vital aspect of education. St. Norbert cannot afford to without it.
- The college also recognizes that the view put forward by a speaker may
disagree with beliefs and opinions held by friends of the college in
the community and among alumni. It is hoped that such disagreement
does not carry with it offense and hostility of the college. Rather,
it is hoped that friends of the college understand the obligations of
an institution of higher education to present as varied and, to some
extent, as controversial a program as possible.
- The policy,
therefore, of St. Norbert College is to choose speakers and other
programs on the basis of their ability to make an effective academic
contribution to the college community. The Speakers Committee is the
appropriate vehicle for the presentation of educational (speaker)
programs.
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