Privacy by Law, With Exceptions

The College's disciplinary proceedings have always been among its most closely guarded secrets. College administrators have always said this is largely because Federal law requires the college keep student information in the strictest of confidences.

Like all rules, however, there are exceptions.

A law passed in 1998 makes it legal for post-secondary educational institutions to release the results of disciplinary proceedings in the event of a violent crime or a non-forcible sex offense if the institution determines that the student actually violated the institution's policies.

Before the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was amended, it was illegal for post-secondary institutions to release such information.

The change, however, has not had much of an impact on the College.

Lewis says that although it is not always required by law to do so, the College still keeps results of Ad Board proceedings confidential.

"The fundamental reason why we don't disclose any information about students' disciplinary records is that students who are sanctioned are ultimately going to return to the College as citizens," he says.

Lewis also says that there is still a gray area around what the College can legally release.

Robert W. Iuliano '83, Deputy General Counsel, said while some proceedings are not protected by FERPA, a large majority of student disciplinary records still are.

"As a general rule, FERPA does not permit a recipient of federal funds to disclose disciplinary results. There are certain exceptions built into the statute -e.g., where a student has violated a drug or alcohol law-but they are relatively few in number," he writes in an e-mail.

FERPA clearly states that records can only be released "if the institution determines as a result of that disciplinary proceeding that the student committed a violation of the institution's rules or policies with respect to such crime or offense."

The 1998 Higher Education Act Amendments, the bill that amended FERPA, was sponsored by Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA).

David J. Foy, McKeon's press secretary, says that McKeon sponsored the amendments because the public has a right to know about crime in colleges.

McKeon wanted "to enable institutions to provide the public, including parents, students and staff, with information relating to the safety of higher education institutions," Foy writes in an e-mail.

Though some worry about the privacy rights of students, Foy said the public's right to know supercedes a student's right to privacy.

"Mr. McKeon believes that while students generally have a right to privacy about internal college disciplinary proceedings, they forfeit this right to some extent when they commit a crime on campus...[T]he public has a legitimate right to know the results of disciplinary proceedings relating to school safety," Foy writes.

FERPA allows the institution to release only the name of the student, the violation committed, and any sanctions imposed by the institution. All other information, with the exception of victims and witnesses, who may only be included with their written permission, is confidential by law.

--Staff Writer Andrew J. Miller can be reached at amiller@fas.harvard.edu