Summer time crimes may bring school time repercussions

Even students who got away from campus over the summer could still find themselves in hot water…Even students who got away from campus over the summer could still find themselves in hot water with the University if they broke the law — depending on the nature of their crimes.

The University’s Code of Conduct meticulously outlines students’ rights, the procedures for disciplinary action against University students and the composition of the authorities that hear disciplinary cases. These include the Hearing Officers, the Judicial Board and the University Review Board. Even when students are away from school on holidays or breaks, the rules still apply.

This is because the code doesn’t just concern itself with the actions of students that affect their academics or occur on University property. Instead, it includes provisions that allow the University to punish students for infractions that may fall outside Pitt’s boundaries.

Page 7 of the Code of Conduct lists three broad categories of offenses for which the University may discipline a student, even when he or she commits them outside the bounds of the University campus. One of these categories deals with infractions considered “grave offenses,” which University spokesman John Fedele said may include alleged serious felonies committed by students.

“Fortunately, because of our generally well-behaved students, this is rarely invoked,” he said in an email.

According to the same section of the code, other offenses for which students may face disciplinary procedures from the University, even when they commit them off-campus, include those that endanger fellow students or other Pitt affiliates and offenses students commit while within the jurisdiction of the Pitt police.

Fedele said that this area includes everything within 500 yards of any property owned or controlled by the University.

Himanshu Taranekar, who will begin the Master of Business Administration program at Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business this coming semester, believes that a process to enforce the Code of Conduct is important to students, even when they’re not in class..

“As a student, you have a responsibility of how to conduct yourself,” he said.

Taranekar also said the code could promote a sense of accountability but that the University should tailor its reaction to violations to the behavior it sees from the student population.

If there are frequent serious offenses, the University ought to discipline students more harshly, Taranekar said, but if infractions are minor and infrequent, the response from the University should be to prescribe counseling and to examine the underlying reasons — such as family or financial problems — for students’ behavior.

Discussing the University’s policy for offenses that occur off campus and for which students already face legal consequences, Molly McKain, a senior majoring in chemical engineering, expressed skepticism.

“I would say that if the government has already prosecuted [the offending student] to the fullest extent of the law, then I don’t see why the University needs to step in and punish [him or her] again,” McKain said.

While McKain stressed that she could see the reason the University would discipline students who commit violent offenses or those caught with illegal drugs, she speculated that there were few such offenders on campus. Most Pitt students, she believes, do nothing more serious than drink underage.

Similarly, Fedele stressed that Pitt has not witnessed many cases for which it has needed to punish students during the holidays and breaks.

“Students who have matriculated at the University are subject to the code,” he said. “[Judicial Board] filings while on summer or holiday break are somewhat uncommon, but can and do occur.”

Hopefully, though, students will be too busy to find themselves in trouble.

“I probably wouldn’t have time to get arrested even if I tried,” McKain said.