Howard University affirms that the central purpose of a university is the pursuit of truth, the discovery of new knowledge through scholarly research, the teaching and overall development of students, and the transmission of knowledge and learning to the world at large. However, the establishment and maintenance of a community where there is freedom to teach and to learn is dependent on maintaining an appropriate sense of order that allows for the pursuit of these objectives in an environment that is both safe and free of invidious disruption.
Rules and regulations are necessary to mark the boundaries of this needed order. However, the rights of the individual demand that honesty, integrity, responsibility, and respect for persons and property must form the core values upon which those rules and regulations are based. All members of the University community share a mutual responsibility to practice these values.
It is expected that student conduct will be in concert with, and supportive of, the University’s central purpose and core values. Examples of prohibited student behavior are described in this Student Code of Conduct (“Code”). Behaviors that reasonably indicate a violation of the Code will give rise to the immediate consideration of resolution through the University’s disciplinary process.
The Code is applicable to all students, which includes all persons taking courses at the University, either full-time or part-time, pursuing undergraduate, graduate, professional or unclassified studies. Persons who withdraw after allegedly violating the Code, who are not officially enrolled for a particular semester or term, but have a continuing relationship with the University, or who have been notified of their acceptance for admission are considered “students,” as are persons who are living in University residence halls, although not enrolled in this institution. Those persons include, but are not limited to new, continuing or transfer students, participants involved in pre-college programs, workshops, seminars, special classes, summer programs, athletic programs, and camps affiliated with the University. The Code applies to all locations of the University and to all student groups and organizations as referenced in the Code.
It is the responsibility and duty of students to become acquainted with all provisions of the Code. It is presumed that every student, from the date of his/her initial acceptance at the University, has knowledge of the Code, the Academic Code of Conduct, the University Code of Ethics and Conduct, as well as policies and procedures contained in the H-Book, the Bulletin, and the Directory of Classes. All students are deemed to have agreed to the Code and are required to adhere to the Code as a condition of enrollment at the University.