Students Receive Disciplinary Probation for Social Contract Violations

by Vignesh Panchanatham and Grady Trexler

This month, the first undergraduate students at Princeton University are being punished for breaching the school’s social contract for the spring 2021 semester, which lays out a comprehensive set of guidelines on issues such as social distancing, gatherings and regular testing. 

The University Press Club (UPC) is aware of at least nine confirmed instances of disciplinary probation this semester, some for as long as two years, and is working to confirm at least 10 more. At least two students were required to leave campus, and they will be afforded the regular refund as indicated in the Undergraduate Housing FAQs under “Rates and Fees.” 

In the 2018-19 school year, 75 students were found responsible for non-academic misconduct resulting in disciplinary probation, according to the annual discipline report from the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS).

According to Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities (RRR) 2020, section 1.1.7: “Disciplinary probation appears on an individual's permanent record at the University (but not on the transcript) and may be disclosed by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students or the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School in response to requests for which the student has given permission or as otherwise legally required.”

When a student receives disciplinary probation, any further violations they commit against Princeton policy—COVID-related or otherwise—may be grounds for suspension.

The Social Contract

Approximately 3600 undergraduates returned to campus and surrounding areas in January. All students were required to sign the social contract in order to access University buildings, including libraries, sports facilities and the student residential spaces. 

The social contract states that violations the university deems to be “significant” will result in disciplinary action, but specific punishments for specific violations are not mentioned.

Deputy University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss stated that there is no standard punishment for a social contract violation.

“Every case is judged on the basis of the facts of that particular case,” wrote Hotchkiss. “While the social contract does not attempt to delineate precise responses for every possible violation and/or the exacerbating or mitigating factors that could impact a judgment, it does state clearly that a specific set of violations will be considered significant and will carry disciplinary action that includes barring from campus,” wrote Hotchkiss.

He also added: “Students should not reasonably expect that a violation deemed ‘significant,’ for which the disciplinary action includes barring from campus, would then be assessed a minor disciplinary penalty such as a warning or reprimand.”

“I am definitely somewhat frustrated by the fact that the administration has not communicated all the potential punishments to students as clearly as they could or as continually as they could,” said Scott Overbey, a senior and a Residential College Advisor (RCA) in Butler College, adding that he had expressed this sentiment to the Butler Director of Student Life (DSL). Residential College Advisors oversee groups of underclassmen in the various dormitories.

Disciplinary Action

“So far this semester, the number of student disciplinary actions related to violations of the social contract is relatively small,” wrote Hotchkiss.

The Social Contract indicates that students may neither host more than two other on-campus students in any room or suite nor attend such a gathering. The majority of the disciplinary probations UPC has confirmed are the result of violating this clause. In these cases, the hosts have been punished more severely.

One student, who received probation and remains on campus, said that the enforcement process was “a bit arbitrary.” Due to a fear of exacerbating their probation, they spoke to UPC under the condition of anonymity. They claimed that many cases of social contract violations go unpunished. “There are many cases that the university doesn’t see. The ones that they do see, they tend to be pretty heavy-handed. Small cases will lead to big punishments.”

“I feel like the whole point of people being removed from campus even before midterms is to make an example that nothing’s going to be tolerated,” said another student, who commented under the condition of anonymity for the same reasons. 

The student was living off-campus and not participating in the testing protocol. Such students signed an alternate social contract which stated that they could not “visit any University facility that is not currently open to the general public.”  

After the student entered a university building to observe one of Princeton’s eating clubs’ virtual bicker discussions, with friends, they received a year of probation. Bicker is the term for the eating club membership selection process.

“I doubt anyone who wasn’t going to be in Princeton read the social contract,” they said, adding that they were not aware of the restriction on entry to campus buildings.

In the fall semester, when students living in Princeton housing signed a similar social contract, Jessica Bookholdt ‘24 missed two different weeks of testing. In the first instance, her car broke down and in the next, she missed the 10 a.m. test drop-off deadline.

Bookholdt was surprised by the relative severity of her punishment, two years of disciplinary probation. “It wasn't really something that was on my mind.”

“Technically missing a COVID test does not put anyone at risk, right?” said Bookholdt. “The only thing that it does is not leave you informed. If you don't have COVID, missing a test doesn't put anyone at risk. I guess that they have to be strict about it because of the fact that it is such a serious thing, and I do take the virus very seriously.”

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  Students received outcome letters with their disciplinary actions.

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Inside the Residential College Disciplinary Board

COVID-related infractions at the university are adjudicated through the Residential College Disciplinary Board (RCDB), which consists of two associate deans of undergraduate students and all six DSLs from the residential colleges. According to the RCDB FAQs, the board handles any non-academic infraction by an undergraduate student for which the maximum possible punishment is disciplinary probation.

The ODUS website says when most non-academic infractions, which would include potential social contract violations, are brought to the University’s attention, the suspected student is interviewed about the alleged incident typically by their respective DSL, and sometimes by a dean or University investigator.

Some students said that they felt their DSL was on their side during the investigation, and others said they were confused by the DSL’s role in the process.

“It was a very casual conversation, and it did not seem strict at all. It ended and we were obviously taking it very seriously, but it just seemed casual,” said an upperclassman who received probation extending beyond graduation for hosting a gathering with more than two guests, and spoke under the condition of anonymity due to an ongoing appeal.

After the investigation is complete, the DSL brings the case to the RCDB with a recommendation of the student’s responsibility. The board then decides if the student was responsible, along with the adequate punishment if found guilty.

“[The DSL’s] role is to investigate the matter and bring it forward to the board along with whatever statement or other information the student wishes the board to consider,” said Hotchkiss. 

“The DSLs assess the information available and reference the relevant section of RRR (or this year, the social contract) and determine the appropriate charge. They and their colleagues review the facts and make determinations about responsibility and sanction.”

Fear and Confusion

The adjudication process remains murky to some Princeton students.

One Whitman student, who spoke under the condition of anonymity due to fear of disciplinary action, said they did not want to report social contract violations they saw, including over ten people regularly gathering in a common room. They said the only thing they knew about possible punishments came via negative posts on Tiger Confessions, an online Facebook group where students can make anonymous posts about Princeton.

“According to them, it’s emotionally traumatic and really horrible, and basically ends in nothing if they decide it wasn't true, or expulsion” or otherwise having to leave campus, said the student.

According to RRR, the RCDB will not give out a sentence harsher than disciplinary probation.

“A lot of students are not aware, or they just don’t have clarity on how [the social contract] is enforced,” said Overbey.

“College students, especially Princeton students, who are very smart, oftentimes—some, at least—are tempted to think: even if this is the letter of the law, how is it actually being enforced? Will I get caught? Will I get punished to the fullest extent of the social contract? Because I have now seen students get punished to the fullest extent of the social contract, I want students to know: yes, the university is kicking people off campus. This is real. This is serious.”

The University released a report with aggregate numbers of punishments on March 1st, indicating that 44 students received disciplinary probation as a result of social contract violations.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more details come to light.