Rules and regulations may seem tedious and annoying to memorize and read over, but they are set into place for the safety of the students, teachers and faculty. 

Reading the Student Handbook’s Code of Conduct along with university policies is one way for a student to know how they are expected to act on campus. 

“Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the Student Code of Conduct and to conduct themselves in a manner which supports the educations mission of the university, as well as comply with all university rules,” said Antoinette Alack, assistant director of Student Conduct. 

Even with rules and regulations in place, they are still broken. The top five rules broken on campus from last year in order were abuse of property, use of alcohol, disorderly conduct, use of drugs and violations of other university policies. 

“Use of alcohol, use of drugs and disorderly conduct make the top five consistently each year,” said Alack.

Alcohol, drugs and disorderly conduct may have made the top five most broken student violations over the last few years, but some students believe that this may change due to new policies being put into place. 

“For this semester, [the most common student violation] is going to be the smoking one because it will be hard for a lot of people to quit,” said senior special education major Kimmie Luce. “It will definitely be a challenge for everyone to be patient, encouraging and helpful.”

Along with the most common conduct violations, gender and classification tend to have an impact on who is most likely to cause a violation. 

“Out of 325 cases, 209 involved freshman, 28 sophomores, 15 juniors and 40 seniors,” said Alack. “155 cases involved males and 90 cases involved females. Typically, males and freshmen have been the trend for the majority of conduct violations, and it has been this way from year to year.”

One of the simplest tasks to avoid facing the consequences of a school violation is to know the expectations of Southeastern’s campus. 

“I think one of the most important things for our students to know about the Student Code of Conduct is it contains the general rules for students to abide by,” said Tim Reling, former member of the Student Conduct Hearing Board. “The best way to avoid breaking the Student Code of Conduct is to review all the campus policies and know they were created out of a mutual respect for others.”

Students caught in violation must go through a process, which can be found in the Student Conduct link on the Southeastern page. The violator may be called to appear in front of the Student Conduct Hearing Board.

The Student Conduct Hearing Board consists of students, faculty and staff who come together to listen to both sides of the case, make a mutual, unbiased decision about what had taken place, help to ensure that a student has a fair hearing and give suggestions and advice to those who make the final decision of what is to take place after the hearing. 

The Hearing Board is not only there to decide what happens to a student’s misconduct, but it is there to ensure a safe environment for all on campus. 

“Student Conduct enhances an overall educational experience for students by embracing and promoting student learning and student development through conduct standards,” said Alack. “Although the disciplinary process may seem punitive in nature, our philosophy is to educate.”

One other aspect that is new and being added this year is the Student Outreach Advocacy Reps. Anyone joining this cause on campus will “be tasked to support awareness campaigns, prevention initiatives, pledge drives and more,” said Alack. “It is a way for students to give back to the campus, educating and encouraging other students to create a culture of care.”

Those interested in joining SOAR can email Alack at [email protected]. 

Outside of following the rules of conduct, Hammond has other avenues to ensure a safe environment for all on campus. 

“Outside of reading the rules, I believe that the easiest ways for students to avoid breaking the code of conduct it to enact good judgment and make better decisions,” said Reling. “For people that are of legal age, decide not to drink on campus. Go downtown to a restaurant instead. Before damaging dorm property because you are mad or upset, call up a friend and talk your issues out. Join organizations and become a part of the campus so that you can have friends to guide you. It is important to realize that everything boils down to the decisions you make.”